Burning Atlanta

WOO-HOO. This is GREAT news. I've only rented at a few apartments in my life but they did credit and other checks, some of which I paid for under their rules. In this case it seems the landlords stopped doing that when they knew a bunch of tenants, or potential tenants, were illegals. IF true (cough) I hope these bastards get a huge fine and jail time. STOP AIDING, ABETTING, AND HIRING ILLEGALS.

Under the jail. The RIGHT  message.

A father and son who own two large Lexington apartment complexes have been ordered to appear in U.S. District Court Friday to answer charges that they rented to at least 60 illegal immigrants and hired two without documentation to work for them.

A 32-count federal indictment charges William Jerry Hadden and Jamey Hadden with harboring illegal immigrants from 2000 to November 2007 at the Woodridge Apartments and Cross Keys Apartments. Both complexes are located off Versailles Road in an area heavily populated with Hispanic immigrants.

Most, if not all, of the 60 tenants named in the indictment are facing deportation, and several of them have been charged criminally with illegally entering the United States, said Lexington immigration attorney Rachel A. Newton.

Advocates for immigrants said they fear the case could have a "chilling effect" on other landlords, leaving immigrants with few options for places to live. The case is the "local manifestation of a national policy shift" on the part of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials to target landlords, employers, and other people who knowingly harbor illegal immigrants, according to Newton. Would break my damned heart if landlords stopped renting to illegals. Better if people would stop hiring them but I ahve no problem with this, either.

The indictment alleges that once the Haddens began renting to illegal immigrants, they changed their rental policies and quit requiring credit checks, proof of identification and Social Security numbers.

Previously, tenants not having documentation were rejected, the indictment alleges.

Also, the indictment says that the Haddens circumvented a Kentucky Utilities policy of requiring customers to provide Social Security numbers. The Haddens would have all the bills sent to the apartment building office and then distribute the bills to individual tenants, the indictment says.

"I've never heard of local landlords being held accountable when the people they rented to were illegal aliens," said Tucker Richardson, a Lexington attorney representing William Jerry Hadden.

"We are going to aggressively defend it," Richardson said. I hope you LOSE in a huge way.

Immigration Attorney Wally Ahmad, Newton's law partner, said he thinks the indictment is intended to send a warning to anyone who employs or rents to illegal aliens.

"It would appear to me," said Ahmad, "that if they can indict one landlord, other landlords will be afraid of doing it." GOOD!!!

Ron Wagoner, who described himself as a friend of Jerry Hadden, said that ICE was selectively enforcing immigration rules.

"It's not like he's the kingpin," a major employer of illegal aliens in Lexington, said Wagoner.

"They would have more impact if they went after people in the equine industry, the restaurant industry, and the landscape and construction industries. Everyone knows there are probably illegals working there." "Boo-Hoo. He's being picked on." I have little doubt that ICE is playing politics with their enforcement but I really don't care in this instance, as long as they get a conviction.