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Meeting in Hazleton About New Immigration Law
Story posted on 2006-07-29 18:44:00
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Since July 14th, Hazleton has made national headlines with its aggressive immigration legislation.

The new ordinance calls for stiff fines for businesses that hire immigrants who are here illegally and land lords who rent to them.

It also makes English the city's official language.
Tonight, community leaders against the law came together to find a way to combat it.
WFMZ's Karin Mallett joins us now live with the details.
Karin?

The Pennsylvania Statewide Latino Coalition says since the passage of this law- more than 300 workers in the Hazelton area have been fired from their jobs and two factories have closed their doors to anyone not able to prove they are here legally.

So this morning at Saint Gabriel's Church in the very city that passed the ordinance - community leaders and immigration activists came up with a strategy.

Velez: 21:10
In the schools, in the streets, people say stop speaking Spanish- that it's not legal anymore, there's a lot of misconstruction in this ordinance.
People are taking it as a right to be a bigot, as a right to be racist.
\ REPORTER:

Youth leader Marisol Velez says Hazelton's new immigration ordinance has the small city judging neighbors by their faces- and the color of their skin.
And that the tension is growing.
Nats of meeting

\ REPORTER:

PSLC is expected to file an appeal Monday arguing that undocumented immigrants- although limited- still have rights.

And question whether Hazelton has any legal right to act on what it considers a federal issue.

Siobhan Bennett: 28:25

There's a right way to do things and an unfair way to do things.
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Chair of Allentown's Democratic Committee, Sioban Sam Bennett, says she doesn't condemn Hazelton city council members for trying to come up with a solution to the immigration problem- but criticizes the way they went about it.
Bennett: 31:15

Is immigration an issue that we all care about? Absolutely, but when you create legislation that ends up being discriminatory not only to Latinos but to Czechs, Poles, Latinos and Italians- then we know tat we have a piece of legislation that is too vague and ends up being a violation of people's civil rights.

Part of the strategy developed today is to inform the public- so a rally and peace march is set for August 13th at 2pm.
At the city's park at Diamond and Church Streets off 309- near Hazelton's city hall.