Three central Kentuckians sued the city of Lexington, the Lexington Health Department, and the Kentucky Office of Vocational Rehabilitation this morning in the U.S. District Court of Eastern Kentucky for improperly providing welfare benefits to illegal aliens.

The case is a Petition for Writ of Mandate, which any citizen may file for $350 without an attorney, and asks that the defendants be required to follow federal law and stop illegally providing taxpayer-funded benefits to people who are not in this country legally.

Court documents in the case reference specific federal laws regarding verification of eligibility for public benefits, restricting public benefits for unqualified aliens and states that the defendant agencies have ignored those laws.

The petitioners, David Duncan and Wendy Devier of Lexington and Jenean McBrearty of Danville, claim that they filed the suit because they "have no other speedy and effective way to compel the LFUCG and its agencies to stop providing public benefits and services to illegal aliens."

"Removing illegal aliens from the rosters of eligibility will save the Petitioners' and other Kentuckians' taxes and provide more services to legal Kentucky citizens," the petitioners said.

The suit asks for the city of Lexington to be ordered to stop providing benefits to people without valid drivers licenses and Social Security numbers. The suit also asks for the federal government to restrict all federal funds coming into the city of Lexington until the city and all of its agencies are in compliance with federal law.