Thread: Law targeting illegals takes shape in Newton

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Law targeting illegals takes shape in Newton
Friday, September 01, 2006
BY JIM LOCKWOOD AND MAURA McDERMOTT
Star-Ledger Staff
Newton may become the first community in northern New Jersey to crack down on illegal immigration by imposing fines on landlords who rent apartments to undocumented immigrants and businesses that hire them.

The proposal, unveiled earlier this week by Councilman Philip Diglio, also would make English the official language in the Sussex County town.

Newton is the latest in a string of small towns across the nation seeking to take a hard line against illegal immigration by punishing landlords and businesses. Newton's proposal is modeled after an ordinance adopted last month in Hazleton, Pa.

"We have similar issues as (Hazleton) with illegal immigrants," Diglio said. "We've seen a big increase in crime this particular year," including a knife fight at an apartment on Spring Street in May that police said was among four illegal Mexican immigrants.

There also was a recent fire on Main Street at an apartment where illegal immigrants lived, said Diglio, who also cited growing incidences of "stacking," or the packing of more people -- who tend to be illegal immigrants -- into apartments than allowed.

Newton Police Chief John Tomasula said there is no way to link an increase in crime to illegal immigrants.

There may be a perception of more crime from illegal immigrants due to a few high-profile violent incidents, but "the perception of the problem may be worse than it is," Tomasula said.

Diglio's plan would require non-citizens to bring green cards, visas and working papers to town hall for verification before being allowed to rent or be hired for a job. Any business owner who hires an illegal immigrant would be denied businesses permits and city contracts for five years, and landlord fines would range from $1,000 for a first offense to $10,000 for three or more offenses.

However, critics of such ordinances say they are unconstitutional, misguided, divisive and racist.

"What you're doing is playing on people's fear and not resolving the issue, which is how do we integrate these people," said Jose Perez, development director of the Latino Leadership Alliance of New Jersey. "We're a society of immigrants. In terms of Hispanics, it's the next big wave."

The ordinances in Hazleton and Riverside, Burlington County, the first municipality in New Jersey to pass one, have already spawned lawsuits.

The National Coalition of Latino Clergy and Christian Leaders, which claims 15,000 member churches nationwide, filed a $10 million federal lawsuit against Riverside, and promised to sue Newton if it passes Diglio's plan, said the Rev. Miguel Rivera, coalition president.

Rivera, who encountered a crowd of jeering protesters waving Confederate flags and making Nazi salutes when he led a prayer vigil Aug. 20 protesting Riverside's law, said: "The real reason behind all that is racial intolerance, and there's a real easy way to say that in one word: racism. Our Latino community is the one that is being targeted."

There has been no public outcry against illegal immigrants in Newton. In April, a Hispanic outreach center, El Refugio (The Refuge), was opened in Newton by some churches and a nonprofit agency aiming to integrate a growing immigrant population and prevent culture clashes or problems.

Newton's debate is a microcosm of a national problem caused by a flood of illegal immigrants straining the system, and the federal government's failure to secure the borders or enforce the laws, said Diglio and New Jersey State League of Municipalities president Bill Dressel.

"I don't want to pit any group against any other group," Diglio said. "I just want to see these people to be documented to pay back into system they're taking from. If the federal government would control the borders like it should be, we wouldn't be dealing with this. If every municipality across the country would do this, then maybe the problem wouldn't exist."

At the center of the debate has been Hazleton, a former coal-mining city of 25,000 residents near the intersection of Interstates 80 and 81 in northeastern Pennsylvania that has seen a culture clash from a large influx of illegal immigrants in recent years.

In July, the Hazleton City Council passed the "Illegal Alien Immigration Relief Act" that targets landlords and employers and has become a model across the nation.

Hazleton Council Vice President Jack Mundie said the ordinance was needed due to the toll that illegal immigrants were taking on the city's hospital and schools. The hospital had to expand its emergency room, and the school district's English as a Second Language budget soared from virtually zero to nearly a million dollars in the last few years. Hazleton's ordinance also came in response to some high-profile shootings involving illegal immigrants. Mundie said an influx of illegal immigration to Hazleton has been increasing over the past five years, and a new meat-packing plant that supplies meat to Wal-Mart was one of the attractions.

"We had to step in because no one else is stepping in," Mundie said. "Hopefully, sooner or later, maybe the federal government will wake up and do something about it. They're dragging their feet."

It's not known how many illegal immigrants are living in Newton, which had a population of about 8,400 in 2005, according to the Census.

"As time goes by, more and more illegal immigrants move in," said Newton Councilman Joe Ricciardo. He's not sure if Diglio's plan is the answer, but "something has to be done," especially about stacking.

Immigration is of "major concern to municipalities up and down the state," particularly regarding stacking, Dressel said. Riverside and Newton demonstrate "that local officials are taking matters in their own hands ... because there doesn't seem to be any leadership coming from the federal government nor from the state government," Dressel said. "It's a quality-of-life issue that deals with the community on a whole."

Such laws are being considered in nearly 50 municipalities nationwide, Rivera said.

But are they legal and will they stand up in court?

No, contends Ed Barocas, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey. Immigration laws are a federal responsibility and local governments have "no authority" to pass them, he said. They endanger both undocumented immigrants and legal immigrants, because employers and landlords may avoid hiring or renting to immigrants regardless of their status, to avoid the appearance of wrongdoing and the risk of large fines, he said.

"You might as well paint a target on someone who is perceived to be a foreigner and say, 'Treat me differently,'" Barocas said.

Such ordinances also violate state and federal anti-discrimination laws by singling out immigrants in general and Latinos in particular, Barocas said. New Jersey's law against discrimination is the strongest in the nation, and the courts interpret it broadly, he said.

And English-only provisions "not only violate employees' free speech rights but are ... counterproductive to preclude government employees from being able to best assist citizens and others," Barocas said.

Diglio, whose grandparents came from Italy and Portugal, thinks English-only laws will help with integration.

"The strength of this country was founded by immigrants. They came here and wanted to be Americans, they got legal status as Americans," Diglio said. "Today, we have a group of people who don't want to contribute to society ... It seems they don't want to acclimate themselves."

Newton has a five-member council. Diglio and Ray Storm support the idea, and Ricciardo is not sure. Two council members, Mayor Kevin Elvidge and Thea Unhoch, declined to say whether they support the measure.

"Why would anybody in our town not support it, unless they're a landlord of these people?" Storm said.

Opinions in Newton are mixed.

Kenneth Ellman, a landlord who owns properties in Newton and other communities, said it's "ridiculous" for the town to assume the task of verifying immigration documents, because "They shouldn't take on the work of the (federal) immigration department." But the town should go after landlords who "knowingly and intentionally" rent to illegal immigrants, Ellman said.

The downtown has suffered from a negative image of illegal immigrants and crime, said Newton Greater Chamber of Commerce president Dennis Becker. He believes his group, which represents 150 businesses, would support the proposal.

"If you stopped landlords from renting to them and stop businesses from hiring them, they're going to leave," Becker said.

Staff writer Paula Saha contributed to this report. Jim Lockwood covers Sussex County. He may be reached at jlockwood@starledger.com or (973) 383-0516.

If everything we do in this country is so darn racist, and unconstitutional why don't they go back home where they came from?

No one asked, nor forced them to come here.