Omaha? Sanctuary City?
Why Did Stothert Get Involved?
I really do not care much about the immigration issue because so much misinformation is out there. The issue is exploited by political partisans on all sides and government officials to the extent, the topic is always very distorted.
However, I agree with Trump and his supporters in bringing immigration under manageable control and weeding out criminal elements. Yet, I still think all these immigrants are being played for pawns in a partisan political game they simply do not understand and are left in fear to figure out what to do.
Often there is some element of racism along religious and linguistic lines. Even the use of the term “Hispanic” erases people of their national heritage merely because they speak Spanish. Dare I mention the term "non-Hispanic whites", which ignores the Hispanic heritage of the US by casting English speakers as "non-Hispanic whites"?
I can understand the fears of migrants as the US Customs and Border Protection app CBP One stopped working and appointments canceled (https://abc7news.com/post/cbp-app-no-longer-available-existing-appointments-cancelled-migrants/15819702/). I also understand why the Omaha Police Department saw the need to respond. Yet here is a video of Mayor Jean Stothert with the Omaha Police Department outlining what the law is. It has over 25,000 views.
I am not seeking to attack Stothert on this but to state my wariness of partisan politics on immigration. Her statements create an impression of Omaha as a sanctuary city and with her attention to the issue, raises more concerns about how the City of Omaha will act on the issue. Perhaps the Stothert administration is paying too much attention to activists on Facebook, or perhaps migrants are in a panic over Trump’s election.
If you still doubt my thoughts on this matter, watch the video. The majority of the video is two Spanish-speaking Omaha Police Officers explaining the law. As far as I am concerned, those are the only two people who needed to speak. Having Hispanic officers speak on the matter shows the City is diverse and caring. Why have the Mayor or Chief of Police speak at all? In the end, Stothert added fuel to flames over the debate over immigration.
Time for Stothert to move on!
The fact that rent is so high in Omaha (and in Lincoln?) can be blamed at least partially on illegal immigration. Landlords in Omaha do NOT want to rent to illegals. They have very strong feelings about this.
Someone I know had their landlord monologue AT LENGTH about the problems that Illegals (and immigrants in general) cause for Omaha landlords, and why they were trying to upgrade all of their properties to make them luxury rentals. My contact characterized the tone of the monologue as incredibly racist and bigoted, but... I don't know that it entirely was. I'm well aware, having grown up in a third world country myself, that the culture clash of American standards for rental property upkeep and third world standards for the same is capable all on its own of creating a great deal of landlord/renter friction.
Nevertheless, the resulting high motivation of landlords to raise the prices on their properties at all cost becomes seriously problematic on far too many levels. Cities NEED affordable housing. Without affordable housing, there is a whole swath of service industry jobs that become much more challenging to fill, because people who can't find affordable housing, who are forced out on the street, are just not going to be willing to stick around and do the jobs. And living on the street while working a job is absolutely not a reasonable expectation in Omaha, especially in winter.
So--in case it isn't brutally crystal clear to everyone who rents in Omaha: illegal immigration is WHY you're paying double or triple (or more!) what rental property is worth. (and this of course has a knock-on effect with the overall cost/value of real estate too). It's also why fast food joints and restaurants are having trouble attracting enough workers--as is retail.