About 100 people gathered Wednesday night to hear three panelists discuss racism and immigration law issues, with one panelist comparing a new Arizona law to the Jim Crow laws of the past.

The panel, called "Brown Person, Show Me Your Papers," included S.A. Mora James, a Latina civil rights attorney; Norman Pflanz, an attorney for the Nebraska Appleseed Center for Law in the Public Interest; and Paul Olson, a University of Nebraska-Lincoln professor and president of Nebraskans for Peace.

James compared the stringent law in Arizona to the Jim Crow laws used against blacks. The Arizona law would make the failure to carry immigration documents a crime and give the police broad power to detain anyone suspected of being in the country illegally.

"Now it's Juan Crow laws," James said. "We need reform, not subjugation.

"I should not have to show any documents to anyone for just walking down the street. This is not Nazi Germany."

She said the Arizona law's clear purpose is to segregate and intimidate Latinos.

Pflanz provided a timeline and information about a Fremont ordinance being voted on June 21.

The controversial proposed ordinance prohibits harboring, renting to or hiring illegal immigrants.

Pflanz said many communities the size of Fremont who have passed similar legislation have racked up huge legal fees upwards of $3 million.

"It's divisive and costly to these communities," Pflanz said of the laws. "It sets up fear."

Olson criticized the Federation American Immigration Reform group, which was behind the wording of the Arizona law.

FAIR recently was designated a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, a nonprofit civil rights organization.

The Nebraskans for Peace president also discussed how the Arizona legislation may affect Nebraska.

He said he sees the Fremont vote as setting a precedent for the state.

"If we lose Fremont, we lose the state," Olson told the crowd. "But if we win or are close, we have a good chance of winning the state."

Olson encouraged those in audience at the Lincoln Unitarian Church, 63rd and A streets, many of whom included members of Nebraskans for Peace and the Unitarian Church, to contact state senators and voice their opinions about immigration laws.

He said he's confident that a bill similar to Arizona's proposed by Nebraska state Sen. Charlie Janssen of Fremont won't get out of committee in the Nebraska Statehouse.

But Olson said he wants to be sure there aren't 30 senators supporting the bill in order to pull it out of committee.

"I'm optimistic about stopping this," Olson said.

Reach Jordan Pascale at 402-473-7120 or jpascale@journalstar.com.