Fremont still trying to block public vote

The City of Fremont is continuing its fight to block a public vote on an illegal immigration measure that the city says is unconstitutional.

City Attorney Dean Skokan has appealed a ruling by Dodge County District Court Judge John Samson to allow a public vote to go forward. Fremont also filed a motion to have the case go directly to the Nebraska Supreme Court.

Skokan said Tuesday he is hopeful that the Supreme Court will take the case and that it will be heard some time in October.

Kris W. Kobach, a law professor at the University of Missouri at Kansas City, is representing the three Fremont residents who petitioned for a special election to vote on the proposed ordinance.

Kobach said there were “no surprises” in the city’s appeal and predicted that it would be rejected.

“The lawyers for the city are trying to convince the court . . . to ignore the 500-pound gorilla in the room, which is a 2006 Nebraska Supreme Court ruling that says there is no jurisdiction for bringing this action until the people have had a chance to vote.”

The ordinance — proposed by Wanda Kotas, Jerry Hart and John Weigert — seeks to punish any employer or landlord who hires or rents to illegal immigrants.

All prospective tenants would be required to pay $5 each for a certificate identifying them as U.S. citizens. Landlords would be fined if found to have illegal immigrants as tenants.

Any employers found to have undocumented workers also would be fined.

The ordinance is modeled after a proposal that the Fremont City Council rejected in July 2008 by a 5-4 vote, with Mayor Don “Skip” Edwards breaking a tie.

City officials say Fremont lacks authority to enact such a measure because it would pre-empt federal immigration law. They say the measure doesn’t provide sufficient safeguards to protect constitutional property rights and would violate the Fair Housing Act.

City Council President Gary Bolton fears that the measure could open Fremont to numerous lawsuits costing hundreds of thousands of dollars to defend.

Recent federal court rulings struck down similar ordinances in Hazleton, Pa., and Farmers Branch, Texas. Both cities are similar in size to Fremont.

Charles Cox, finance director for Farmers Branch, said his city has paid $2.5 million in legal fees since September 2006 and continues to pay lawyers $85,000 a month.

Cherie Homa, a spokeswoman for Hazleton Mayor Louis J. Barletta, said that city is fighting lawsuits seeking $2.5 million in damages. Hazleton has paid out $200,000 in legal fees, Homa said, but has received $430,000 in donations from around the country.

Bolton would like Fremont to adopt recommendations from the mayor’s task force on illegal immigration, including requiring all employers to use the federal E-Verify system to check workers’ immigration status and levying fines for those who fail to comply.

Contact the writer:

444-1272, kevin.cole@owh.com

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