New York City has banned people from threatening someone with a call to immigration authorities or referring to them as “illegal aliens.” ...
New York City has banned people from threatening someone with a call to immigration authorities or referring to them as “illegal aliens.”
From American Thinker:
Now that socialist Bill de Blasio is washed out of the Democratic presidential election primaries, he’s back to running New York City, doing the Sandinista thing, and banning free speech. …
The term ‘illegal alien’ wasn’t something cooked up by racists, but a federal government legal term, perfectly legal in description.
Because some breakers of immigration law and their leftist advocates don’t like it, given that it ultimately creates distinctions between legal and illegal activity, some sort of truth squad is about to be set up to sort out everyday New Yorkers’ correct frame of mind. …
It’s not just an illegal assault on the First Amendment, it’s a petri dish for corruption. A high-ranking leftist or his son who uses the term will undoubtedly be excused. An ordinary schmoe with zero political power, or, god forbid, a Republican, will be arrested and stripped of assets in draconian example-making, similar to Stalin’s show trials or Mao’s self-criticism sessions. Sound like a recipe for some Salem witch hunt hysteria? Sound like the perfect set-up for some personal score-settling? You bet it does. The double standards are waiting, all in the name of ensuring that lawbreakers are never offended.
If this isn’t a case for a court challenge on classic First Amendment grounds, what is? …
So what does the law do exactly? Since “illegal alien” is a legal term, will NYC lawmakers and bureaucrats start turning themselves in for prosecution?
Don’t count on it.
Instead, the law apparently only applies if the term “illegal alien” is said out of “hate,” whatever that means.
This creates an impossible legal standard, but don’t you worry. I’m sure the law can be reasonably applied just by using it against Republicans, which is what’s certainly going to happen if Bill De Blasio gets his way.
The New York Post explains:
It’s now against the law in New York City to threaten someone with a call to immigration authorities or refer to them as an “illegal alien” when motivated by hate.
The restrictions — violations of which are punishable by fines of up to $250,000 per offense — are outlined in a 29-page directive released by City Hall’s Commission on Human Rights.
“‘Alien’ — used in many laws to refer to a ‘noncitizen’ person — is a term that may carry negative connotations and dehumanize immigrants, marking them as ‘other,’” reads one passage of the memo. “The use of certain language, including ‘illegal alien’ and ‘illegals,’ with the intent to demean, humiliate, or offend a person or persons constitutes discrimination.” …
What do you think of this new law?
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