OH-07: NRCC Joins Lying Smear Against Neuhardt for Helping Rwandan Refugee

The NRCC issued a disgusting press release today in support of Steve Austria's hatchet job on Sharen Neuhardt in the OH-07 congressional race.

The release claims that Neuhardt has been "harboring an illegal Rwandan immigrant on her farm for the last six years" in the face of "federal deportation orders." In fact, young Rwandan refugee Ishema Umuhoza has been living with the Neuhardts openly, not hiding, and the Neuhardts have been working within our system of justice to seek political asylum for him. They are breaking no law. Deportation proceedings against Umuhoza have been stayed by a federal judge, so neither the Neuhardts not Umuhoza are acting in violation of any deportation order.

The NRCC also claims that Neuhardt's "defiance" is "bizarre and troubling" and raises "questions about her judgment." In fact the Neuhardts have given generously of their time, their home, and their affection to help a good person in desperate need. Although Umuhoza has had minor scrapes with the law (driving without a license, walking home while intoxicated), a federal magistrate wrote in a recent ruling in the case that he is "the type of person – hardworking, intelligent, ambitious, law-abiding – who would normally be expected to provide positive contributions to American society."

Flailing, the NRCC accuses Neuhardt of "contributing" to the illegal immigration problem, and "pick[ing] and choos[ing] which laws apply to her at her own convenience." This is all utterly false and heartless calumny. The Neuhardts took Umuhoza into their home as a college student who had no place to go when the dorms closed over winter break. They weren't helping him enter the country and they have never hid him from the authorities. They are displaying laudable caring and generosity in trying to help a young victim of the unimaginably horrible Rwandan genocide to build a better future for himself. And all the NRCC can think to do is victimize him again for political gain. For shame.