Nebraska Unicameral Judiciary Committee Hearing

Omaha Together One Community Immigration Action Team Testimony

Presented December 5, 2011  

OTOC (Omaha Together One Community) believes that a strong and mutually respectful relationship between law enforcement officials and community members is vital to the public safety.   However, given the climate in Nebraska surrounding immigration, many of our immigrants live in fear of the police.  

OTOC has hosted three large assemblies, nineteen educational presentations and many house meetings with clergy and congregations and with school parents’ organizations in the past year.  Almost 2,000 persons have attended these events.  In many of these meetings, there are questions and concerns about interactions with police and other public safety officials.  We have heard of situations where Omaha police were thoughtful and helpful in difficult tension-filled situations with new immigrants.  We have also been told of an officer who appeared to be targeting Latinos, day after day, at the same location on I-80 between Omaha and Lincoln for “following too close.”   My high school aged son, who is Latino, was stopped in Sarpy County and interrogated by police officers about why he was in such an upscale neighborhood.   

However, the most consistent report we hear is that people are afraid.  Afraid of being targeted because of their appearance or their neighborhood, afraid of being stopped for trivial reasons as a pretext to harass or incarcerate them, afraid of being separated from their families, afraid of not being able to work and support their families, and afraid of the unknown.  As you know public safety officials have tremendous power.  Many members of our community and even immigration lawyers are unclear about how best to respond to police officers.  Do members of our community have to provide identification in all circumstances?  Is the Matricula Consular considered a valid identification?  Is an international driver’s license valid in Nebraska?  Will a routine traffic stop result in a stay in jail while immigration status is being determined?   Added to this uncertainty, are situations where there are language barriers and cultural differences.  

This fear is having a corrosive effect on the immigrant community in Omaha. As you know, it increases the risk that immigrants will be exploited by unscrupulous employers and victimized in the worst possible ways.  It also decreases the likelihood that law-abiding individuals will report violence in their homes and neighborhoods.  This fear results in isolation and distrust in the entire community. Who can we trust?  Who will betray us?  

As you also know, an interaction with a police officer may be the first step for an immigrant into what can be in Nebraska a years long nightmare of jail, immigration court appearances, prolonged detention, finally resulting in deportation.  This fear must be replaced with clarity and consistency.  This fear must be replaced by comprehensive federal immigration reform.  

Omaha Together One Community stands with people of major faith traditions, Christians, Jews and Muslims, all of whom charge us to “welcome the stranger.” Our prophetic traditions call upon us to speak on behalf of the rights of all persons to be treated with respect and dignity. Practically, this means that we Nebraskans will not place our police officers in a position where they are required to determine immigration status of any person they stop.  To do so would escalate the climate of fear which already exists, undermine the officers’ ability to  prevent crime and apprehend criminals and is inconsistent with our religious traditions.   

Instead, we call upon all members of this Unicameral, leaders and members of our community to apply pressure to the Nebraska members of Congress---Senators and Representatives--to adopt thorough, commonsense, workable and humane federal immigration reform that reflects the reality of our country’s workforce needs and our families and represents America at its best.

Posted 12/6/2011