Warner introduces illegal immigration proposal

I am writing to comment on the article written by Don Bowen concerning the proposal presented at the City Council Meeting concerning illegal immigrants and his desire to have an ordinance to help curb the illegal immigrants in this community. If you were present at the meeting, and Don Bowen was present, you would know that the way the proposal/motion that was defined in the paper does not match what the proposal/motion was in the meeting. Mr. Warner's motion was, "to have the City of Fremont study an ordinance to prohibit harboring, hiring, or renting to illegal immigrants in this city." The article states the motion was to "direct city staff to look into the feasibility of an ordinance to ban any resident or any business from harboring, hiring, or transporting illegal immigrants." I believe what Mr. Bowen did was take pieces of Mr. Warner's motion, pieces of ordinances and federal laws already existing elsewhere, and disucssion on what some council members wanted in an ammendment to the motions, and piece together an incorrect statement. Dean Skokan, the City Attorney, explained when asked by me if an ordinance like this is enforceable or legal, and he stated that at least one of these has been declared unconstitutional, and also that if the federal law exists, it is not possible for local or state law making bodies to tread on that law or enforce the federal law. What I wanted to do with Mr. Warner's motion was to word it in such a way that it would allow city staff to look at the possibility of such an ordinance being drawn up, and determine if it is legal and would pass the court test.........in other words, see if it would be enforceable and possible. Mr. Warner did not want such an ammendment, and as poorly worded as his motion was, I did not believe it would get us what we really wanted or needed unless it was ammended. Let me be very clear, I do NOT think the federal government does a very good job enforcing the laws banning illegal immigration, and they tie our hands to do what we locally need to do, and also that I would be happy to vote for an ordinance that would allow the City of Fremont to more closely monitor and prevent illegal immigrants from being here; but, I want to be sure that whatever we propose and pass is legal, is enforceable, and will not be declared unconstitutional. The way Mr. Warner's motion was worded, I felt an amendment would make it clearer and would get us to where we need to be on this issue. Had the motion been reworded to say what we really want to achieve, I would have gladly supported it. I would also like to have Don be more careful in getting the facts of a motion correct in the paper. He sits at the same meeting I attend, and this is not the first time the paper does not match the discussion or the motion.

Gary Bolton
City Council President

At least Bob Warner has the guts to try to do something about the illegals. I don't believe in a hundred years the Federal government is having trouble with the illegals, They are just to lazy to try. If we can't get it done lets go to the Federal government and depand they do something. Like the old saying we have plenty oil here in the USA but all our dipsticks are in Washington.

Thank you, Gary, for the clarification.
I appreciate your post.

Enforcing our Immigration Laws and Securing National Borders are not partisan, divisive, or polarizing issues! In current polls vast majority of United States Citizens want our Immigration Laws Enforced and our National Borders Secured. Politicians without their own or their Elitist Political "Contributor’s" self serving agenda support their citizens and not their Elitist "Contributors".

Thank you Gary for posting and clearing this up. I for one am excited to know that the council is taking this seriously. Its about time someone does. I am sure, you and the other council men read the comments on the letter about illegals here the last couple weeks. If we can word this right we can take this into our own hands. The federal government isn't doing enough, and people in this town are ready to do whats needed. Roll up your sleeves guys figure it out, and pass it. We're all rooting for it.

The federal government is not having trouble, they just are ignoring the issue. They do not want to "solve the problem" because to their financial backers there is no problem. Big business wants the illegals here because they save them millions. They work for lower wages, do not demand equal treatment or benefits. Why don't they demand higher wages, fair treatment or benefits? because they do not want to make waves and be sent back. It is getting to the point of government acceptable slavery. These businesses are lining their pockets at the cost of those who are afraid to speak against what is happening.

Isn't this already the law of the land, just not enforced at all anymore? I remember when local businesses told me that they had illegals coming to the back door looking for a job and they had to turn them down because it is ILLEGAL to hire them. I also remember a local business person who because of background had helped some that came through years ago, the article was in the paper and at the time people wondered how that could be made public without repercussions but mostly I think ignored it because back then there were so few and it was being done out of compassion. I don't know where it ever got to the point where they could march in the street saying they were illegal without repercussions. But remember folks don't judge too hard, you can't tell by looking who is legal and who is not and there are some great immigrants in our town right now. I know some that as far as I know are legal and they are among the nicest people in Fremont.

Why would anyone think that a city ordinance would help this situation in any way shape or form when the city doesn't enforce compliance of current ordinances? The slumlord situation is the perfect example. Let's see a story on this situation. The public health dept. receives many complaints and the housing committee from the Dodge Cty Collaboration would be your best source. Get real!

I doubt this ordinance would stand up legally in the long run, and would cost the city a bunch of legal fees.

Mr. Bolton, I was at that meeting and I actually heard pretty close to the same thing Don reported. And Kudos to Warner for having the guts to bring it up to start with, he will be sorely missed on the council. However,with all due respect, you sir seemed to sit there with a scowlly look on your face, acting like you were not least bit interested in listening to anything. I have gone to a number of meetings and you appear to take that stance rather frequently. I think if you thought all the i's be dotted and t's crossed before even considering studying this issue, you should have put that across at the meeting. I felt Warners idea was more of a plan to get city government off their collective heinies and come up with a plan or plans to combat this real threat. From where I sat sir, you could have come down from your high horse and welcomed the fact their are ideas for solutions to the problem and you need to be open enough to listen.
Even though Bob Warner is not from my ward , I beleive once he retires we will have seen the last bit of common sense and committment walk out of the council. Good luck in the future Bob and their are alot of us in Fremont that supports your immigration ideas. At least you are offering up one!

thank goodness at least fremont wants to do the right thing---if they want to live here, they need to be citizens, fight our wars, and PAY TAXES! like everyone else!!!!

I applaud Mr. Bolton’s efforts to make sure that any ordinance is "legal and enforceable". Just passing ordinances for the sake of saying we are fighting illegal immigration is not constructive.
I don’t believe illegal immigration is an issue that can be dealt with effectively at a local level.
If we as a community were to pass an ordinance that would make it illegal to harbor, hire or transport any illegal alien, we would be passing a law that would make criminals of citizens of Fremont, and would do nothing to the illegal alien.
Additionally, the resources required to investigate violations of this ordinance would be substantial. It would not be a case of just go out and arrest the guy who has a Hispanic guy working for him. The police would have to prove that the Hispanic man was here illegally and that the man who employed him was aware of his illegal status.
Are we going to hire more police officers to accomplish this? How many more? How many illegals do you think one officer can investigate in a week, versus how many illegals come to Fremont in a week?
I am completely against illegal immigration, I don’t want to pay for the cost of housing, or caring for illegals, but I don’t believe that this ordinance is the answer. This is our Federal Governments mess. They need to clean it up.

Gary, I agree with you completely. As a 4th ward Councilman, I too was trying to get clarification on the motion. I even asked "Are we voting on a study or an ordinance?" The reply to me was "It is what it is." I stated that I thought a study for a possible ordinance would be in order. If we have an ordinance proposed , it has to be a workable, enforceable ordinance and if enforcement is going to be on a local level, we have to have the manpower to enforce it. One of the city ordinances mentioned has already been declared unconstitutional. If we draft the same type of ordinance, and it also ultimately is declared unconstitutional, then we will have used considerable time and money to come to a dead-end. This is why I said that a study "is" in order, so we don't waste time and resources to come to a dead-end.
For the article written in the Fremont Tribune to simply state "Gary Bolton, Scott Getzschman, and John Anderson voted against the study." is wrong, completely wrong! The way the motion was proposed, I wasn't sure what I was voting on or if this could get us what we want and need to have a workable ordinance. I too feel there is a problem to be addressed, but we owe it to the residents and taxpayers in Fremont to make sure we address it the right way.

John Anderson
Councilman, Ward 4

It's about time someone does something. The situation is getting out of hand. I thinks it's wonderful. It should be implemented in all of the United States.
Thank You

I was also at the meeting that night and had the same thoughts with you regards to how Gary handled it. Even in his blog about Don Bowen he states, "and as poorly worded as his motion was".

Gary could have learned a lot from Bob over the last few years, but apparently he has been too involved in the school system to give credit to anyone; but is quick to criticize other's intelligence, grammar, etc.

Bob will be greatly missed!

I’m just curious at this point who Skip will pick to replace Charlie’s City Council position and how long Skip will stay in office before stepping down and giving the Mayor’s position to Gary. It does seem awfully coincidental that Gary retires about the same time Skip decided to run for re-election.

Based on Mr Bolton and Mr. Anderson's comments, it sounds to me like the City council persons all need to attend some sort of communication training. Wow, and these people are serving our city on a high level and can't seem to be on the same page in the same room at the same meeting. This is what happens when a limited debate setting occurs that sets up the good old boys to be in a win-win situation prior to being elected.

To NJB:

The only i's I wanted dotted and t's I wanted crossed were those in the exact wording of the motion so that it would be clear to each coucil person what it was we would be voting on, and would in turn give the City Attorney the direction he needed. I did not think the current wording in Mr. Warner's motion would do that. Neither did some of the others. My comments were not intended to be disrespectful at all, only to be sure that the motion was clear, was written in such a way that it would truly give us the end result we wanted, and that was to study the possibility, the legality, and the constitutionality of what we would be attempting to do. My "no" vote was only because I thought the motion in its current form was unclear. Nothing more. Sorry if the look on my face seemed to cause you to believe I was not listening, was disinterested, or anything else along that line. I was simply listening and trying to work toward a motion that might pass with an 8-0 vote.

Aside from ordinances, legalities, etc. The Council should take a look at just getting rid of Hormels. With no source of income the illegals will leave. Would it hurt the economy/community? Certainly. Chasing the illegals out will do the same. Ridding the community of Hormels is easier and more defendable in a legal sense if there is a genuine interest in fixing "the problem".

Wow.....Mr Bolton doesn't seem to like it much when a story comes out in the paper that he voted against a very hot topic as far as the citizens are concerned.
Kudo's to Don Bowen for writng about it. Its about time some of this is brought to light, how things at the city council are voted on and by whom. It might make more people show up at the council meetings and pay attention to whats going on there.
Nice try on trying to cover your backside Gary.

This is a joke. Illegal immigration is an emotional issue on both sides. But strong, hateful emotions are not going to be able to enforce any ordinance. Bob Warner made it clear that he's not talkin' about deporting illegal immigrants....he just doesn't want them to be able to live here in Fremont. All an ordinance like this would do is make every hispanic person in Fremont leave town. They're not going to go back to Mexico...just to another nice, small town where they can hope to make a living....resulting in a loss of sales tax revenue, an increase in low income housing and the closing of a few, large businesses (Hormel) in Fremont. Is that what we want??? This "study of an ordinance" which does not make any sense to begin with...even if one was crafted and passed, will not result in any change. But the fact that our council passed the "study" just reinforces the obvious fact that our town only wants a certain type of people to live here in Fremont. Gee...I hope I'm good enough. We have a huge meth problem here, but since those druggies are American citizens, we won't crack down on them. We'd rather give the hispanic community the boot.
So if you really want to do something about illegal immigration...you should probably encourage grumpy ol' Bob Warner to run for the U.S. Senate or Congress. That would be funny!

There are alot of people who never got to vote for mayor in the primaries.If Scott was to win on a write in,would there be some hidden rule saying since he lost in the primary and that it doesn't count??I know the way things get twisted to suit the $ in Fremont.

So our town is just worried about mexicans huh? What about the level 3 sex offends living right next door to our homes, our schools, any where they want?There are more and more everyday! They move here cause they can live right next to a school or a daycare and no one will bother them. I think the focus should be on the pervs not the people who are just tring to make a better life for their families!

You can enact and enforce employment laws that keep illegals from working as we have recently done here in Arizona. It makes the business accountable and even puts their business license in jeopardy if they are caught hiring illegals. Feel free to check into it at any time.

Hormels seemed to thrive before ....

I am all for Bob Warner. Some one has to put a stop to this invasion. It has nothing to do with immigration. If it was then they would put back in to this Country. The Mayor and other city Goverment wont do a thing about it because they think it is all about money and Hormel. We survived before woth out them and we can do it again, meaning the illegals. I am by "Rule of Law" I do not care what color you are or anything else I just want you here legally. If my wife can do it so can the rest of them.I think we as citizens of Fremont should go to the Council meetings and support mr Warner instead of letting the other person do all the work.Get off your butts and show your support to save OUR town. Other cities have done it so can we. Stand together and be strong and show support or else we will be a dieing town. The only way our police can handle the Illegals is to be certified by ICE. There are grants out there to be able to do this. I have been told that when Immigration is called they do not show up. They wont for one person but they will for 5 or more. Remember THEY have broken the LAW and must be delt with. If we brake the law no matter how slight we are punished with a fine or jaile. What makes them so spicial??

Let's start turning the tables on Hormel. We need INS at the Hormel plant as we as a community must fight to keep these illegals from ruining our town. Do we want to end up like Schuyler? We need the city council to save our town from certain destruction from a corporation who does not care about our town.

why cant we just leave the poor mexicans alone if they are doing no harm..the bad ones deserve to go back to mexico just like any other illegal imagrant.by the way why are we only looking,talking,and messing with the mexicans.why havent any other races being talked about....