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Editorial
Fremont vote another sign issue must be dealt with
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Fremont, Nebraska, has joined Arizona at the epicenter of the illegal immigration debate.
Monday, 57 percent of the voters in the meat packing town of 25,000 supported an ordinance to require renters to apply for a license from the city, which can only issue it after confirming that the applicant is in the country legally.
The city ordinance, put on the ballot by voter petition over the 5-4 opposition of the city council and mayor, also requires businesses to use the federal E-Verify database to ensure employees are allowed to work.
The mayor and councillors had reason to oppose the law. They thought it would bring unwanted national attention to the city, as well as legal challenges by the American Civil Liberties Union and others -- and they were right.
Fremont, home to Fremont Beef and Hormel meat packing plants, has seen its Hispanic population surge from 165 in 1990 to 1,085 in 2000, and an estimated 2,060 today.
But we hope the vote was motivated by a sense of right and wrong -- those who would be affected are in the United States illegally, after all -- and not racism.
Whatever the motivation, Monday's vote is one more sign that the illegal immigration issue must be taken up on the national level, and soon.