Thread: Crowd shows Hazleton mayor the love

Last Updated: June 4, 2007
Crowd shows Hazleton mayor the love

Several hundred people mass in support of Barletta and his illegal immigrant crackdown.
By Matt Birkbeck Of The Morning Call

Falling short of predicted numbers but enthusiastic nonetheless, several hundred people rallied around the steps of City Hall on Sunday to support Mayor Lou Barletta almost a year after he introduced an ordinance that put Hazleton at the center of the national immigration debate.

''Enough is enough,'' said Barletta to the cheering throng, which filled a city block, with many people holding American flags and signs denouncing illegal immigrants as a steady drizzle fell.


Barletta's stand on illegal immigration.
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VIDEO: Rally against illegal immigration Lehigh Valley Local Links

The first public show of support for the embattled mayor drew far fewer than the thousands that were expected. But Barletta and other speakers promised to continue their fight to remove illegal immigrants from Hazleton and from the U.S. and to oppose the new federal immigration bill that Barletta said was a ''bad piece of legislation.''

''I call it what it is: amnesty,'' Barletta said.

Hazleton has served as ground zero in the ongoing immigration debate since Barletta introduced his Illegal Immigration Reform Act in June 2006. The ordinance, which calls for fines for landlords who rent to illegal immigrants and the businesses that employ them, has yet to be enacted because of opposition from the American Civil Liberties Union and several Hispanic groups, who filed suit claiming it violated the U.S. Constitution.

Both sides are awaiting a decision by a federal judge after a nine-day trial in March in federal court in Scranton. Each side has promised to appeal if it loses.

A depressed city with 22,000 residents in 2000, Hazleton experienced an economic resurgence with a revitalized downtown, thanks chiefly to roughly 10,000 new residents, mostly Hispanics from the New York City area. But Barletta has argued that more than a third of the new residents are illegal immigrants responsible for a noticeable rise in crime.

Opponents, who say the ordinance is racist, have previously held several rallies of their own. Though generally peaceful, one minor disturbance Sunday centered on the appearance of Amilcar Arroyo, editor of Hazleton's Spanish newspaper El Mensajero and frequent critic of Barletta, who stood quietly near the City Hall steps during Barletta's speech. Pamela Hauptmann of Bethlehem spotted Arroyo in the crowd and yelled at him to leave. Others joined in and as the crowd chanted ''U.S.A., U.S.A.,'' Arroyo and another man screaming, ''I am legal!'' were led away into City Hall by Hazleton police and state police.

''We just wanted to keep them safe,'' said Hazleton police officer Joseph Babula.

Aside from that flare-up, the crowd enthusiastically supported Barletta.

''If it wasn't for him the city would be overrun with guns and gangs,'' said Elaine Schmidt, 61, of Hazleton. ''This used to be a quiet city; now you can't leave your doors open.''

Others professed similar sentiments, particularly in signs proclaiming ''Illegal Stops Here!'' and ''Export the Import.''

''We've had home invasions, shootings, and more times than not it's illegals or gang members,'' said Rico Nuss, the local chapter president of the Rolling Thunder motorcycle club.

Among the half-dozen speakers, all praised Barletta for introducing an ordinance that has been copied and debated in many other parts of the nation.

''You started this landslide that now involves 200 cities and towns across the country,'' said William Gheen, president of Americans for Legal Immigration, which is based in North Carolina.

Carmen Morales of the United Patriots of America said the ACLU did ''not speak for all Hispanics.''

''Illegal immigration is not about race, but about respect for our laws,'' Morales said.

While the crowd stretched from one end of the block to the other, it fell well short of the predictions of thousands appearing in support of Barletta.

Sam Monticello, the city's administrator, said thousands of e-mails were sent to city offices with promises of ''busloads'' of people to join the rally. But no buses arrived and most attending either lived in Hazleton or surrounding towns.

The several hundred people in attendance were loud and boisterous, cheering every word from the speakers and shouting encouragement to Barletta.

''It shows the support there is for the mayor and the administration,'' Monticello said.

The rally aside, Monticello added that Hazleton has been relatively quiet after the March trial. After the ordinance was introduced last summer, the city experienced an exodus of Hispanic residents which continued through the winter, he said. But life in Hazleton has since been ''relatively innocuous,'' he said.

''I won't say it's been peaceful, but there's been no outrageous acts of violence,'' Monticello said.

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The several hundred people in attendance were loud and boisterous, cheering every word from the speakers and shouting encouragement to Barletta.

''It shows the support there is for the mayor and the administration,'' Monticello said.

He is a wonderful man and deserves all the support he can get. There are many people who were no able to attend the Rally that support Barletta and think he is doing a great thing for his city and America! He has thousands of FANS!