Fremont issue dead, discussion only beginning

Journalstar.com ^ | 7-31-08 | Jean Ortiz

[stan_sipple]

A proposed ordinance targeting illegal immigration in Fremont may be dead, but the discussion of the problems fueling the debate is just getting under way, say those involved in the issue.

Fremont Mayor Don “Skip’’ Edwards cast the deciding vote late Tuesday night against a proposal that would have banned renting to, harboring and hiring illegal immigrants Fremont is, however, the first Nebraska city to attempt such a proposal, said Norm Pflanz, an attorney with Nebraska Appleseed Center for Law in the Public Interest.

Other communities, including Hazleton, Pa., Escondido, Calif., and Riverside, N.J. have attempted similar measures but have run into legal challenges. The latter two cases were repealed while a federal judge struck down Hazleton’s plan as unconstitutional.

But there’s a danger more communities could make similar legislative attempts, said Lourdes Gouveia, director of the Office of Latino/Latin American Studies at the University of Nebraska-Omaha.

Approved or not, the proposal presented long-term impacts and lessons, she said in an interview before the council’s decision.

Communities can respond with irrational fears and manufacture problems with no basis in what’s really going on in the community, she said.

Or they can engage in research and discussion, keep emotions out of the debate and handle issues separately — for example, by taking on housing concerns separate from frustrations about language barriers, she said.

[skeeter]

Communities can respond with irrational fears and manufacture problems with no basis in what’s really going on in the community, she said.

Sure, if I was writing on this subject & needed unbiased commentary to enlighten my readers I'd go straight to the director of the Office of Latino/Latin American Studies at the local university.

What a joke.

[Kimberly GG]

In a word, Ortiz.

[ßuddaßudd]

Who knew there was a Fremont Nebraska with illegal immigration problems?