http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news ... 881261.htm

Posted on Fri, Jun. 23, 2006

Small town, big conflict
Latinos have helped Hazleton come back. Now, the Poconos city is targeting illegal aliens.
By Michael Vitez
Inquirer Staff Writer

HAZLETON, Pa. - Mayor Lou Barletta agrees that as many as 10,000 newly arrived Latinos have invigorated this old coal town high in the Poconos, yet he pinched a national nerve and divided his own city this week by declaring war on illegal immigrants.

Barletta, 50, contends that illegal immigrants are a blight - responsible for a rise in crime, including a murder last month - and a drain on city services they don't pay for.

"I've had enough," he said.

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Barletta proposed the Illegal Immigration Relief Act - an ordinance supported by a majority of the City Council. It would fine and penalize businesses that hire illegal immigrants and landlords who rent to them.

The ordinance also proposes making English the official language of Hazleton, removing Spanish from all documents.

"Why are we so afraid to say in America the one common language we speak is English?" asked the mayor. He says translators would be available to help complete forms in English.

Since introducing the ordinance last week, he has received more 2,500 e-mails, virtually all positive, he said. He has been bombarded with interview requests from CNN, NBC Nightly News, and radio stations across the nation. All the attention is a reflection of the ongoing national debate that started in Congress and spilled into the streets of cities across the nation.

"He's a rock star, my boss," said his assistant, Cheri Homa.

Not everyone thinks so.

Many Latinos here are outraged - and surprised.

Anna Arias, president of the Hazleton Area Latino Association, said "the Latino community feels very offended and betrayed. Everyone thought Mayor Barletta was a good friend, a mayor for all the people. None of us expected anything like this from him."

Arias said the English-only provision insults hardworking Latino immigrants who have revitalized the city, but don't yet speak good English. And the knock on illegal immigrants, she says, is unfair. Most work hard and contribute to the rebirth of the city.

"Being an undocumented worker doesn't make someone a criminal, someone who kills or does drugs," Arias said.

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Hazleton, once a dying coal town, is changing dramatically.

The population in 2000 was 23,257, according to the U.S. Census, and projected to decline to 22,120 by 2005. But city officials estimate it is now 32,000, and as many as 30 percent of the residents are Latino.

Hazleton is within two hours of New York and Philadelphia, just minutes from Interstates 80 and 81 and the Pennsylvania Turnpike. The city is ringed by four industrial parks, which include two big meatpacking plants.

Real estate prices have nearly tripled in recent years, according to the Chamber of Commerce. Latinos have opened an estimated 70 small markets, restaurants and business.

Most have come via New York or New Jersey from many countries, the largest concentration from the Dominican Republic.

"Latinos found out about this city and came here looking for a better life for their families, to live the American dream we all want to live," Arias said.

"This was a ghost town," she added. "Downtown was abandoned. Latinos have revived it."

The mayor, a Republican, agrees "the Latino community has been good for Hazleton. All legal immigrants are welcome here." He says legal Latinos will benefit from this ordinance as much as lifelong residents.

"I can't spend taxpayer money chasing down people who don't belong in this country," he said.

The mayor said he had no idea how many Latinos in Hazleton are in this country illegally. Arias doesn't know either, but estimates the number is very small.

"I don't think there is a problem with illegal immigrants," she said. "The crime problem is not as large as mayor wants you to believe."

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One illegal immigrant, Johanna, works as a dishwasher in a restaurant. She and her children flew from Ecuador to New York three years ago on a tourist visa and never went back. She worked in a bank in Equador but wanted a better life for her children.

She came to Hazleton eight months ago because she was searching for a "pueblo tranquilo" - a tranquil town - and a friend told her about Hazleton.

Her employer did not know she was here illegally until this week, and deducts the usual taxes from her paycheck. He said she is a model employee - hardworking, reliable and, most of all, appreciative. Prior to hiring her and other Latinos, he said, he had a difficult time getting dependable help.

Johanna, who did not want to disclose her last name, dreams in five years of being an American citizen, owning her own home, and seeing her children build a better life than she has.

"We work every day," she says, her daughter translating. "We don't live on government."

Under the ordinance, which cannot be enacted until the council votes on it again next month, landlords can be fined $1,000 for every illegal tenant. Businesses can lose their licenses to conduct business in the city for up to five years if they employ illegal immigrants.

The ordinance does not require businesses or landlords to verify the authenticity of documents given to them by renters or employees, and they will not be subject to penalties if they believed that their tenant or employee had legal status.

"Everybody knows they're out there," said Joe Yannuzzi, the City Council president who supports the ordinance. "We're asking landlords and business owners to give us a hand and help us out."

The provision making English the official language and eliminating Spanish from city forms seems most controversial.

Latinos said immigrants want to learn English, but it is difficulty for the first generation.

Jose Luis Lechuga, an immigrant from Mexico who owns a grocery store and cafe called Loncheria Lechuga, says, "English for everybody - that's not fair. We cannot sign a document we cannot understand."

The mayor insists he is not dividing the community, but uniting it: "Division is if we can't speak to each other. That's not healthy."

Regan Cooper, executive director of the Pennsylvania Immigration and Citizenship Coalition in Philadelphia, said the ordinance is "overly broad and unenforceable." She claims it "violates state and federal statutes."

"Hazleton will be opening itself up to all sorts of lawsuits," she said.

Doug Rivlin, spokesman with the National Immigrant Forum in Washington, said he had some sympathy for the mayor.

"In the absence of any federal leadership," Rivlin said, "thousands of little towns are trying to figure out what to do."


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Contact staff writer Michael Vitez at 215-854-5639 or mvitez@phillynews.com.