As tensions mount over the impending showdown on Arizona’s controversial SB1070, the town of Fremont, Nebraska reversed course on Tuesday night and suspended their local ordinance that was modeled on the infamous anti-immigration measure.
As previously reported in La Plaza, Fremont voters approved a ballot measure that was authored by a Republican candidate for Secretary of State in Kansas, Kris Kobach, who also helped draft Arizona’s controversial SB 1070. Kobach is a self described, “law professor who defends cities and states that are trying to reduce illegal immigration.”
The law would prohibit businesses from hiring and landlords from renting to undocumented sparking concerns from local property owners that they would be put in an immigration enforcement role. Almost immediately, the ACLU and MALDEF filed a law suit to stop the measure.
City officials previously had expressed concern that legal fights to sustain the ordinance were going to cost the town of 25,000 up to $1 million annually.
The night prior to a scheduled court appearance on a temporary restraining order against the new law, Fremont City Council voted to suspend enactment of it. Like the Arizona law, Fremont’s was to take effect on Thursday.
City Council President Scott Getzschman said, “Given the size of our city, we will make a decision based on the best interest of the citizens of Fremont. As we evaluate legal challenges ahead, we need to look at our resources carefully.”
ACLU Nebraska released a statement calling the council vote “responsible.”
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They better watch and learn…our country won’t stand for this type of hate and injustice
Interesting how at the end of the day, this all came down to money.