Anti-Immigrant Battle Gears Up In NE

OMAHA, NE – The American Civil Liberties Union and ACLU Nebraska will ask a federal court in Omaha, Nebraska in a hearing this week to block a discriminatory law in Fremont that seeks to banish people alleged to be undocumented immigrants from rental homes. The law, scheduled to go into effect on July 29, also mandates that businesses performing work in Fremont check the status of would-be hires using E-Verify, a flawed federal electronic verification program that Congress has repeatedly declined to make mandatory.

The groups filed a lawsuit challenging the ordinance on July 21 on behalf of landlords, tenants and employers harmed by the ordinance. They are now asking the court to issue a temporary restraining order to block its implementation while the case is litigated.

Since the initial filing, additional plaintiffs have joined the lawsuit including the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, Local 22.

The ACLU, along with other leading rights groups, is also challenging the recently passed racial profiling law in Arizona and is awaiting a decision in that case on a request to block that law from taking effect.

Attorneys on the case, Martinez v. Fremont, include Newell, Tanaz Moghadam and Lucas Guttentag of the ACLU Immigrants' Rights Project, Amy Miller of ACLU Nebraska and Nebraska trial counsel Alan Peterson of Lincoln and Michael Nelsen of Omaha.

Legal documents in the case can be found at: www.aclu.org/immigrants-rights/martinez-v-fremont