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Pa. city OKs illegal immigration overhaul
2006/9


By MICHAEL RUBINKAM, Associated Press Writer 4 minutes ago

HAZLETON, Pa. - The City Council gave tentative approval Friday to an overhaul of an anti-illegal-immigration law considered to be one of the nation‘s toughest, hoping to put the measure on sounder legal footing.

The revisions, however, remove much of the burden that had been placed on businesses. They soften penalties, give landlords and businesses time to correct violations and leaving it to city officials to verify workers‘ immigration status with the federal government.

Last week, the city of 31,000 residents agreed not to enforce the original law after the American Civil Liberties Union and Hispanic groups sued in federal court to overturn it. In return, the plaintiffs agreed not to seek an injunction against the city.

David Vaida, a civil rights lawyer who also sued the city, said the new ordinance has the same flaws as the old one.

Witold J. Walczak, legal director of the ACLU of Pennsylvania, predicted that the law will exacerbate tensions in the city by encouraging neighbors to inform on one another.

Mayor Lou Barletta, however, said the law specifically forbids the city from investigating any complaint based solely on a person‘s ethnicity or race.