Judge Rules Against Neb. City's Immigration Plan

Associated Press (AP) — A federal judge has thrown out most of a Nebraska city's controversial ordinance that sought to ban hiring illegal immigrants or renting property to them.

U.S. District Court Judge Laurie Smith Camp issued her ruling Monday in a lawsuit the Mexican American Legal Defense & Educational Fund and American Civil Liberties Union filed challenging Fremont's 2010 ordinance.

Attorney Shirley Mora James, who worked with MALDEF, says the judge effectively gutted the ordinance. The law has been on hold while the lawsuits were decided.

The Fremont ordinance was approved by voters in the eastern Nebraska city of 25,000. It would've required employers to check whether a person is permitted to work in the U.S. Anyone seeking to rent property would have had to apply for a $5 city permit.