Parts of Fremont immigration law tossed

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.omaha.com/article/20120220/NEWS97/702209899#parts-of-fremont-immigration-law-tossed

By Leslie Reed
WORLD-HERALD BUREAU

Both sides are declaring victory after a ruling Monday in which U.S. District Court Judge Laurie Smith Camp struck down portions of a controversial Fremont, Neb., ordinance against illegal immigration.

Camp threw out portions of the ordinance that dealt with housing restrictions, but she let stand requirements that Fremont employers verify workers as legal residents of the U.S. before giving them jobs.

Camp found that the housing portions of the ordinance violated the Fair Housing Act and were pre-empted by federal immigration law.

“It's a good day in Nebraska. It's a good day in America,” said Shirley Mora James, a Lincoln lawyer who helped represent a Fremont landlord and undocumented tenants in the case.

FULL story at link.

[OmahaBlueDog]

1. The housing restrictions were the really odious part of this law

I'm glad they were stricken.

The employee verification aspect really just echoes law that's already on the books, as far as I know. Both sides can claim victory, but Fremont looks like the loser here, to me.