LINCOLN — The Fremont City Council is considering a resolution to urge residents to resist “negative or divisive behavior” in the wake of a controversial immigration ordinance approved by voters in June.
Fremont City Administrator Bob Hartwig said that city officials are concerned about increased tension in the community, though he was unaware that 65 allegations of racially harassing or threatening incidents had been fielded since the June 21 special election by a group that opposed the ordinance.
“The city administration and the City Council are both concerned about keeping the ordinance in perspective,” Hartwig said Thursday. “There are tensions in the community, but the bottom line for me is that we know that Fremont is a great place to live and most people get along in the community.”
Hartwig's comments came a day after a Nebraska civil rights panel was told by members of “One Fremont One Future” that incidents of harassment had increased in the community, and that the vote had granted a “license” for people to shout threats like “go back to Mexico” to citizens who had brown skin or appeared Hispanic.
Three incidents reported to the group, “One Fremont One Future” officials said, could be described as “hate crimes” — a threat to burn down a business, a BB gun aimed at people inside a home, and a child being pushed to the ground.
Both Hartwig and Fremont Police Chief Tim Mullen said the city had fielded only one complaint of racial harassment, and that was from a Caucasian man who reported an obscenity yelled at him from a passing car. No arrests were made.
Mullen said he's heard anecdotal reports of about a half-dozen racial slurs being yelled at people in parking lots or stores. He said his department has met with local Hispanics to urge them to report any incidents and plans to continue to push that message.
“We welcome the public to come in and report these incidents to us. We're very willing to investigate them,” the police chief said.
Mullen disputed one report of harassment that was given Wednesday to the Nebraska Advisory Committee of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. Bertha Valenzuela of Fremont said two of her sons were asked for citizenship papers by the Fremont police as they investigated a complaint about loud music at her home on June 21.
Mullen said Thursday that his review of the police report, and a conversation with the two officers involved, indicated that they had only made a “routine” request for identification.
During a press conference at the State Capitol on Thursday, Gov. Dave Heineman, a native of Fremont, was asked about the increase in racial harassment complaints following the vote.
He said he didn't like to see that but said it was caused by the federal government's failure to secure the nation's borders, provide a quicker process to legal immigration and address the illegal immigrants in the nation already.
Heineman said the focus of legislation he's backed, and the Fremont ordinance, was “if you're illegal, you shouldn't be here.”
“There's no doubt there's growing tension. I'd like to see it alleviated,” he said.
The Fremont ordinance, which is on hold as lawsuits work through the court system, authorizes fines against Fremont landlords who rent to illegal immigrants and allows sanctions against employers who hire illegal workers.
Contact the writer:
402-473-9584, paul.hammel@owh.com
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