Hispanic population soars
Published: Friday, August 8, 2008 4:31 AM EDT

Colombia-born Isabel Balsamo couldn’t decide whether to take it as a compliment or an insult.

The remark came at a meeting Ms. Balsamo attended in Wilkes-Barre in 2006 at the height of the divisive frenzy over Hazleton’s proposed anti-illegal-immigration ordinance — a law aimed squarely at that city’s burgeoning Hispanic population.

“Somebody said to me, ‘Isabel, you don’t have to worry. No one would be able to tell you were Hispanic if you didn’t open your mouth,’ â€