Thread: About 300 rally against Hazleton crackdown on illegal immigr

http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centreda ... 434454.htm

Posted on Sun, Sep. 03, 2006

About 300 rally against Hazleton crackdown on illegal immigrants


Associated Press

HAZLETON, Pa. - About 300 people, many of them from Philadelphia and other parts of the state, rallied Sunday in opposition to the city's crackdown on illegal immigrants.

Those attending, some carrying signs bearing slogans such as "We The People Includes Everyone" and "The Only People Who Weren't Immigrants Are Native Americans," did not march or chant but listened to speeches from religious and civic leaders.

"This ordinance does not include only Latinos," organizer Dr. Agapito Lopez told the crowd. "Many people who are not Latinos will be without jobs if this becomes law."

Hazleton, a city of about 31,000 residents, approved one of the toughest laws of its kind in the United States on July 13, imposing $1,000 fines on landlords who rent to illegal immigrants, denying business permits to companies that give them jobs and making English the city's official language.

The city on Friday agreed to delay enforcing the law after the American Civil Liberties Union and Hispanic groups filed suit, calling the ordinance discriminatory and unworkable and saying it would foster discrimination against Hispanics who have come to the country legally. Mayor Lou Barletta said the city is working on a replacement ordinance that he believes will better stand up in court.

Four busloads of people came from Philadelphia, and the crowd included representatives from the Latino Coalition of Monroe County, the Latino Coalition of the Lehigh Valley, Jobs With Justice of Philadelphia and the Pennsylvania Statewide Latino Coalition.

Lopez estimated that only about a third of the crowd was from the Hazleton area. He said he would have preferred a higher local turnout, but the holiday weekend and the poor weather kept people from coming.

The Rev. Miguel Rivera, president of the Washington, D.C.-based National Coalition of Latino Clergy and Christian Leadership, said members were there to support people working on farms and in plants just a few miles away who did not come, fearing arrest by immigration authorities.

"We are here for what is just and what is moral," Rivera said, who also spoke to the crowd in Spanish.

Rabbi Michael Michlin, of Hazleton's Beth Israel Temple, quoted the Torah's admonition to "love the stranger" but said neither side of the debate should be considered evil.

"The issues involved in immigration are enormously complex and I do not know of one particular thing to do," Michlin said. "Is it any wonder that when one community tries to fix what we have ignored as nation, there is more hurt?"

"This is why we live here - to be united," said Anna Arias, president of the Hazleton Area Latino Association. "We do not want division. We do not want to be separate. We want to be the same as everybody else."


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Information from: Standard-Speaker, http://www.standardspeaker.com

http://today.reuters.com

Latinos protest Pennsylvania town's immigration law
Sun Sep 3, 2006 10:44 PM ET

By Jon Hurdle

HAZLETON, Pennsylvania (Reuters) - Latinos and their supporters gathered on Sunday to protest a local law that was the first in the United States to crack down on illegal immigration.

About 250 representatives of Hazleton's Hispanic community, and others from surrounding cities, met in a city park to protest the town's Illegal Immigration Relief Act Ordinance.

The ordinance penalizes businesses hiring illegal immigrants, fines landlords renting rooms to them and establishes English as the official language of the town.

Agapito Lopez of the Hazleton Area Latino Taskforce, an organizer of the event, said many illegal immigrants have left the town since the measure was passed by the city council on July 13.

"They don't want to be where they are not wanted," he told Reuters. He said some local farms and factories now have a labor shortage because illegal immigrants are leaving town.

Before the law was enacted, he estimated a quarter of the town's Latino population of some 10,000 were undocumented aliens.

The town's Latino population has surged to about a third of the 31,000 total from about 5 percent in 2000, officials say.

Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta, principal backer of the law, blames illegal immigration for rising crime and overburdened schools and hospitals being used by those who don't pay taxes.

Hazleton is being sued over the law by civil rights groups including the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, which says the measure has been copied by six other towns -- four in Pennsylvania, one in New Jersey and one in Missouri.

The city council last week agreed to delay implementing the law so it can be redrafted to exclude a measure that would have penalized shopkeepers for selling to illegal immigrants. A new version of law, which had been scheduled for implementation on September 11, could be voted on by the middle of the month.

Protesters were asked not to chant or shout to avoid a repeat of a rally in Riverside, New Jersey, on August 20 when opponents of that town's illegal immigration ordinance were heckled by hundreds of local residents.

Ed Makuta, 35, one of about a dozen local residents who gathered to oppose the protest, said he was "100 percent in favor of Barletta" and called Lopez a troublemaker. "He is the one causing divisions in this town," Makuta said.

John Studer, 59, who traveled from Philadelphia to support the protest, argued that the law is discriminatory.

"It's effect is that anyone who is Latino is going to come under special scrutiny," he said.

Then why cant we sue to ENFORCE THE LAW???

"This ordinance does not include only Latinos," organizer Dr. Agapito Lopez told the crowd. "Many people who are not Latinos will be without jobs if this becomes law."

The only people who will be stopped from taking jobs will be those can't legally work in the United States.

Four busloads of people came from Philadelphia, and the crowd included representatives from the Latino Coalition of Monroe County, the Latino Coalition of the Lehigh Valley, Jobs With Justice of Philadelphia and the Pennsylvania Statewide Latino Coalition.

Lopez estimated that only about a third of the crowd was from the Hazleton area (100 out of 300).

100 folks out of a community of 31,000 does not show a lot of support for the opposition.

What are the legal residents of Hazelton doing? Anyone heard?

http://www.standardspeaker.com

Protesters rally peacefully
Sunday, 03 September 2006
By L.A. TARONE
tarone@standardspeaker.com
About 300 people gathered in Memorial Park Sunday afternoon to show “unity” and opposition to Hazleton’s Illegal Immigration Relief Act. They carried signs, listened to a succession of speakers and joined in the religious tinge of the event. But they did not march or chant.

Four buses – three school buses from the Durham School Services and an Easton Coach – brought protesters from Philadelphia. The crowd included attendees from the Latino Coalition of Monroe County, the Latino Coalition of the Lehigh Valley, Jobs With Justice of Philadelphia and the Pennsylvania Statewide Latino Coalition.

Signs read, “We The People Includes Everyone,” “The Only People Who Weren’t Immigrants Are Native Americans” and “Statewide Solidarity.”
PSLC protesters wore yellow T-shirts that had the words “City of

Hazleton, PA. Illegal Immigration Relief Act Ordinance,” printed on front with a circle and a line through it. The back of the shirts read “Supporting our Latino Brothers and Sisters in Hazleton.” PSLC also brought its own security force, which wore bright red shirts.

Bright lime green hats dotted the crowd. They were worn by members of the National Lawyers Guild, who were there to act as witnesses in the event of any confrontations.

They had nothing to witness. There were no incidents, no heated exchanges. The event went off without a hitch. That was exactly what organizer Dr. Agapito Lopez said he wanted.

Lopez was the first speaker. He said the event’s purpose was to “show compassion for the people affected.” He was also very precise in his terminology. He said the event was an “interfaith vigil, not a demonstration.”

“We are not marching; no chanting, no screaming,” Lopez told attendees. “This is an event of solemnity and peace.

“We are here on hallowed ground at Memorial Park – a space dedicated to those who gave their lives defending this great county,” he said. “They died so we could have the constitutional right to express ourselves.”

Lopez briefly touched on his own military service in Vietnam, adding, “Many Latinos have died in service of this country.”

Lopez’s address centered more on unity than opposition to IIRA. But he again stated the ordinance would have a negative impact on the city and the area. He said its impact wouldn’t be felt by Latinos alone.

“This ordinance does not include only Latinos,” Lopez said. “Many people who are not Latinos will be without jobs if this becomes law.”

The majority of the other speakers were clergymen.

Rabbi Michael Michlin, of Hazleton’s Beth Israel Temple, added a lighthearted, somewhat conciliatory approach to his address. After joking about the weather, he poked fun at what he described as his old prejudices, using erratic driving as a metaphor.

“Mayor (Lou) Barletta is not evil; the people who organized this today are not evil,” Michlin said. “The issues involved in immigration are enormously complex and I do not know of one particular thing to do. Is it any wonder that when one community tries to fix what we have ignored as nation, there is more hurt?”

He also quoted the Torah and its admonition to “love the stranger.”
The Rev. Doug McKeeby quoted a passage from Leviticus with a similar theme. The Rev. Pat Sullivan from King’s College said he hoped the U.S. would “provide educational and social services to resident, no matter their entry into the U.S.”

The Rev. Miguel Rivera, president of the Washington, D.C.-based National Coalition of Latino Clergy and Christian Leadership, was the most animated. At first, he addressed the crowd in Spanish, with his voice rising and falling to make emotional points. But at one point, he said, “Let me say this in English; it will probably be easier for the press.”

“We are here to support our brothers and sisters who are working on farms and in plants just a few miles from here but could not make it here today,” Rivera said. “There are worried that (the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement) would pick them up. We are here for what is just and what is moral.”

Rivera also mentioned Riverside, N.J. – a town of about 8,000 near Burlington that recently enacted a version of IIRA. In English, Rivera said, “in Riverside we were really hurting in hell – you guys are in heaven here.”

The remark was reference to the confrontations that marred a similar event in Riverside. There, counter-protesters threw eggs and tomatoes at those gathering, and there were numerous scuffles. Reportedly, the Ku Klux Klan had a presence there.

Afterward, Rivera said he was impressed with the way Hazleton handled the gathering.

“Obviously, the Anglos here are generally comfortable with Latinos, so there were no problems – which is good,” Rivera said. “Really, this is a good example of how we can work together to solve problems. And when you reach an impasse, let the courts decide.”

Rivera, who was in Riverside during the confrontations, declined to go into detail about them.

“It was better here – much, much better,” Rivera said.

The final speaker was Hazleton Area Latino Association President Anna Arias.

“This is why we live here – to be united,” Arias said. “We do not want division. We do not want to be separate. We want to be the same as everybody else.”
Arias, too, sounded a conciliatory tone.

“It is OK to disagree with each other,” Arias said. “Just be respectful of each other.”

Arias then led the crowd in singing a song written around “Red River Valley.” The chorus was “Give me your hand and I’ll your brother be.”

Other speakers echoed the same themes. While there was condemnation of the ordinance, there was no criticism of Barletta and/or other city officials.

Both Lopez and Rivera said they’d been contacted by the U.S. Department of Justice, because of a rumor a KKK klavern in Chambersburg had personnel on the way. If they came, they simply blended into the crowd – there were no confrontations.

However, city police were ready in the event anything went wrong. Memorial Park was surrounding by officers, who were aided by state police officers, officers from the Luzerne County Sheriff’s Department and even several city highway workers and firemen.

Lopez said he thought maybe 100 people in the crowd were local. He said he’d have rather seen a higher local turnout, but added circumstances held down the local participation.

“This is a holiday weekend, so many people are out of town,” Lopez said. “Many go shopping in New York and New Jersey on the weekend. And the weather didn’t help either.”
But Lopez said he was pleased at the event.

“I didn’t want any confrontations,” Lopez said. “And that’s why I canceled the march.”

Initially, he planned to have the group march from Memorial Park to City Hall, but rejected the idea.

“If we marched, there could have been confrontation,” Lopez said. “We’d been told the KKK might be coming here. If they did, and if we moved, they could have started trouble with us and said, ‘See, they started it.’ But if we remained in one place and there was any trouble, no one could have blamed us.”

“This was more symbolic than anything else,” Lopez continued. “I oppose the ordinance, but I don’t oppose the process. It was adopted through the democratic practice and I support democracy. We’d like to work within that process to change the ordinance.”

I witnessed the Demonstration in Hazelton yesterday,
My Report & Pics,
http://forum.minutemanhq.com/phpBB2/vie ... php?t=3276

Originally Posted by Lambo

I witnessed the Demonstration in Hazelton yesterday,
My Report & Pics,
http://forum.minutemanhq.com/phpBB2/vie ... php?t=3276

Welcome to the forum, and thanks for the link with the pictures and additional information.

Lopez said he thought maybe 100 people in the crowd were local. He said he’d have rather seen a higher local turnout, but added circumstances held down the local participation.

Yeah, they left town since they were all illegal!

"This ordinance does not include only Latinos," organizer Dr. Agapito Lopez told the crowd. "Many people who are not Latinos will be without jobs if this becomes law."

Yes, Agapito, if they are illegals, they will be without a job, you're right.