Nebraska City Votes in Favor of Increased Immigration Enforcement
Citizens in the city of Fremont, Neb. have voted to pass an immigration enforcement city ordinance that will prohibit the hiring and the renting of apartments to illegal aliens. The ordinance passed with 57% of the vote will likely face court challenges from opponents of the measure.
The new ordinance will require all employers in the city to register and use E-Verify to check the worker eligibility status of all new hires. It will also require anyone looking to rent in the city to first obtain a license from the city, which will first check the applicants citizenship status before issuing the license. Illegal aliens will be denied the renter's license.
The city has experienced an increase in suspected illegal aliens after the opening of the Fremont Beef and Hormel meatpacking plants over the past few decades. Supporters of the ordinance say the step is needed to make up for the lack of federal enforcement of immigration laws.
"I don't think it's right to be able to rent to them or hire them," Fremont resident Trevor McClurg said in an Associated Press article. "They shouldn't be here in the first place."
The American Civil Liberties Union has already said they would sue the city over the ordinance, but even City Councilman Scott Getzschman who opposes the measure said he would support the results of the citywide vote.
For more information, see the article in the Los Angeles Times.