http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/new ... 378642.htm

Posted on Mon, Aug. 28, 2006

IMMIGRATION & SMALL-TOWN JUSTICE
LOCALS STEP IN WHEN WASHINGTON CAN'T GET ITS ACT TOGETHER

IN SMALL MUNICIPALITIES across the nation, brush fires of discontent are starting to erupt as officials struggle to control an influx of illegal immigrants.

Towns like as Riverside, N.J., Palm Bay, Fla., and Hazleton, Pa., have passed ordinances - some labeled "relief acts" - that punish landlords who rent to undocumented immigrants, and the businesses that hire them. Some cities, like Hazleton, have declared English their "official language."

Joe Vento, owner of Geno's steaks, probably understands.

And we understand, too, why these towns have enacted such legislation - the federal government, which sets this country's immigration policy, has failed miserably to provide strong oversight, enforcement or direction.

Faced with increases in crime and overwhelmed by requests for municipal services, these small, not-so-well-off towns have taken things into their own hands. And, as much as we might sympathize with their plight, their efforts must not, and should not, usurp federal law. Several of these ordinances face court challenges on such grounds.

Meanwhile, in Washington, the dance continues as a House-Senate panel tries to reach a compromise on an immigration-reform bill that President Bush wants signed this year. One obstacle: a guest-worker program supported by the Senate and president, frowned on by the House.

The president's recent decision to send National Guard troops to help out at the U.S.-Mexico border gave a visceral and temporary boost to supporters of stricter enforcement, but it fails to address the real problems.

That's what these towns, some more awkwardly than others, want to do.

Hazleton, a community of about 31,000 in Luzerne County, is a former coal-mining town that now depends on service and manufacturing industries. Jobs have been the immigration magnet. So has inexpensive housing.

In July, following a shooting and then gunfire in a playground that put a spotlight on illegal immigrants in the city, Hazleton reacted by adopting an ordinance requiring all tenants to obtain a rental permit from the city's code-enforcement office.

That cleverly put the onus on the city, rather than the landlord, to determine a tenant's legal status. And any business that knowingly employs illegal immigrants or helps them avoid detection will lose its business permit, plus responsible parties will face possible jail time. Hazleton officials believe they have sidestepped the problem of federal oversight. That will be determined in court.

The ordinances show what action some cities feel they have to take - but the moves have fostered tension. In Riverside, some supporters of the town's crackdown waved confederate flags and gave the Nazi salute to outnumbered protesters. They claim the illegal workers, mostly from Brazil, don't pay taxes, a charge the protesters deny.

The National Coalition of Latino Clergy and Christian Leaders, which has filed lawsuits against Hazleton and Riverside and considers the ordinances racist, favors temporary work permits that would allow illegals to work while seeking legal status.

Back in Washington, we favor much of what was in the Senate bill - creating a pathway for citizenship for undocumented workers, plus stronger enforcement, with extra attention paid to employers who hire these workers - and urge that these provisions remain in any compromise bill.

Until then, small towns will do whatever it takes to rein in a growing problem that the federal government has utterly failed to control.