Thread: Neb. city may again try illegal immigration policy

FREMONT, Neb. - Fremont city leaders say they will again take up an effort aimed at prohibiting employers from hiring illegal immigrants.

The City Council will be asked at its Feb. 24 meeting to allow staff to begin working up a new ordinance. It would require employers in the city to use a federal Internet-based employment verification system called E-Verify.

The council attempted a similar ordinance last summer, but it also contained provisions banning renting to and hiring illegal immigrants. That effort was defeated.

State Sen. Brad Ashford of Omaha has introduced a bill (LB34) to discourage hiring of illegal immigrants on a statewide level. A hearing on that bill is set for Feb. 18.

Fremont city officials have been in talks with Ashford.

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Fremont city leaders say they will again take up an effort aimed at prohibiting employers from hiring illegal immigrants.

For one thing it is against the law to hire ILLEGALS as well as aid and abet. Actually that sounds very easy to remember

Originally Posted by uniteasone

Fremont city leaders say they will again take up an effort aimed at prohibiting employers from hiring illegal immigrants.

For one thing it is against the law to hire ILLEGALS as well as aid and abet. Actually that sounds very easy to remember

You would think so, wouldn't you?

Fremont's immigration ordinance returns

Despite memo’s from city officials downplaying the negative impact of illegal immigration in Fremont, city council members plan to move forward with an ordinance targeting illegals.

In the wake of the narrowly defeated immigration ordinance in October, Mayor Skip Edwards created a task force to study illegal immigration. The task force report included memos from Fremont officials to gauge the impact on the city’s law enforcement, budget, medical services and education.

Some Fremont residents allege illegal immigrants are driving up hospital costs by using the emergency room for medical treatment and not paying the bills. A report from the Fremont Medical Center showed Hispanics use of Charity Care and Bad Debt Expense was proportionate to their hospital use and emergency care was in-line with other ethnic groups.

Fremont Public Schools reported most students receiving free or reduced price lunches were white.

The study noted illegal immigrants pay federal, state and Social Security/Medicare taxes and the areas reportedly the largest immigrant employers, Hormel and Fremont Beef, withdraw taxes from every employee paycheck. A report from the Nebraska Health and Human Services agency noted citizenship status is verified for every recipient of state aid.

The task force recommended the city require all employers to use E-Verify and implement fines, or loss of business licenses, for employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants. E-Verify is a federal program that allows employers to check employee Social Security numbers to ensure they are legal residents.

But the system is far from perfect because it inadvertently discriminates against minorities, said Nebraska Appleseed attorney Norm Phlanz.

“Its not a real-time system,â€

Fremont City Council inches toward immigration policy
By: John Ferak, WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
02/24/2009
Updated 02/25/2009 08:15:34 AM CST

FREMONT, Neb. -- The Fremont City Council took the first step Tuesday toward implementing a policy on legal immigration, but a grassroots citizens group may still end up with the city's original, more controversial measure on the ballot.


With one member absent, the council voted unanimously 7-0 to adopt a formal policy on immigration, saying Fremont supports and encourages legal immigration and the contributions of legal immigrants in the community. The council voted in favor or establishing a timeline to implement a series of recommendations on immigration in Fremont.


Those proposals came from the mayor's immigration task force. The advisory group formed last August after a heated debate over how to rid Fremont of illegal immigrants.

"The task force did their job,'' Mayor Skip Edwards told the packed audience of 60 gathered on the second floor of City Hall. "Now, it is up to the City Council to do something with this.''

However, the time line to adopt and fully implement all of the task force's suggestions may take up a couple years, City Administrator Bob Hartwig said.

That disheartened several audience members, who want to see the council take a more drastic stance toward eliminating illegal immigrants from residing and working in Fremont.

Overall, Tuesday's meeting was civil and not nearly as contentious as last summer's debate that drew more than 1,000 people to the Fremont High School auditorium, where the council heard impassioned testimony from dozens of people on both sides of the issue.

On Tuesday, three uniformed city police officers hovered near two doors leading into the council chambers. None of the dozen people who addressed the council screamed or let their emotions get the best of them. The 45-minute discussion included spirited debate, but the discussion, and even disagreements, remained fairly tame.

Recently retired council member Bob Warner urged his former colleagues not to take action on the task force's suggestions. Warner suggested that a special city election may put the illegal immigration to a communitywide vote, anyway.

"When I started this whole scenario, if we could dry up their welfare and employment, period, the problem would go away,'' Warner told the council. "I would like to see this City Council draft an ordinance to take care of Fremont.''

After the meeting, Warner said that more than 4,100 signatures were submitted to the city clerk on Monday to determine their validity. He estimated that a special election could possibly occur around June.

Meanwhile, city officials said that a formal immigration ordinance is necessary to start to implement the task force's suggestions. Hartwig said that such an ordinance could go before the council in late April and a final vote may take place in June.

The proposed ordinance would require Fremont employers to participate in the E-Verify program, which electronically verifies the immigration status of job applicants. The ordinance would set perimeters for licensing, permits and fees. It would establish a phase-in criteria for enforcement. The city would also need to set fines and penalties for noncompliance.

But the council's upcoming review and action may go for naught.

Warner said a grassroots citizens coalition has collected more than 4,100 signatures from city residents who want to adopt the original ordinance that Warner proposed last summer. That ordinance aimed at driving away illegal immigrants by punishing landlords and businesses who rent to them and hire them.

"A half-dozen people went through a Nebraska winter to get over 4,000 signatures, and I believe they ought to be recognized,'' Warner told the mayor.

"I agree with that, Bob,'' Edwards responded.

Last July, Edwards cast the tie-breaking vote to defeat Warner's proposal. City Council President Gary Bolton said he felt the council needed to accept the task force's findings and move toward implementing them, regardless of what becomes of the grassroots petition drive aimed at adopting Warner's original ordinance.

"Our goal is that we arrive at an ordinance we feel is legal and prevents illegals from being here,'' Bolton said.

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