October 19, 2006

ACLU, PFAW, businesses sue Riverside NJ over immigration law

Riverside, New Jersey is one of the cities that have adopted "Hazleton-style" ordinances, and like other cities they're being sued by far-left, pro-illegal immigration organizations such as the ACLU. While this does cost those cities money, and the far-left foundations that support those far-left organizations have very deep pockets, at the end of the day the ACLU and their fellow travelers can only file so many suits.

In the current case, one of the ACLU's helpers is People for the "American" Way. Let's hope that their legal filings are a bit more precise than their misleading press release:

A coalition of Riverside business owners and landlords and residents will file a lawsuit today against the Township of Riverside in state court, contending that the recently adopted Illegal Immigration Relief Act oversteps the city's authority, is too vague, unfairly puts businesses at risk and violates civil rights under state law.

The plaintiffs are represented by attorneys from the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, People For the American Way Foundation, Spear Wilderman, P.C, American Civil Liberties Union Foundation Immigrants' Rights Project, American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey and Ragonese Albano & Viola.

The ordinance is one of the most restrictive of the recent wave of anti-immigrant legislation passed by local governments across the nation. It attempts to ban immigrants from renting, residing, using property or being employed in Riverside. The ordinance, in very broad terms, applies to actions that "aid or abet" undocumented immigrants anywhere in the United States.

"This ordinance is so vague and overbroad that it's virtually impossible to obey and appears to ban a large amount of innocent conduct," said Elliot Mincberg, Vice-President and Legal Director for PFAW Foundation. "Even a hospital or church that allows an immigrant on its premises could be charged with a violation."

Come on, it's OK now, we're all friend here: you can say "illegal".

New Jersey Appleseed and the Seton Hall Law School Center for Social Justice will be filing amicus briefs, and another person involved is David Verduin, "a Riverside business owner and a plaintiff". He's identified here (also here) as the president of the "Coalition of Business Owners and Landlords". That also says that Franco Ordonez, owner of the "King Chicken" (probably "Chicken King") restaurant is another member. (See the "ghost town"-style propaganda piece here from Summer Harlow of Delaware Online in which an employee of that company is quoted and the Coalition is mentioned, but no link between the company and the Coalition is noted.) This page identifies another member as Steve Marino; he's identified as a "landlord" here. A copy of an earlier letter identifies one of the lawyers for the ACLU-IRP as Omar C. Jadwat, Esq., which rings a bell for some reason. And, this page says:

O empresário americano David Verduin lidera uma coalizão de empresários americanos e brasileiros que entrou na Justiça contra a lei antiimigrante de Riverside. Ele morou 20 anos no Brasil e se considera brasileiro de coração. Também sofreu ao ver os brasileiros serem ofendidos.

I take that to say in part that he lived in Brazil for 20 years and considers himself Brazilian in his heart, but I'd appreciate an accurate translation.

I don't know about the members of the CBOL, but obviously a fair number of business owners and landlords in Riverside are making money off illegal immigration. And, if the ACLU wins that would help said business owners and landlords to keep making money off illegal immigration.

I wonder what your average donor to the ACLU thinks of their constant support for illegal immigration? While the ACLU is infamous for accepting a few very unpopular clients, when they're always on the same, wrong side of one issue people have to begin to wonder what's going on.

Posted to Immigration at October 19, 2006 05:25 AM

Comments

I really don't understand why people are helping Illegals, the fact is if people wanted to help, the illegals ok but help with money and guns to go back and free that people from the low life rats who are running the third world system of total corruption, but why do that when all you have to do is come here and do the easy thing.
more cities will fall to the third world soon and the end game is mass death in a race and civil war, "think it can't happen here do you"?..hey look at history, wait until the money disappears from your banking system and you have no way of making a living and you have no hope for the future, that is when you will understand what the third world knows, and ask if you want to understand the facts of life and real death inside a all hispanic USA.

Posted by: Fred Dawes at October 19, 2006 02:55 PM