ImmigrationNebraska city free to enforce ordinance banning renting to undocumented immigrants

In response to the increasing numbers of Latino immigrants in the town of Fremont, Nebraska, city leaders proposed in 2010 an ordinance which would ban renting to undocumented immigrants. The public outrage that followed led immigrant rights groups to request the U.S. Supreme Court to review and strike down the ordinance because it may interfere with federal immigration laws.

Last week, the Supreme Court decided not to review the ordinance, a victory for supporters of the ordinance, and a sign for more trouble ahead for those who oppose the legislation. The Supreme Court has avoided similar cases on immigration, leaving the matter to states and Congress. Appeals courts in a few states have blocked similar ordinances, but legislatures in those states may now make another attempt to pass the ordinance.

According to the law, renters must purchase a $5 permit from the city and swear that they are legally authorized to live in the United States. “It would be reckless for any city to undertake an ordinance like this,” said Thomas Saenz, president and general counsel of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF), which along with the American Civil Liberties Union of Nebraska, sued to block the ordinance.

“We’re so homogenous that these fault lines are starting to develop,” and the question remains, said David Weber, a law professor at Creighton Universityin Omaha. “How do these states, especially in the Midwest, that have been so homogenous for so much time, deal with these issues of assimilation and immigration that the border states have been dealing with for years?”

Fremont Police Chief Jeffrey Elliott told the Los Angeles Times that so far 140 people have applied for the renters’ permit, less than half of the expected amount, and none has had a conflict with residency status. Former City Councilman and Democrat Bob Warner, proposed the ordinance in 2008 after he received complaints from his constituents about new immigrants straining social services including healthcare and education.

The ordinance survived several challenges, including a repeal proposal in February which failed by a vote of sixty to forty percent. Supporters of the ordinance, including Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, a conservative Republican who advises other states on crafting restrictive immigration measures, claimed victory when the Supreme Court refused to address the case last week. He noted that  that states covered by the federal appeals court, which has so far affirmed the ordinance — including Arkansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, and the Dakotas — could re-propose the ordinance since that court found that the ordinance did not interfere with federal immigration laws. Since the Supreme Court refused to hear the case, Kobach said, “all the cities there have to do is adopt the Fremont ordinance word for word and they will be on safe ground.”