Last night, June 21, voters in the town of Fremont, Nebraska voted to approve a city ordinance banning the rental of property to illegal immigrants. Will this type of law make Nebraska the new Arizona? State and national reactions in the next few weeks will tell. One thing is already certain, the ACLU has promised to mount a legal challenge to the ordinance.

The Fremont law, according to the AP, will require potential renters to apply for a license from the city. City officials will then be required to refuse to issue a license to any applicants found to be in the country illegally. Employers will also be required to verify an employee’s immigration status via the federal E-Verify database.

Community attitudes about the law vary. Some who voted for it think it will make a dent in the growing national problem of illegal immigration. Supporter Trevor McClurg told the AP, “I don’t think it’s right to be able to rent to them or hire them,” McClurg said. “They shouldn’t be here in the first place. Law supporter Linda Nafziger had a more pragmatic take on the law’s effect. “They’ll just move somewhere else and be somebody else’s problem,” she said.

As for Fremont, the law will shortly face its first challenge. “Not only do local ordinances such as this violate federal law, they are also completely out of step with American values of fairness and equality,” said Laurel Marsh, executive director of ACLU Nebraska.

Related Resources:

  • Neb. city votes to restrict illegal immigration (AP)
  • Arizona Passes Controversial Immigration Bill (FindLaw’s Law and Daily Life)
  • Does Costa Mesa’s Day Laborer Law Ban Free Speech? (FindLaw’s Law and Daily Life)
  • Utah Proposes Bill to Verify Workers’ Immigration Status (FindLaw’s Law and Daily Life)
  • Immigration through Adjustment of Immigrant Status (FindLaw)

 

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