Saturday, July 12, 2008

Breaking a few eggs to roust a few Mexicans


The problem with representative democracy is that you can't legally keep fools from voting, and you certainly can't keep them from electing even bigger fools to public office.

RIGHT NOW, there's a frightening example of that right in my back yard, a half hour away in Fremont, Neb., as reported by the Omaha World-Herald. Briefly, what's going on just northwest of Omaha is that some Gomers got together in that small city to elect an even bigger Gomer to the city council, one who now proposes an ordinance that would require all prospective renters be licensed by the city.

To get a city renter's license -- which they'd have to obtain before every rental -- residents would have to undergo a background check to determine their legal right to be in the country:

A proposed law aimed at banishing illegal immigrants from Fremont, Neb., would require every renter —whether they were born in the United States or immigrated here — to obtain an occupancy license through the city.

The proposal has sparked an outcry among advocates for Latinos. Nebraska Appleseed attorney Norm Pflanz said he is confident that many Fremont citizens will join in opposition once they understand the full impact of the ordinance — on their lives as well as those of immigrants.

Fremont's is the first city council in the state to propose an ordinance that would ban harboring and renting to illegal immigrants. Lawmakers in other U.S. localities have introduced similar initiatives, often later struck down by the courts, according to national immigration groups.

Bob Warner, the longtime councilman who sponsored Fremont's proposal, said he did so because residents were "sick and tired" of what he said was the federal government's lax enforcement of immigration laws.

He said Fremont residents want their own immigration laws.

"I'll fight to the dying end to do what they want," Warner said. "I don't know why everybody is making a mountain out of something that is very simple."

The proposal that went to the council for a public hearing this week calls for all renters to fill out an application verifying their legal right to be in the United States. The applications would be submitted to local police for verification, and an occupancy license would be issued.

Every person occupying a rented home or apartment would have to hold an occupancy license at a cost of $5 each. A new license would be needed every time a resident relocated to a different rental unit.
THAT'S RIGHT, in the name of rolling back the Mexican tide from Main Street Nebraska, Gomers like Bob Warner are perfectly willing to re-create a little bitty, corn-fed version of Soviet Russia.

If that's how the people of Fremont roll -- and if the city's Supreme Soviet wants the anti-illegal immigrant pogram to be truly effective -- why stop with $5-a-pop renter's licenses? Why not add provisions for internal passports and random police checkpoints to the measure?

How about a network of informants to alert the authorities to "people who don't belong here"?

AND IF the Fremont City Council goes forward with Warner's plan to cut down a forest of rights to get at the Mexican Menace among us, then we can go ahead and change Nebraska's state motto from "Equality Before the Law" to something more apropos.

Like "Your Papers, Please."

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