Thread: Arizona-Style Immigration Law Debated in Nebraska

Arizona-Style Immigration Law Debated in Nebraska

Posted: March 2, 2011 05:28 PM CST

Updated: March 2, 2011 05:47 PM CST

Arizona-Style Immigration Law Debated in Nebraska

Debate heats up at the state capitol, on an immigration proposal modeled after Arizona's controversial law.

Sen. Charlie Janssen defends his proposal, saying he can no longer wait for congress to act.

Opponents of the bill agree immigration reform is badly needed, but fear racial profiling.

Community organizer Felipe Cruz said, "That's a confrontation and we don't need a confrontation now we need solutions. We need to work together. And if we don't have the ability to work together then we are not practicing our human relations."

While there are doubts the bill will even pass, Cruz expects protests if it does.

A Grand Island Tea Party and Minutemen leader Mark McCaffery organized people to speak out in support of LB 48 on Wednesday.

They included Richard Miller of St. Paul who testified on behalf of get-tough laws for legal immigrants.

Those on both sides of the proposal have said they do not think it will advance out of the legislature's judiciary committee.

http://www.nebraska.tv/Global/story.asp?S=14175358

There's a video at the link. Community organizer Felipe Cruz is featured in the video and threatens to boycott NE and shop in Iowa and Kansas instead if the bill passes. I would like to say to him PLEASE GO AHEAD AND SHOP THERE! We won't miss you one bit! It must be nice to have the money for gas so you can travel to other states just to shop. Community organizers must get paid well.

Arizona-style immigration measure vetted in overflow public hearing

By KEVIN O'HANLON / Lincoln Journal Star JournalStar.com
Posted: Wednesday, March 2, 2011 5:00 pm

The rancor over an Arizona-style immigration measure being pushed by Fremont Sen. Charlie Janssen reached a crescendo Wednesday as dozens of people and advocacy groups testified against it.

The Legislature’s Judiciary Committee heard testimony before an overflow crowd on LB48, known as the Illegal Immigration Enforcement Act. It would require police officers who stop or arrest a person to check whether he or she is in the country legally if the officers have "reasonable suspicion" to think otherwise. Anyone who cannot prove he or she is here legally would be held, and federal immigration authorities would be notified.

Some 45,000 illegal immigrants live in Nebraska and 11 million live in the country, Janssen said.

"These persons who have broken the law and seemingly don't care creates a disturbing attitude of picking and choosing which laws should be respected and which laws can be ignored," Janssen said. "We are a nation of laws. If we abandon the enforcement and respect for our laws, we lose the social compact that makes this nation truly great and unique among the nations of the world.

"Some claim that LB48 is an overreaction to our illegal immigration problem and that it is too difficult to become a legal immigrant and later a U.S. citizen," he said. "I disagree."

The U.S. Department of Justice has filed suit challenging the Arizona law, arguing that enforcement of immigration laws is a federal responsibility, not a state or local one.

While supporters say it's a fair way to curb illegal immigration, opponents say such legislation can't be enforced without racial profiling, mainly against Hispanics.

"What is on that laundry list of potential suspicions?" asked committee Chairman Brad Ashford of Omaha. "That's the concern."

Sen. Steve Lathrop of Omaha asked what considerations should be taken into account when developing reasonable suspicion other than a person's skin color or lack of command of the English language.

"I can't give you what those scenarios would be," Janssen answered. "It won't be skin color, religion or sex.

"I leave that up to the police."

Janssen has repeatedly said his measure is "not about racism."

Norman Pflanz, an attorney with Nebraska Appleseed Center for Law in the Public Interest, submitted testimony that said the measure "would saddle counties, cities, small towns, and their police departments with the significant costs and liabilities of implementing and enforcing the law.

"Nebraska values do not support an Arizona-style law in our state, nor can we afford the high risks and costs LB48 would create for Nebraska," he said. "LB48 would create legal costs during a budget deficit to defend a law whose core components have already been blocked by a federal court in Arizona."

Lincoln Police Chief Tom Casady said this week that the measure would increase Lincoln's police costs without dramatically increasing the number of illegal residents deported.

In a letter to city Finance Director Don Herz, Casady said local government would have the investigative costs of trying to determine the legal status of a person, jail costs to detain those who are arrested, more jail costs for those found guilty of "trespassing by an illegal alien" and the cost of defending false arrest lawsuits.

Janssen, who some consider to be the most aggressive anti-illegal-immigration senator in the Legislature, worked with Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning's office to craft the bill after the Arizona law, which they tweaked based on experiences Arizona has had to protect Nebraska from some of the same legal challenges.

Assistant Attorney General John Freudenberg testified Wednesday in support of the bill on behalf of Bruning's office. After being pressed by Sen. Burke Harr of Omaha, he said he believed the bill is constitutional.

Janssen said the federal government is failing to enforce immigration laws, so the states must step in.

"I don't disagree that our federal representatives need to be accountable for ignoring this growing and expensive problem," he said. "But I refuse to ignore our obligations to the state taxpayers, as state legislators," to address the problem.

"Waiting for Congress to act is unrealistic," he said. "I am not prepared to surrender our state budget to the whims of a Congress that has shown no fortitude in making tough choices."

Lincoln attorney Alan Peterson, representing the Nebraska chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, called Janssen's bill "an unconstitutional, expensive and futile gesture seeking to supersede national immigration law."

Among ACLU's concerns, he said, was allowing a new way to justify arresting, detaining and holding people stopped by police.

"That is the concept of a mere reasonable suspicion, rather than probable cause, which is the established constitutional prerequisite for an arrest without a warrant," Peterson said. "It is more protective against profiling based on race, skin color or presumed national origin."

Doug Kagen of Nebraska Taxpayers for Freedom said passing Janssen's bill would help the state save money by helping rid it of illegal immigrants.

"Illegal aliens are a burden on the taxpayers of Nebraska,'' he said. "They are taking jobs that rightfully belong to legal citizens."

Retired U.S. Magistrate David Piester said it was likely that if passed, Janssen's measure would raise legal challenges.

"It, I think, exposes not only the state, but counties, municipalities and individual police officers to serious liabilities and expenses in defending themselves," Piester said.

http://journalstar.com/news/unicameral/ ... ffff8.html

Published Wednesday March 2, 2011

Immigration bill blasted

By Paul Hammel
WORLD-HERALD BUREAU


LINCOLN — A retired federal judge told state lawmakers Wednesday that an Arizona-style immigration law in Nebraska would result in a rash of lawsuits against state and local law enforcement officers for false arrests.

“I can discern no reasonable reason to expose state and local entities to such litigation,â€

We need the names and party affiliation break down for these 8 committee members please.

W

Originally Posted by ALIPAC

We need the names and party affiliation break down for these 8 committee members please.

W

Yes W, we need to take a head count!

Originally Posted by ALIPAC

We need the names and party affiliation break down for these 8 committee members please.

W

Committee Members
Sen. Brad Ashford, Chairperson, Republican
Sen. Colby Coash, Republican
Sen. Brenda Council, Democrat
Sen. Burke Harr, Democrat
Sen. Tyson Larson, Republican
Sen. Steve Lathrop, Democrat
Sen. Scott Lautenbaugh, Republican
Sen. Amanda McGill, Democrat

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nebraska_Legislature

Nebraska has a lot of meat packing and chicken farms. That's where they are working.

Dixie

Originally Posted by Dixie

Nebraska has a lot of meat packing and chicken farms. That's where they are working.

Dixie

Swift in Nebraska knows all about hiring illegals.
Remember the Raid back in 06

As Nebraska's Latino Population Grows, So Do Proposed Laws Targeting Immigration

Published March 02, 2011 | Fox News Latino


On Tuesday, the Census Bureau reported that Nebraska’s Latino population surged 77 percent – to 167,405 -- in the last decade, making it nearly 10 percent of the state population.

On Wednesday, the Nebraska legislature plans a hearing on a bill that would require police officers, when enforcing other laws, to question the immigration status of those they suspect are in the country illegally.

As Nebraska has become more diverse in recent years, conflict over illegal immigration has emerged in several parts of the state.

Although the Latino population represented the biggest surge from 2000 to 2010, other minority groups also became larger, accounting for an overall growth rate of 6.7 percent for the state. The black population grew 20 percent to 80,959, and the Asian population grew 47 percent to 31,919.

The number of white residents grew nearly 3 percent to 1,572,838 in 2010 from 1,533,261 in 2000. Their percentage of the population declined from 90 percent to 86 percent.

State lawmakers are considering several bills related to illegal immigration this year, and last year voters in the city of Fremont approved a measure that prohibits hiring or renting to illegal immigrants.

Lourdes Gouveia, director of the University of Nebraska at Omaha's Latino/Latin American Studies Department, says many immigrants in Nebraska feel ignored or neglected by the state's policymakers. The state's overall climate has become increasingly hostile toward immigrants, Gouveia said.

Gouveia said the state should be finding ways to help immigrants settle in Nebraska because of the potential long-term benefits to the state's economy.

"Immigrants and the children of immigrants continue to be the motor of economic development in this state," Gouveia said.

The police questioning measure being considered Wednesday also would require non-U.S. citizens to carry documents showing their legal status. Failure to do so would be a misdemeanor. The measure criminalizes harboring, hiding or transporting an illegal immigrant. Violation of that would be a misdemeanor.

The bill from Fremont Sen. Charlie Janssen is similar to a controversial Arizona law.

Critics say the Arizona law encourages racial profiling. A federal judge blocked sections of the law in July, including provisions calling for police to check a person's immigration status while enforcing other laws and requiring immigrants to prove they are in the United States legally.

Janssen's measure differs from the Arizona law in that it does not allow law enforcement to make warrantless arrests of suspected illegal immigrants.

The Census numbers also show that urban areas of the state grew at a faster pace than rural areas, so more of Nebraska's population is now on the eastern end of the state.

Only 24 of Nebraska's 93 counties gained population between 2000 and 2010 while the rest of the counties lost population. Most of the counties that gained population are in eastern Nebraska near the state's two largest cities of Omaha and Lincoln.

The eastward population shift is partly why state lawmakers must redraw the lines for the state's three congressional districts and 49 state legislative districts this year. But Nebraska won't lose any of its three U.S. House seats.

Douglas County's population grew nearly 12 percent to remain the largest, with 517,110 residents. Lancaster County grew 14 percent to remain second at 285,407.

Sarpy County, home to the Omaha suburbs of La Vista and Bellevue, grew nearly 30 percent, and is home to 158,840 people.

http://oneoldvet.com/

http://latino.foxnews.com

Originally Posted by Dixie

Nebraska has a lot of meat packing and chicken farms. That's where they are working.

Dixie

They started in the meat packing and chicken farms and now have moved on to other jobs such as factory work, construction, day care, etc. It's not just meat packing and chicken farms anymore.