RICO Suit Brought Against Landlords

Federal racketeering (RICO) civil suits brought based on alleged violations of the immigration laws have failed time and time again.  Nevertheless, the N.Y. Times reports a group opposed to undocumented immigration filed suit against a property management company this month, using a federal law normally employed against racketeers to punish landlords who rent to undocumented immigrants. The lawsuit accuses the company of allowing so many undocumented tenants to live in its buildings that it amounted to unlawful harboring and should be considered a criminal enterprise. The suit was brought by the Immigration Reform Law Institute in Washington — the legal arm of the Federation for American Immigration Reform.

KJ