The city of Fremont voted to prevent hiring and renting to illegal immigrants in June.

But the ban hasn't taken effect while the courts rule on lawsuits that claim it discriminates.

Now, a federal judge decided she wants the Nebraska Supreme Court to settle a question, before she proceeds any further.

U.S. District Judge Laurie Smith-Camp says she'll ask the high court whether cities have the power under Nebraska law to put restrictions on who can rent a residence or be hired for work.

Judge Camp says if the high court can answer that, then she'll address the federal questions raised in the lawsuits brought by the ACLU and the Mexican American Legal Defense & Educational Fund.

Meantime, people both for and against the ordinance presented their cases to civil rights experts in Lincoln Wednesday.

The Nebraska Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights was concerned with the new law and requested testimony from Fremont citizens.

The advisory committee met to gather information concerning Fremont's city ordinance to determine if it infringes on people's civil rights.

What they got were arguments of civil rights violations from both sides.

Ordinance opponent Leslie Valez says, "I hope that your committee will seriously take into consideration helping Fremont, Nebraska...My dad has been yelled at cleaning our windows at his business. He's been yelled at, 'go back to Mexico.' This doesn't only happen to my dad, but it happens to everyone in Fremont."

The Nebraska Advisory Committee chose to research the ordinance over concerns the new law might violate civil rights. ACLU Nebraska agrees.

Amy Miller, ACLU Nebraska, says, "This issue that Fremont brought before us is as classic of a civil rights battle as those that we thought were won in the 1960's."

Ordinance opponents claim the harassment is escalating to threats.

Ordinance opponent Kristin Ostrom says, "Another person said they received numerous calls at their business about burning their Hispanic business down."

But others say only those here illegally are worried about the harassment.

Ordinance supporter Dimitri Krinski says, "If somebody would harass an American citizen, this citizen has a legal remedy of what to do against this harassment."

Some say anyone who opposes the law is facing harassment.

Miller says, "The law is also impacting anyone in Fremont who has brown skin, Hispanic surname, a Spanish accent or is a white ally of those people."

But supporters of the ordinance say they're also facing harassment. "I have people in my driveway. I have them painting on my property. So I'm not guessing, I'm living it."

Other supporters wonder whose civil rights are being violated, the opponents' or the supporters'.

Ordinance supporter Meg Morehouse says, "I never ever hear anyone talk about the civil rights of U.S. citizens to have their immigration laws enforced and to have some sort of management or monitoring of their immigration laws, to have some sort of national and in-state sovereignty maintained and have their borders secured. Are those not civil rights?"

The committee will now discuss Wednesday's findings and determine whether to conduct an actual study of the law.

If they choose to, they'll then submit the results of that study to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.