LINCOLN, Neb. – Newly available records show that Fremont officials made use of a federal online program to investigate community members’ citizenship or immigration status, but only for professional licensing applications — not for enforcing the city’s controversial immigrant housing ban.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Nebraska says that is the main takeaway from documents federal authorities provided in response to one of its recent lawsuits. This week, the civil rights organization filed a court motion to dismiss its case and accept a stipulated amount of attorneys fees.
The lawsuit challenged the Department of Homeland Security and one of its agencies for failing to respond to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request that sought records related to housing ordinances in Fremont and Scribner. The ordinances force prospective renters to answer a question about their immigration status and task local law enforcement officers with investigating if someone attests they are not a U.S. citizen or unsure of their immigration status.
In response to the lawsuit, officials turned over a spreadsheet and 13-page document, showing Fremont used a federal program between 2015 and 2017 to seek information on 21 workers who had applied for a professional license — the only Nebraska municipality to use that system according to its online records. The ACLU of Nebraska's FOIA request involved any records from 2014 to present day. Officials provided no records from outside of 2015 to 2017 and no records about Fremont and Scribner's housing ordinances.
After receiving those records, the ACLU of Nebraska filed a similar records request with ICE given past reporting that Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach pressed the agency to investigate Fremont renters during his time as a contract attorney for the city.
Dylan Severino, legal fellow at the ACLU of Nebraska, made this statement:
“We are pleased to finally have more concrete information, and we expect to gain a clearer picture with our ICE request,” Severino said. “With that said, it should not have taken a lawsuit to get these basic details. Federal law outlines clear obligations for responding to public records requests. Those are not suggestions. As we work to better understand the scope of any federal involvement with these anti-immigrant housing bans, we hope officials take notice of the outcome of this case and make sure they are being responsive to future requests. Otherwise, we will see them in court.”
The ACLU and ACLU of Nebraska sued Fremont 14 years ago, seeking to overturn its rental ban on the basis that it conflicts with the federal government’s sole authority to regulate immigration and has a discriminatory effect. The 8th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled against the challenge in a split opinion. Recently, Fremont’s mayor said that the city needs to embrace its immigrant community, adding that although the ordinance remains on the books, it is impossible to enforce.
The ACLU of Nebraska frequently relies on public records to advance its work on a range of civil rights issues, including immigrants’ rights. Two years ago, a similar lawsuit prompted DHS officials to release dozens of pages of records on an immigration raid in and near O’Neill, Nebraska.