Thread: LOU BARLETTA: Column distorted Hazleton ordinance

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Column distorted Hazleton ordinance
LOU BARLETTA
Mayor of Hazleton
September 30, 2006


Just what part of "illegal" doesn't Anthony M. Stevens-Arroyo understand?

The City of Hazleton, along with the state and the nation, is merely beginning to take a long, hard look at the problems caused by illegal immigration. In his Sept. 21 column, Stevens-Arroyo deliberately misinterprets the crackdown against illegal aliens as "anti-Latino." It is not. The steps we are taking in Hazleton and the steps being considered in Harrisburg and Washington do not target one race. They target all illegal aliens, whether they are from China or Mexico or Croatia.

What part of "illegal has no specific race" doesn't Stevens-Arroyo understand?

Sadly but not surprisingly, Stevens-Arroyo plays an all-too-familiar card.

He claims we are being racist. He compares elected officials in Hazleton and elsewhere to Nazis, members of the KKK, and ethnic cleansers.

He even goes so far as to compare events in Hazleton to Kristallnacht, a tragic moment in human history during which Nazi stormtroopers beat Jews to death in the streets, arrested more than 30,000 Jewish men and took them to concentration camps, smashed storefront windows, desecrated Jewish graveyards, and burned more than 1,600 synagogues. Kristallnacht was the first step on the road to the Holocaust, in which 6 million Jews were executed.

Is Stevens-Arroyo actually implying that we in Hazleton, or the United States will begin systematically murdering illegal aliens?

If not, then his analogy is shockingly over the top. His metaphor is particularly appalling because his article was published days before Rosh Hashanah, the celebration of the Jewish New Year.

What part of "horrendously inappropriate" doesn't Stevens-Arroyo understand?

Additionally, Stevens-Arroyo continues to spread lies about the ordinance and about conditions in Hazleton. Shopkeepers are not forbidden to sell milk to mothers, or other items to illegal aliens, or to those who cannot speak English, regardless of what Stevens-Arroyo and others claim.

People are not being arrested for speaking Spanish in their own homes or businesses, or on the street. No hordes of people threw "rocks through the windows of Latino merchants."

No one will "cast pastors, priests and nuns into jail just for giving a cup of cold water in Jesus' name."

Trash is still collected for all Hazleton residents, Latino and non-Latino, legal and illegal.

These outrageous statements are outlandish lies crafted by opponents to the ordinance to drum up sentiment against Hazleton on a statewide and national level and prevent other municipalities from enacting their own versions of Hazleton's Illegal Immigration Relief Act.

The alleged provisions in the ordinance do not exist. The alleged incidents against Latinos in Hazleton did not occur. What part of "fabrication" doesn't Stevens-Arroyo understand?

Further, Stevens-Arroyo claims that we in Hazleton and other elected officials "produce division, hatred and social disruption." But he also decries measures to declare English as the official language of Pennsylvania and the United States. He claims that learning English is "called 'assimilation.'"

Stevens-Arroyo may be unaware of the position of one of his allies and an opponent of the Illegal Immigration Relief Act, who declared during a public meeting that Latinos "will never assimilate" into Hazleton and its culture. We, he said another time, must adapt to their cultures.

Who is producing division?

Learning English is one of the most important and beneficial things an immigrant can do upon his arrival in the United States. The U.S. Department of Education found that those with limited English proficiency are less likely to be employed, less likely to be employed continuously, tend to work in the least desirable sectors and earn less than those who speak English. Additionally, annual earnings by non-English-proficient adults were approximately half of the total population surveyed.

More than 90 percent of the world's nations — 177 of them — have declared a national language.

In fact, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Peru, Guatemala, Panama, Cuba, and other countries in Central and South America have declared Spanish as their official language. Puerto Rico has both Spanish and English as official languages.

Americans moving to Mexico or the Dominican Republic would, for all practical purposes, be required to learn Spanish, but those arriving in the United States should not have to learn English? Strongly encouraging America's newcomers to do so by declaring an official language would be "ethnic cleansing?"

What part of "hypocritical" doesn't Stevens-Arroyo understand?

As for those who produce division and hatred, I believe Stevens-Arroyo's inflammatory rhetoric and blatant lies speak for themselves.

Here's a link to the article Mayor Barletta is rebutting.

http://www.alipac.us/modules.php?name=F ... ic&t=41752

THIS is beyond EXCELLENT!

I'm telling you, this guy's sharper than a tac and knows his stuff up one side and down the other. Calls a spade a spade and minces no words.

HE should be in Congress {only for as long as he's not corrupted}

What part of "hypocritical" doesn't Stevens-Arroyo understand?

Excellent!

Great rebuttal. Go Mayor Barletta!

We are so proud of you and stand behind you and Hazleton all the way and every community with the courage to stand up for Americans and US Immigration Law.

Lou Barletta, a true American Leader!

Bravo!

He needs to run for Congress!

Maybe he could be on the ticket with Tancredo in 2008.