by KYW's Hadas Kuznits
Riverside, NJ city council members passed their controversial "Illegal Immigration Relief Act" following a lengthy and emotional public hearing.
A strong police presence couldn't keep residents from speaking out of turn:
"It's my turn! Why don't you shut up!"
So many people showed up for Riverside's illegal immigration ordinance that the meeting was moved from the municipal building to the high school. The issue at hand was hiring and renting to illegal aliens:
"We gotta take 'em to some of these houses and show 'em that there's 20 people living in the house, there's 10 living in that one, there's 30 living in there!"
"My concern is, how are we going to enforce this?"
"The biggest issue is that the council put race into the cards by using 'illegal aliens,' when they already had ordinances that they could police this matter without bringing the race card into it -- making the people look racist when they're not. They just want the right amount of people to live in this house safely."
The ordinance passed, meaning anyone in Riverside who hires or rents or leases property to an illegal immigrant is subject to a $1,000 fine.
"How can you tell who's illegal or who's not? Can you tell them by color? Can you tell them by race? Can you tell them by accent? I have an accent, but I'm fully legal."
Some applauded council members for taking on the issue; others pleaded with them to reconsider.
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