Thread: Witness Claims Ordinance Would Cause Discrimination

Breaking News: Witness claims ordinance would cause discrimination against 'foreign-looking individuals'

03/15/2007

SCRANTON -- If enforced, Hazleton's illegal immigration ordinance would cause employers and landlords to discriminate against foreign-looking individuals, an expert witness testified this morning.



Political science professor Dr. Marc Rosenblum, the first expert to testify for the plaintiffs in Lozano v. City of Hazleton, said the Hazleton ordinance sets provisions and punishments for employers more stringent than the federal government.

Fearing the ordinance's penalties, businesses will trample on potential employees' due process rights as a result, he testified at the William J. Nealon Federal Building.

While the ordinance would effectively discourage the hiring of illegal immigrants, it would also encourage defensive hiring practices, meaning foreign-looking workers - especially Latinos - would be less likely to be hired or not hired at all, he said.

"If you look or sound Latino, you'd be scrutinized more," he said, though he admitted on cross-examination to never specifically studying what the effects would be in Hazleton.

He also questioned the accuracy of the Basic Pilot Program, the database Hazleton's ordinance would encourage employers to use for screening foreign documented workers. The ordinance would require violators to sign up for the program, offered at a low cost by the federal government normally as a voluntary workplace compliance system.

Citing a study compiled by the Government Accountability Office, a non-partisan agency, he added "a significant percentage of employers required more documentation from people who looked or sounded foreign."

While Rosenblum thought Hazleton's encouragement of the Basic Pilot Program was positive, he said it should not be used in conjunction with stricter punishment on employers than the federal government already issues.

The ordinance also states employers can avoid punishment if they voluntarily sign up for the program, calling it a "safe harbor." But the GAO report found that identity theft easily fooled the system, which already lacked accuracy.

"Well, I don't think I'd say it offers them a safe harbor," Richard Stana, the report's author, told The Citizens' Voice on Dec. 17 of the ordinance's reliance on the pilot program. "If you're going to say it's a safe harbor, that implies that employers are not complicit in a scheme to defeat the Basic Pilot Program."

On cross-examination, city attorney Kris Kobach, an immigration law expert, pointed out Rosenblum's studies are not based on primary data Rosenblum gathered, but rather analysis of statistics collected by government agencies.

Kobach also asked Rosenblum about recent improvements made to the accuracy of the federal immigration databases, some of which Rosenblum was not aware.

Rosenblum formerly held a position on the staff of Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., who favors legalization of many undocumented immigrants, Kobach also noted.

Kobach cited portions of studies finding the Basic Pilot Program actually decreases discrimination by employers.

"It would decrease some forms of discrimination and increase others," Rosenblum responded, adding the use of the program combined with the strict and swift punishments in the Hazleton ordinance would provoke discrimination.

The Hazleton ordinance gives employers three days to appeal a violation of employing an illegal immigrant, a finding that would rely on a database check. Most businesses, the plaintiffs argue, are more likely to simply fire the employee.

Mayor Lou Barletta is expected to take the stand when Rosenblum's testimony concludes.

Check back to www.citizensvoice.com for more updates.

http://www.citizensvoice.com/site/news. ... 5154&rfi=6

Here we go, playing the race card!! Please....! enough already!

"If you look or sound Latino, you'd be scrutinized more," he said, though he admitted on cross-examination to never specifically studying what the effects would be in Hazleton.

That would be racial profiling, and that is not what this lawsuit is all about. That has been made clear, several times.

While the ordinance would effectively discourage the hiring of illegal immigrants, it would also encourage defensive hiring practices, meaning foreign-looking workers - especially Latinos - would be less likely to be hired or not hired at all, he said.

That is not true. If the "Basic Pilot Program" which is a government data base to check the identities of prospective employees was used, there wouldn't be any reason to question whether or not that person was qualified for the job.
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Rosenblum formerly held a position on the staff of Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., who favors legalization of many undocumented immigrants, Kobach also noted.
quote]

This witness is another politital hack fresh from the puplic trough.