Nebraska state lawmakers are pushing back against federal immigration enforcement with new legislation that would restrict ICE operations at schools, hospitals, courthouses and other sensitive locations.
Senator Margo Juarez, who represents District 5 including part of South Omaha, is introducing two bills addressing immigration enforcement.
"I am really trying to seek safety for our community," Juarez said.
One would prohibit immigration officers from wearing face masks, while another would limit ICE officers' ability to detain individuals in designated "safe" spaces.
"I just thought about the peace that people want to have when they're in these locations. Something really in today's environment that we might be taking for granted," Juarez said.
The safe spaces bill identifies 10 protected locations:
- Hospital or other facility providing healthcare services
- School, preschool, or postsecondary educational institution
- Library
- Designated disaster or emergency response site
- Courthouse
- Homeless shelter, rape crisis center, domestic violence shelter, family justice center, or human trafficking service provider
- Legal service provider
- Community resource center
- Place of religious worship
- Child care facility
Tim Royers, president of the Nebraska State Education Association, said the teachers union supports the safe spaces bill.
"As we've talked with educators across the state, there's a lot of unease and uncertainty, especially as they see what's going on elsewhere in the country. They just wanna make sure that schools remain places for learning, that they don't feel schools should be sites for immigration enforcement," Royers said.
Juarez said if the bill had been in effect, it could have prevented the detention of the four individuals taken into custody by ICE at the Douglas County Courthouse on Monday.
"Yes, that would be my goal is that those individuals would have been protected because they are in a courthouse and that is one of the designated places in my bill," Juarez said.
However, Douglas County Sheriff Aaron Hanson questions the bill's enforceability.
"As I look at this bill, although I can tell that the intentions were probably good, I think ultimately it's gonna be unworkable because it's not going to comply with US law and it's gonna be unenforceable because what law enforcement agency in the state level is gonna arrest federal agents," Hanson said.
He said he's worried the legislation could have a negative impact on law enforcement and public safety.
"Take for example, the MS-13 kingpin gang leader that we intercepted here in Douglas County. He had violated no state law. Ultimately he was taken into custody because of violations of immigration law. Hands would be tied if that individual were taking refuge in one of these types of locations," Hanson said.
The legislation would require federal agents to obtain a judicial warrant before entering these designated safe spaces for immigration enforcement
The bills are still in committee. Juarez expects hearings in February.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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