Nebraska town to vote on illegal immigration measure

FREMONT, NEB. — Angered by a recent influx of Hispanic workers attracted by jobs at local meatpacking plants, voters in the eastern Nebraska city of Fremont will decide Monday whether to ban hiring or renting property to illegal immigrants.

The vote will be the culmination of a two-year fight that saw proponents collect enough signatures to put the question to a public vote. If the ordinance is approved, the community of 25,000 people could face a long and costly court battle. Either way, the emotions stirred up won’t settle quickly.


“Even if we say ’no’ ... we still need to say, ’How do we get along with each other now?”’ said Kristin Ostrom, who helps oversee a campaign against the measure.


Across the nation, people have expressed anger about — and demanded action against — the poor enforcement of federal laws to prevent illegal immigration. A law recently introduced in Arizona requires police to question people on their immigration status if there’s a “reasonable suspicion” they are illegal.


Fremont’s Hispanic population has surged in the past two decades, boosted by recruitment to the Fremont Beef and Hormel plants, and the city maintains an enviably low unemployment rate. Nonetheless, residents worry that the jobs are going to illegal immigrants who they fear could be a drain on community resources.


Clint Walraven, who has lived in Fremont all his 51 years, said the jobs should go to legal residents who are unemployed — something he believes the ordinance would help remedy. Discussions on the issue can get heated, he said, particularly if racism is mentioned.


“It has nothing to do with being racist,” he says. “We all have to play by the same rules. ... If you want to stay here, get legal.”


When he worked at the Hormel plant in the 1980s, Walraven says, he had one Hispanic co-worker.


From about 165 Hispanics — both legal and illegal — living in Fremont in 1990, the total surged to 1,085 in 2000, according to census expert David Drozd at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. He says an estimated 2,060 Hispanics lived there last year. In May, Fremont recorded just 4.9 percent unemployment, in line with the statewide rate and significantly lower than the national average of 9.7 percent.
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