Hazleton mayor states his case
By SUSAN E. LINDT and KIM O’BRIEN, Staff
Intelligencer Journal

Published: Aug 09, 2007 12:46 AM EST

LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. - Hazleton Mayor Louis J. Barletta received a standing ovation after his speech to a packed house Wednesday at a Rotary Club luncheon.

Not everyone, however, was sold on his approach to the problem of illegal immigration.

Outside the Farm and Home Center, where the luncheon was held, about a dozen people, enduring overwhelming heat, gathered to voice their disapproval of his controversial tactics to reduce illegal immigration in his city.

There also was a handful of people who showed up to express their support for Barletta.

Barletta said during his speech that the ordinance his city passed last year that penalized Hazleton businesses and landlords hiring or renting to illegal aliens stemmed from existing laws, financial necessity and squalid conditions suffered by undocumented people living there — not racism.

"This is about legality, not ethnicity," Barletta said. "This issue started in Hazleton with us trying to protect ourselves, but many people have made it about race."

Barletta, a second-generation American, said he became aware of illegal aliens in Hazleton when absentee landlords became a problem in his city of 30,000-plus.

"I was called to an apartment where I saw nine mattresses on the floor. The refrigerator was filled with cockroaches," he said. "This property was not fit for people. That was my first encounter with illegal aliens."

Since then, he said, Hazleton has been plagued with violent and drug-related crimes, 30 percent of which he said were committed by illegal aliens over the past two years.

In one instance, detectives spent five hours trying to identify a person arrested for allegedly selling crack cocaine because he had five Social Security cards with him.

"Our town was becoming terrorized," Barletta said. "I had lost control of my city. I could not handle what was happening. I realized I had to do something."

Taxes were already at the highest rate allowed under the city's class code, which also obliges Barletta to draw up a balanced budget. The only way out was to cut services to taxpayers, and that rubbed Barletta the wrong way.

He and City Council drafted an ordinance based on existing federal laws, including one prohibiting employers from hiring undocumented workers.

Barletta and the councilmembers passed the ordinance, although it has never been put into effect because it was quickly challenged by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of 11 plaintiffs, four of whom are undocumented aliens using aliases.

In July, a federal court judge ruled Hazleton's ordinance unconstitutional, in part because only the federal government has the authority to deal with immigration issues.

But Barletta took umbrage with the latitude the court gave the plaintiffs, who protected their identities even though federal law deems their status illegal.

"I believe they were given more rights than an American citizen would be," Barletta said of the illegal aliens who brought the suit. "I don't believe an American citizen would be allowed to sue their city, not give their name in the lawsuit and not show up for court."

Barletta said he did not expect to win the first round in court and he's prepared to appeal the federal court decision all the way to the Supreme Court, if necessary. He said his stand has been fueled by letters of support and donations from people across the country, including soldiers serving in Iraq.

"I never dreamed in a million years that this would strike a nerve from coast to coast the way it has," Barletta said. "I'm fighting for more than just Hazleton now. Some say this is a federal issue, but illegal immigration is being fought on the streets in quiet towns and neighborhoods across America. We believe the ordinance is legal."

Asked how he would like Congress to handle the immigration issue, Barletta said he wants the federal government to enforce existing laws.

"We want to welcome immigrants," he said, "but we want to welcome them through the front door, not through the backdoor."

About half of the 250 people who attended the luncheon gave Barletta a standing ovation. Others made a point to introduce themselves to the mayor and express support of his initiatives. Someone even interrupted Barletta during an interview to congratulate him, wish him luck and ask, "Do you need bucks?"

Barletta referred him to his Web site at SmallTownDefenders.com.

Meanwhile, outside the luncheon, Rotary Club members supplied cold drinks to the small group protesting Barletta's initiatives led by Lancaster Theological Seminary student Jennifer Williams.

"It is anti-immigrant and racist," Edwin David Aponte, seminary vice president of academic affairs, said of Hazelton's ordinance. "This doesn't help the dialogue we have here in the U.S. regarding immigration. It incites racism."

State Rep. Mike Sturla attended the luncheon as a guest because he is concerned with Barletta's "idea that he can somehow blame the concerns of the entire city on an illegal immigrant."

"I'm interested to see how he tries to justify his stance," the city Democrat said before Barletta spoke. "He takes anecdotal evidence and applies it across the board. I just don't get it — how you could implement a law like that."

E-mail: slindt@lnpnews.com

E-mail: kobrien@lnpnews.com

http://local.lancasteronline.com/4/207919


email address for Rep. Mike Sturla
http://www.pahouse.com/contact/contact_all.asp