Thread: Riverside Council approves illegal-immigrant crackdown

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Posted on Thu, Jul. 27, 2006



Riverside Council approves illegal-immigrant crackdown

By Toni Callas
Inquirer Staff Writer

In a controversial move that could bring legal challenges, the Riverside Township Council voted, 5-0, last night to ban hiring or renting to illegal immigrants.

About 50 of the 300 people spoke before the council, with roughly half supporting the ordinance and half opposing it. The comments drew jeers, screams, shouting matches, and, for some in the audience, a police escort out of the Riverside High School auditorium, where the meeting had been moved from the Town Hall as scores of people showed up.

After the testimony, the council voted with very little comment, and the audience reacted with mild applause.

"We looked at what we could do to ensure the public safety and quality of life for our residents," Mayor Charles Hilton said before the vote as a way of explaining why the Burlington County town had proposed the ordinance.

For 25 years, he said, the U.S. Census Bureau showed that Riverside's population was steady at 8,000. But Hilton said that number didn't include the 1,500 to 3,500 undocumented residents, who absorb some of Riverside's county, state and federal funding.

Hilton criticized the situation as "an environment of exploitation" of illegal immigrants.

When asked how the ordinance would be enforced, he said: "We will deal with each situation as it comes. We are not going to go out and ask for identification." He said citizens could report illegal activity by calling police or the township code enforcer.

Opposing the ordinance was Ronaldo Empke from Sao Paulo, Brazil, who became a U.S. citizen a year ago.

"All the people in this town are immigrants," he said. "The history of this town is immigrants... . People try to work hard, make a living, and some accept those conditions [exploitation]. There should be controls on illegal immigration, but this is not the way to do it."

When the Rev. Miguel Rivera of the National Coalition of Latino Clergy and Christian Leaders in Washington told the council that his main concern was racial profiling, the audience jeered. A recess was called, and some people were escorted out by some of the eight police officers - half the force - who were on duty.

Gail Persichilli, a resident for 121/2 years, supported the ordinance.

"Enough is enough," she said. "But how are we going to enforce this so that it does make a difference? I love Riverside, but I cannot continue to live under the current conditions."

But the township could face legal challenges because Latino groups and congressional researchers say such an ordinance duplicates and is preempted by federal law. The U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act already bars hiring or harboring an illegal immigrant.

Employers and landlords face a fine of $1,000 for each violation.

The township solicitor said an amendment would soon be proposed to clarify language in the ordinance, but not change its intent.

Riverside's action came amid a growing movement of small towns across the country that have decided to tackle what immigration advocates say has long been federal purview. Town leaders, like those in Hazleton, Pa., where a similar ordinance was adopted earlier this month, say the federal government is taking too long to remedy the problem.

Some last night carried signs. One said: "Small towns of America, unite. Hazleton, Riverside, who's next?"

Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education and the American Civil Liberties Union are preparing to challenge the Hazleton law because, they say, only the federal goverment can make immigration law. The U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act already bars hiring or harboring illegal immigrants.

In Riverside, the ordinance appeared to deepen a clash of cultures.

Some residents have said that schools, infrastructure and local economy are overburdened by illegal immigrants who rent and work in town and in towns nearby. But immigrants and others say the newcomers have also bought homes, built businesses, and essentially brought a modest revival to Riverside.

Local police estimate that in the last five years, Riverside has become home to at least 2,000 Brazilians, some here illegally.


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Contact staff writer Toni Callas at 856-779-3912 or tcallas@phillynews.com.





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© 2006 Philadelphia Inquirer and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.
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Riverside's action came amid a growing movement of small towns across the country that have decided to tackle what immigration advocates say has long been federal purview. Town leaders, like those in Hazleton, Pa., where a similar ordinance was adopted earlier this month, say the federal government is taking too long to remedy the problem.

Actions like this are spreading all across America at an ever increasing rate. If groups like the ACLU are going to sue these towns, they'll go broke, trying to keep up. The resistance to illegal immigration is rapidly reaching critical mass.