Thread: HAZLETON -'Illegal aliens' threatened city, mayor says

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HAZLETON
'Illegal aliens' threatened city, mayor says
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
BY DIANA FISHLOCK
Of The Patriot-News
Hazleton Mayor Louis J. Barletta said illegal immigrants have brought gangs, drugs, graffiti and murders to his city, draining police and fire resources and taking services away from legal residents.

Hazleton's Illegal Immigration Relief Act -- slated to take effect Nov. 1 -- would suspend the licenses of companies that hire illegal immigrants, hold landlords accountable for renting to illegal immigrants and -- in a separate ordinance -- make English the official language of education and government.

Barletta wanted the act to protect the city's legal citizens, he told members of the Pennsylvania Press Club at a luncheon yesterday.

A few hours later, Hazleton ophthalmologist Dr. Agapito Lopez-Rivera told a group at Widener University that Hazleton's act has prompted Latinos --legal and illegal -- to leave the city, depressing property values and hurting business.

It was coincidence both men spoke in Harrisburg yesterday, said Andrew Hoover of the American Civil Liberties Union, which hosted Lopez for a talk last night. But the two showed two sides to the debate embroiling the small city -- which has gained international notoriety in the process.

In August, the ACLU and a coalition of public interest groups and volunteer attorneys filed a challenge to the act. Barletta predicts the U.S. Supreme Court will ultimately decide the case.

People used to love the quiet, safe life in Hazleton, which averaged one murder every seven years, Barletta said. But suddenly the population swelled from 23,000 to 31,000 people and residents were shocked by blighted homes, overcrowded apartments, gang life, drug use and violence, he said. He attributed these to "illegal aliens." All were Latino, he said.

The playground where Barletta played as a kid became home to graffiti, he said. A 14-year-old undocumented Latino boy was arrested for shooting a gun there while children played. Another illegal immigrant shot a resident on a crowded sidewalk near a pizzeria on a Friday night. A 16-year-old was beaten nearly to death by people with baseball bats.

"I was losing my city," he said. "It was happening before my eyes."

Police and fire personnel, hospitals and schools were having to devote much of their time and energy to help illegal immigrants, Barletta said. He repeatedly referred to Hazleton's residents as "terrified." Rates of HIV and tuberculosis rose. He said he decided to change that instead of waiting for the federal government to fix the illegal immigration problem. "Enough is enough," he said.

When the act takes effect, businesses that hire illegal immigrants will have their city licenses suspended and landlords can lose their licenses if they knowingly rent to illegal residents, Barletta said. All tenants must register at city hall and city employees will check their status.

A Susquehanna Polling and Research poll released yesterday showed Pennsylvanians approve of the act. The poll surveyed 700 likely voters.

Undocumented immigrants are leaving town, Barletta said. "We have witnessed many people moving, some in the middle of the night."

Lopez said he has seen them, too.

Hazleton had watched its population shrink until Latinos began coming there in the 1990s for the jobs, affordable homes and rents and the safe, quiet atmosphere, Lopez said at the Widener event. "Everybody wanted to come to Hazleton."

Stores began opening again and Latino residents bought homes, then fixed them up, he said.

But problems began.

"The assumption was we caused the crime, the overcrowding in the schools and hospitals," he said. Longtime residents said Latinos ruined their quality of life and destroyed their neighborhoods, he said.

Now legal and undocumented Latino immigrants feel unwelcome there, he said. "Most Latinos don't like to live in a place where they aren't welcome, a place where they sell signs, 'Go back to your country.'"

DIANA FISHLOCK: 255-8251 or dfishlock@patriot-news.com



©2006 The Patriot-News
© 2006 PennLive.com All Rights Reserved.

"Most Latinos don't like to live in a place where they aren't welcome, a place where they sell signs, 'Go back to your country.'"

If this was true, we wouldn't have 30 million illegals still living here.

"The assumption was we caused the crime, the overcrowding in the schools and hospitals," he said. Longtime residents said Latinos ruined their quality of life and destroyed their neighborhoods, he said."

LOL! This really cracks me up. You mean that just because there was little crime, no overcrowding of schools and hospitals BEFORE the illegals came, and there was AFTER they came, those silly Hazelton residents just ASSUMED it was caused by the massive influx of illegals? I wonder why they would have "assumed" that! Too funny!

Maybe if every American put signs on their lawns, businesses and cars they would get the message!

Leave.