The Militant (logo)  

Vol. 71/No. 37      October 8, 2007

 
Anti-immigrant law pushed
back in Riverside, N.J.
 
BY BRIAN WILLIAMS  
NEWARK, New Jersey—Authorities in the south New Jersey town of Riverside voted September 17 to rescind an anti-immigrant law passed by the Township Council in July 2006.

“This is the latest in a string of defeats for these ordinances,” Omar Jadwat, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union’s (ACLU) Immigrants’ Rights Project, told Reuters. “Those towns should look at the writing on the wall and see that this isn’t an option that’s open to them.”

The “Illegal Immigration Relief Act” would have imposed fines starting at $1,000 for hiring an undocumented worker or for renting to anyone who cannot prove they are in the United States legally.

Passage of the ordinance was met with a protest of 300 in August 2006 and an aggressive countermobilization of 400 rightists carrying U.S. and Confederate flags and chanting “Scram!”

The ACLU, together with the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund (PRLDEF) and People for the American Way Foundation, filed a lawsuit saying the measure violates civil rights under the New Jersey constitution.

According to PRLDEF, 129 municipalities nationwide have passed or are considering such measures. None has implemented them.

In July, a federal judge declared a similar anti-immigrant law in Hazleton, Pennsylvania, unconstitutional. Similar rulings have occurred in Escondido, California; Valley Park, Missouri; and Farmers Branch, Texas. Riverside, which has a population of about 8,000, was the first city to repeal its law prior to a court ruling.

“The fact that they rescinded these policies show that they are not feasible,” said Dolores Ortiz, a member of Pan American Solidarity Organization at Temple University, who lives in Pennsauken, New Jersey, outside Riverside. “Now it’s very polarized. Before the ordinance was passed, all residents were accepted. It was never a question of whether someone was legal or not.”

Ellen Berman in Philadelphia contributed to this article.
 
 
Related articles:
SWP candidate: ‘Legalization now!’  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home