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Barletta testifies about law
Thursday, 27 July 2006
By ALAN GREGORY
alangregory@standardspeaker.com
WHITEHALL — Louis J. Barletta was clearly the star of the hearing.
And the chairman of the state House Republican Policy Committee, Rep. Mario J. Civera Jr. of Harrisburg, made sure of that, putting Hazleton’s mayor at the top of the agenda for the panel’s hearing on illegal immigration in suburban Allentown Wednesday morning. Barletta arrived at the hearing site – the Whitehall Township Municipal Building – with five pages of testimony in hand, each of which he carefully and deliberately read, using up the 10 minutes allotted to him.

But Barletta stayed behind a microphone for a full hour, fielding question after question from Civera and other members of the panel.

What kind of feedback has the public given, Barletta was asked.

The mayor said he’s received 10,000 e-mail messages from individuals voicing support for the city’s Illegal Immigration Relief Ordinance. Only 200 people dispatched messages opposing the law Barletta and City Council President Joseph Yanuzzi signed July 14, the mayor said.

How does the law’s stipulation that English is Hazleton’s official language agree with the notion of transitioning people into speaking that language, another questioner asked the mayor.

Barletta: “It’s about promoting the one language that brings people together.”

Throughout his testimony and the questioning that followed, Barletta spoke of his desire to protect his city’s quality of life.

“Some on both sides of the issue have come to interpret ‘protecting our quality of life’ to mean we must target those of different races who have moved into Hazleton,” the mayor said.

“It does not. Legal immigrants have just as much a right to live in Hazleton as those who were born here, whose families stretch back to their own immigrant ancestors. I’ve made that clear by welcoming our legal newcomers. Their cultures have helped brighten a city that was already on the road to recovery.

“Rather, ‘protecting our quality of life’ means we must take steps to root out crime in our community.”

When pressed for data regarding how many illegal immigrants may be living in Hazleton, the mayor acknowledged that he doesn’t know.

In his testimony, Barletta said: “It’s really an unfair question because, obviously, we don’t know how many illegal aliens live in Hazleton. No elected official, no advocacy group, no one, can provide an accurate number.”

Hazleton’s ordinance – a law that’s spawned similar measures in other Pennsylvania communities, including Shenandoah and Hazle Township and is serving as a model elsewhere – punishes employers and landlords who rent to, and hire, illegal immigrants.

The law that City Council approved 4-1 also made English the official language the official language of a city that was built on the back of European immigrants drawn to the region by the promise of coal mining jobs.

In Allentown, Councilman Louis J. Hershman is preparing an ordinance that would penalize city businesses that hire illegal immigrants and landlords who rent to them. But that ordinance could face steep odds of passing, the Morning Call of Allentown reported.

Barletta, in his testimony, defended the ordinance as a necessary tool in his drive to reduce crime, protect legal residents and ensure that tax dollars go toward services for legal residents.

“I need to take action and the ordinance is a start,” the mayor said in replying to one committee member.

“Illegal is illegal ... race is not the issue,” Barletta said to another questioner.

He spoke of the city’s crime rate.

“One hundred and thirty nine. That’s the number of violent crimes committed in Hazleton in 2005 – and it is almost double the number of violent crimes committed in my city in 2004. Ten percent. Our crime rate increased 10 percent between 2004 and 2005.”

He said Hazleton’s police department is hard pressed – budget wise and manpower wise – to deal with the problem.

“Thirty-one – [that’s] the number of officers and detectives in the Hazleton Police Department. That’s about one [officer] for every 1,000 residents – half of the number recommended by the U.S. Department of Justice.”

Barletta said the city’s population – up to 31,000 or so now from about 23,000 in 2000 – is straining its budget for law enforcement and other services while newcomers whose workplaces are outside the city limits don’t have “as great an impact on Hazleton’s tax base as we’d have liked.”

And as he has in previous public statements about the ordinance, Barletta pointed to the murder on May 10 of city resident Derek Kichline and the firing of a firearm several hours later at the Pine Street Playground.
Both crimes were committed by people who were n the city – and country – illegally, Barletta said.

“That one day drained thousands of dollars out of the police budget,” he said.

“On Friday, July 14, hours after I signed the Illegal Immigration Relief Ordinance into law, city police arrested four men selling drugs on that same playground.

“One provided four different identities, complete with Social Security numbers. It took detectives five hours to determine his true identity. In that bust, one alleged drug dealer is an illegal alien. While these crimes are serious, even minor incidents are a problem.”

Other excerpts from the mayor’s testimony:

o On policing: “I would rather have those officers on the street, patrolling other neighborhoods and serving the taxpaying population of my city.”

o On public services in general: “Because of illegal aliens, we are not always able to provide a high level of service for legal residents in Hazleton.”

o On illegal immigration: “[It’s] a problem that affects not only Hazleton, but also the entire [state].”

o On federal financial assistance: “In fiscal year 2005, the federal government, through the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program, reimbursed the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections $908,000 to incarcerate illegal aliens, and only $1.4 million statewide. I ask, was it enough? How much does it cost Pennsylvania to incarcerate illegal aliens?”

Barletta said the city is committed to helping everyone, regardless of what language they speak. He said many of the immigrants arriving in Hazleton are coming not through Mexico but from Caribbean countries, such as the Dominican Republic. Everyone, regardless of the language they speak, is welcome in Hazleton, the mayor said. But English, he said, “is the one language that brings people together.”

He pleaded with the committee to find solutions that would both protect people who are in Hazleton and the state on a legal basis.

Wednesday’s hearing was the second of four the committee is holding to discuss statewide immigration issues.

The first, in Harrisburg last week, included testimony from Northampton
County District Attorney John Morganelli.

The prosecutor, a Democrat, told committee members that state government can help stem the tide of illegal immigration by requiring employees to verify the immigration status of new employees.

The other two hearings will be in Philadelphia and New Cranberry, near Pittsburgh, home to Republican Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, one of the state’s most strident voices for immigration reform.

Also presenting testimony at Wednesday’s hearing were: Robert Nix of the Hispanic Bar Association of Pennsylvania; Michael Gibson of Associated Builders and Contractors Inc. of Eastern Pennsylvania; Gary Swan of the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau; Maria Teresa Donate, associate professor of counseling at Northampton Community College; Arthur Read, general counsel for Friends of Farmworkers Inc.; Erika Sutherland, director of Grupo De Apoyo e Integracion Hispanomericano; Stephen Glassman, executive director of the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission; Joan Mollinaro of 9/11 Families for a Secure America; attorney David Vaida; and Julio Guridy, vice president of Allentown City Council.

Among those submitting written testimony were Design Landscape Professionals and Chris’s Lawn Service Inc.

“I know I saw you on ‘The O’Reilly Factor,’ so you’re becoming very famous,” Rep. Julie Harhart told Barletta in beginning her questioning of the mayor.