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Hazleton Impacted by Immigration Ordinance
Story posted on 2006-08-25 09:04:00
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First came the debate, now comes the fallout. Some businesses and residents of Hazleton are starting to feel the heat just weeks after council approved Mayor Lou Barletta's proposed ordinance targeting undocumented immigrants. And when 69 News went to Hazelton a few weeks ago the streets were bustling with people. This time WFMZ's Carl Madonna had trouble finding a single person walking along Wyoming Street.

Boarded up storefronts, for rent signs and work available sings, ever since the Illegal Immigration Relief Ordinance passed in Hazleton, these signs are popping up everyday.
Sarah Soto:
8:57 "...a lot of people have left the town."
Cesar Cruz:
12:23 "...if you see down there, there is another cafeteria that is no longer open, some people feeling like they have heat on them, Spanish people."
Madonna:
Business has been down because most of the people who patronize these shops have scattered.
Cruz:
14:04 "..some people are afraid."
Sarah Soto:
9:08 "...now you hardly see any people walking by."
Enrique:
25:24 "...you can tell by looking down the avenue sometimes you don't see two cars in three blocks." Madonna:
Business has been especially slow for Enrique Salazar. His business, Royal Prestige has seen a 45% dip in sales compared to this time last year.
The past few weeks have been so slow, that Enrique was forced to fire his secretary of almost two years.
Enrique:
24:34 "...so far it's so slow that we cannot have someone here making 300 dollars just sitting down."
Madonna:
Even though business along Wyoming Street has stalled and shops continue to fold, some residents say the city feels a little safer.
Sarah Soto:
9:25 "...do you think it's because of this ordinance, yes, good thing, yes especially for people that have kids."

And while in Hazleton, our news crew also ran into representatives from the Puerto Rican Legal Defense Fund.
The representatives were taking pictures of some of those boarded up storefronts.
They are among a long list of lawyers now waiting for a judge to hopefully overturn what Mayor Lou Barletta has enacted.