Neb. city voters OK immigration ordinance

FREMONT, Neb., June 22 (UPI) -- Voters in Fremont, Neb., OK'd an immigration ordinance, despite warnings of higher taxes and reductions in city services to pay for expected legal challenges.

Residents in the town west of Omaha voted 57 percent to 43 percent Monday in favor of the ordinance ordinance that seeks to block illegal immigrants from securing housing and jobs by fining landlords and employers who house or hire them, The (Omaha) World-Herald reported Tuesday.

"You've got to take a step," said Jerry Hart, a leader of the petition drive to put the ordinance on the ballot. "You've got to do something."

But as supporters celebrated the ordinance's passage, the American Civil Liberties Union pledged to file a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the ordinance, the World-Herald said.

"Our intention is to make sure the law does not go into effect for even one day," said Amy Miller of the Nebraska chapter of the ACLU. "It's un-American. It's unconstitutional."

Fremont's vote was the latest volley in the explosive national debate over illegal immigration. It also was the first public vote on an immigration law since the April passage of the Arizona law that ignited debate and demonstrations across the United States and beyond.

City officials warn a legal battle could cost up to $1 million annually, a comment ordinance supporters dismissed as a scare tactic, the newspaper said. Fremont city leaders said defending the city against a legal challenge could mean a double-digit city property tax hike and cuts in city services or a combination of both.

If upheld, officials said about $200,000 more would be spent annually to enforce the provisions that punish landlords who rent to illegal immigrants and employers who knowingly hire undocumented workers.