Published Thursday July 24, 2008
Fremont illegal immigrant proposal expanded
BY CINDY GONZALEZ
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER



A revision of a controversial ordinance to be debated Tuesday in Fremont, Neb., would require employers that get licenses, permits or loans from the city to electronically verify an applicant's immigration status — or face a shutdown.

An earlier version contained only penalties for renting to illegal immigrants.

Bob Warner, the Fremont councilman sponsoring the initiative, insisted that it also target employment, with the overall goal being to banish illegal immigrants from the community.

The revised ordinance also clarifies language pertaining to leases. Now landlords face the same possible penalty as a violating renter: a fine lowered to $100.

As written, every person occupying a rented home or apartment would have to buy a $5 occupancy license. A new license, which would be issued after verification of immigration status by the local police department, would be needed every time a resident relocated to a different rental unit.

The new employment-related requirements apply to representatives of any business entity that applies for any business license or permit in the city or is awarded a contract for work to be performed in the city. In addition, it covers recipients of grants or loans from the city.

Those entities must provide documentation that they have registered and participate in the E-Verify program, an Internet-based program that started as the Basic Pilot program in the late 1990s. Certain states, including Nebraska, participated in the voluntary program.

Fremont would mandate use of E-Verify by the businesses that obtain licenses or loans from the city.

Critics have said the program has flaws and its databases are not error-proof.

Noncompliance would put the business entity on trial at a public hearing before the City Council. An appeal process would be available through Dodge County District Court. If the council determined a violation, it could revoke the city license, permit or contract, or recall the grant.

Not all businesses in Fremont need a license from the city and therefore could not be forced to participate, city officials said.

The city's biggest employer of immigrants, Hormel Foods, already participates in the electronic verification program. It is outside the city limits and would not be held accountable by the ordinance, anyway.

A public hearing is scheduled Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the Fremont High School Auditorium, 1750 N. Lincoln St. It was moved to the bigger facility because a crowd representing both sides of the immigration debate is expected to testify.

The council also approved rules of conduct for the hearing: a three-minute limit per speaker, no profanity or raised voices, no applause or booing.

Warner said the ordinance was born amid frustration over the federal government's lax enforcement of immigration laws.

Fremont is the first city in Nebraska to try to pass its own law to ban illegal immigrants. Lawmakers in other U.S. localities have introduced similar initiatives, often later struck down by the courts.




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