On Wednesday, the Nebraska Legislature’s Judiciary Committee announced that it will not advance an Arizona-style bill or other unworkable state-level proposals to regulate immigration. (Other state-level immigration proposals before the committee included LB 569, a bill to require E-Verify for all Nebraska employers, and LR 28, a resolution to encourage all Nebraska law enforcement to enroll in the “Secure Communities” local police and immigration enforcement program.)
Nebraska’s Judiciary Committee has taken the wise position that workable immigration reform must come from the federal level. Last week’s hearing on an Arizona-style bill brought an overwhelming show of concern from a wide array of Nebraska institutions and perspectives, including local police, the League of Nebraska Municipalities, the University of Nebraska, theCenter for Rural Affairs, the Nebraska Catholic Conference, numerous other faith groups, the Latino American Commission, the NAACP, the ACLU and other legal opinions, the Nebraska State Education Association, the League of Women Voters, the Anti-Defamation League, business groups, and many others who also testified in support of Senator Council’s resolution for common-sense federal immigration reform (LR 39).
It was clear from last week’s testimony that Nebraska values do not support an Arizona-style law in our state.
It was also clear from the testimony that LB 48 would bring costly litigation to Nebraska during a budget deficit, create a very serious unfunded mandate on cities and police, undermine community policing and law enforcement’s ability to fight crime, increase the likelihood of discrimination against many Nebraska residents, and harm our state’s reputation. Appleseed Testimony