Police chief getting attention by stopping illegal immigrants
By Tom Ragan (Staff Writer)
Published: October 13, 2009

BEAVER MEADOWS - Motorists driving through this tiny community in the shadow of the city of Hazleton be warned: Exceeding the speed limit or violating traffic laws won't be tolerated.

That means everyone, police Chief Michael Morresi says.

Regardless of race, religion, color or ethnic background.

"I try to treat every stop the same. I try to let everyone write their own ticket," says Morresi, a youthful looking officer who has emerged as a controversial figure because of his reputation for cracking down.

Morresi has been on the job for almost three years after working as a police officer in West Mahanoy Township.

Although no one is keeping an official count, it is estimated that Morresi has stopped anywhere from 25 to 30 illegal immigrants driving through Beaver Meadows.

"I don't want to be called a racist and I don't profile anyone before I make a stop," Morresi said.

"He has my support, 100 percent," said Beaver Meadows Mayor William Hines after a recent borough council meeting. "All you have to do is look at his record. The arrests or citations are justified. I don't want to offend anyone, but if you break our laws he's on top of it."

Morresi's approach has offended some, however, including an attorney for an illegal immigrant arrested in the borough yet released by federal agents this summer.

"I don't honestly know him enough, but I do believe the way he handled my client's case was inappropriate," said Tracey Hubbard, an immigration attorney in Scranton who represents Ambrosio Perez-Vasquez. "I think he is a media hound the way he got television and newspapers involved in the story after telling me there was an arrest warrant for my client. Within 45 minutes he had Scranton police officers in my office and then contacted the media. I've never seen this done before. I think he is a bit overzealous."

On July 13, Morresi stopped a truck driven by Perez-Vasquez, who had with him a driver's license, a vehicle insurance policy, a Social Security card, and a receipt for a federal tax return. When Perez-Vasquez returned to Beaver Meadows in August, having been released by an immigration judge due to hardship, Morresi filed charges against him. Perez-Vasquez, 41, is free on $5,000 bail and is awaiting a pre-trial hearing Nov. 10 in Carbon County Court.

Borough officials say Morresi has been professional and thorough in his approach to his job, enough so to be appointed chief a year ago.

"He's just doing his job. He's not profiling or picking on any particular group," said borough council President Jeff Bobish.

Bobish pointed to a state Department of Transportation traffic study a few years ago that revealed on an average day about 7,500 cars pass through this small community en route to a number of destinations. State Route 93 is one of the main highways connecting Hazleton to several other routes that go to Allentown, Bethlehem, Easton and beyond.

Bobish and Hines aren't the only people who feel that Morresi is being unfairly singled out just for doing his job. Morresi said a local contractor shook his hand and said "thank you" for reporting illegal immigrants to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and told Morresi that illegal workers take jobs away from American citizens.

Charles Sipple, 63, of Hazleton, recently wrote a letter supporting the actions taken by Morresi, the Beaver Meadows police, the Hazleton police and Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta for efforts to curb illegal immigration in the city.

"You're damn right I do," Sipple answered. "God bless them all, including the Hazleton Police Department."

He made it clear that he has nothing against a particular group of residents, such as the Hispanic population that has moved into the Hazleton area in recent years.

"If they are here to make a new life for themselves and intend to become legal citizens of the USA and find work but if they want to remain here illegally, that's wrong," Sipple said.

"If you're illegal and you're breaking the law, that's your hard luck. Chief Morresi is upholding our constitutional rights, unlike most politicians, who aren't doing anything to stop the flow of illegals coming into this country," Sipple said.

Sipple thinks that immigration laws have to be changed - and Hubbard agrees, though for different reasons.

Hubbard isn't an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer but she does refer cases to the ACLU. She said that many of the problems with illegal immigrants today stem from immigration laws that were changed as far back as 1997.

The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 didn't go into effect until April 1, 1997, and it was promoted as an illegal immigration bill, but it has also had a serious impact on legal immigration as well, Hubbard said.

"Before the law if a visa ran out for a Mexican immigrant they would be allowed to return after six months or one year depending on the circumstances. Since the law was enacted, under those same circumstances, after being deported the law makes them stay in Mexico from three to 10 years," she said.

The law has forced Mexicans to stay in this country illegally or be deported for possibly three or 10 years because many of them have children in the United States from being married to a legal U.S. spouse and many are seasonal farm workers.

Going back across the border would mean not seeing their children or having a job. The old law allowed them to move back and forth more freely and have legal documents, now they have to resort to buying illegal identities to stay in this country.

Hubbard represents many immigrants that want to be here legally and can't because of this law that she says had a far more reaching impact on green cards and visas. Many have now chosen to stay here illegally because once they are caught it means they are barred from legally entering this country for a minimum of three years.

The effect for which the law was enacted has been just the opposite, forcing many to remain in this country on an illegal but more permanent basis, according to Hubbard who claims many want to be here legally but can't.

"The system needs reform. Immigrants get refunds because they do pay taxes. The Internal Revenue Service knows they do but because the money keeps rolling in they choose to do nothing about it," Hubbard said.

She said Morresi isn't the only police officer asking about the status of a person considered an immigrant an act she termed "the inappropriate questioning of illegal immigrants." Hubbard believes ICE should be asking those type questions rather than local police departments.

"I don't feel it's been handled professionally by many police departments," Hubbard said.

Morresi has made thousands of stops for speeding, vehicle violations, driving in an erratic manner, and just about any other traffic enforcement code in the Pennsylvania motor vehicle book.

Despite his youthful appearance, Morresi has gone through extensive police training including a class that taught him how to spot motor vehicle code violations after making a traffic stop.

"I look for certain things that may indicate that a person is nervous about something other than just being stopped for speeding," He said.

"It's a quiet community. There's not much crime, so 95 percent of the citations are traffic related. In fact, it may be higher than 95 percent," Morresi said.

Morresi recently gave an example of how sometimes a police officer might be inclined to second-guess himself after being accused of racial profiling.

"I actually hesitated from stopping a guy who was over the speed limit but it was only for a moment. Then I realized, I'm not going to allow someone to deter me from doing my job," Morresi said.

tragan@standardspeaker.com, 570-455-3636

BEAVER MEADOWS SNAPSHOT

> Beaver Meadows is located 4.3 miles southeast of Hazleton in Carbon County.

> Population: 946 according to 2008 Census data

> Total area: 0.26 square miles

> Median household income: $37,176, up from $31.058 in 2000

> Races: 98.3 percent white non-Hispanic; 1.2 percent Hispanic

> Ancestry: Slovak, 20.9 percent; German, 13.2 percent; Polish, 12.3 percent; Italian, 11.1 percent; Irish, 10.5 percent; Czech, 5.2 percent

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