Thread: Hazelton Illegal Immigrant Trial Ends

Hazelton illegal Immigrant trial ends

By MICHAEL RUBINKAM, Associated Press Writer
Thu Mar 22, 5:43 PM ET



SCRANTON, Pa. - The city of Hazleton tried to "scapegoat and demonize illegal immigrants," blaming them for crime, overburdened schools and other problems, an ACLU lawyer said Thursday at the close of a federal trial over the town's illegal-immigration crackdown.

"To lay the problems at the feet of undocumented immigrants is unfair," said Witold "Vic" Walczak, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania.

The ACLU sued Hazleton to try to overturn new city rules that target landlords who rent to illegal immigrants and businesses that employ them. U.S. District Judge James Munley will likely take months to decide whether the crackdown is reasonable.

Walczak's team argued that the federal government has exclusive power over immigration policy.

In closing arguments, the city's attorney said federal law and Supreme Court precedent clearly give Hazleton the right to enforce its Illegal Immigration Relief Act, passed last summer after a number of violent crimes involving illegal immigrants.

"These ordinances were painstakingly drafted. The constitutional violations are imagined," said Kris Kobach, a University of Missouri law professor.

Mayor Lou Barletta has repeatedly invoked rising crime, and particularly violent crimes, as a justification for the crackdown. Violent crime in Hazleton increased more than 70 percent since 2001.

Walczak acknowledged that Hazleton, a city of about 30,000, has endured an increase in violent crime, but he said illegal immigrants were responsible for only a few of the 428 rapes, robberies, aggravated assaults and homicides committed in the city from 2001 to 2006.

He also pointed out that Hazleton's overall crime rate declined at the same time its Hispanic population was growing.

Kobach called the plaintiffs' legal theories silly, deriding in particular the testimony of one expert witness who said only an immigration judge can determine immigration status.

"If you sneak across the border, the moment you step in the country is when you're illegal, not when some judge says two years later, 'We're going to deport you,'" he said.

The Hazleton ordinance, which the city council revised several times for legal reasons, would impose fines on landlords who rent to illegal immigrants and deny business permits to companies that give them jobs. A companion ordinance would require tenants to register with City Hall and pay for a rental permit.

The act has been emulated by towns around the nation that believe the federal government hasn't done enough to stop illegal immigration. Enforcement of the Hazleton restrictions was barred pending the trial, the first in the nation to examine local efforts to curb illegal immigration.



http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070322/ap_ ... _crackdown

I found this website while searching for information on Mayor Lou Barletta and the City of Hazleton, PA. Good information, thank you. I've been hearing alot about www.exporttheimport.com and their fundraising initiatives for the small town defense fund. GOOD FOR THEM!!! Keep up the good work mayor Barletta!!!

Welcome to ALIPAC Tanya

WELCOME TANYA!!!

Gosh, I hope you win Hazelton, Here's to ya!!

Hi, Tanya. Welcome!

As Hazelton goes...there goes the country.

Mayor Lou Barletta is an American Hero.
His actions may well change the course of this country.
I am praying for his success!

Welcome Tanya! Glad you are here!

ProudAmericanFamily wrote:

Mayor Lou Barletta is an American Hero.
His actions may well change the course of this country.
I am praying for his success!

Me too, Proud.

Hazelton certainly has jurisdiction within the city limits to set in place laws to protect its citizens.
Laws against any sort of illegal behavior in the city should share equal accountability.
Since the city has the right to regulate tenancy and business practices, the city also has the right to require those participating in tenancy and business practices not be unlawful.
If those who have no legal right to preside in America then inversely do have a right to live wherever they so choose then as a precedent regulation without laws to enforce them means nothing and the citizen’s safety and wellbeing is then at risk.
Are the laws to regulate car theft discriminatory? I'm sure car thieves think they are but the ACLU can't attack laws discriminating against theft because the court system would laugh them back out onto the street.
The ability of the ACLU to claim discrimination against illegal inhabitants versus any other criminal behavior can only succeed on emotional merits and that's no merits at all.

That's my opinion anyway.

Thanks for all of the warm welcomes. There is so much information on these websites, it is overwhelming!! I feel as though I have a new mission in life...or at least a new battle to fight. We need to TAKE BACK THE U.S.

The trial in Hazleton has ended. We now wait for a verdict. Let's all keep our fingers crossed and hope that Mayor Barletta starts something here.

Originally Posted by Tanya

Thanks for all of the warm welcomes. There is so much information on these websites, it is overwhelming!! I feel as though I have a new mission in life...or at least a new battle to fight. We need to TAKE BACK THE U.S.

The trial in Hazleton has ended. We now wait for a verdict. Let's all keep our fingers crossed and hope that Mayor Barletta starts something here.

You got it Tanya!!