The mayor of Fremont, Nebraska, Donald B. Edwards, announced on Monday that he is ending his 22 years in office after voters approved a controversial anti-immigrant law in July.
Edward’s had previously voted against the proposal, which would require Fremont businesses to verify the immigration status of potential employees and landlords to verify the status of potential tenants, in July 2008. Voters, however, approved it over the summer in a petition referendum.
The law, modeled on Arizona’s SB 1070, was authored by Kris Kobach. As previously reported in La Plaza, lawsuits filed against the city by civil rights groups over the law have put its implementation on hold.
Edwards, 71, was first elected as mayor in 1988 and was reelected four times. He cited health and his family as his main priorities in a letter to the city council.
Itz about time someone else feels the waymost of us feel about SB1070..