Thread: Internet spreads city’s immigration plan

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Saturday, 24 June 2006
By KELLY MONITZ

kelly.monitz@standardspeaker.com This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it

Hazleton Mayor Louis Barletta has a good shot at the country’s presidency, based on the sentiments expressed in e-mails from throughout the country. The mayor’s office and the Standard-Speaker received thousands of e-mails supporting Barletta’s proposal cracking down on illegal immigration and making English the city’s official language.
“Thank you, Mayor Barletta, for sticking up for all real, legal Americans. I am so grateful for you,” wrote Cathy O’Dell of Salida, Calif. “Please run for the presidency. We need someone with guts and glory and that is you, Mayor Barletta.”
In Salida, which is north of Modesto, illegal immigration clogged up emergency rooms, led to abuse of low-income housing and ruined the educational system, O’Dell said. She came across the mayor’s proposal while surfing the Internet on the issue, she said.
Others who wrote messages to the mayor read about Hazleton in their daily papers, heard Barletta speak on radio news shows or just tuned into their favorite network or cable television new program, they said.
Barletta made the rounds with major media outlets in the last week while smaller stations were turned down due to the sheer number of requests.
Those interviews hit home with people from Vermont, Florida, Texas, Montana, California and Hawaii – a sampling of the states Hazleton’s story reached.
“I am so happy to know that someone of authority has finally stepped up to the plate to represent those of us who feel like we have no voice, no matter how loud we yell,” wrote Joanne Shriver of Pavilion, N.Y.
“I would vote for him for president; at least he is doing something for the forgotten people who keep this country running!,” she continued. “Thank you so very much!”
Bob Yablonski of Arlington, Va., pointed to the thousands of citizens who died fighting for this country, while illegal immigrants have invaded without much resistance.
“All of Hazleton, Pa., must support Mayor Barletta regarding illegals,” he wrote. “The illegals have taken over your country without firing a shot … and with the help of American employers. Wake up America before it is too late!”
It’s too late for Las Vegas, wrote Rhande Morton.
“As an 18- year resident of Las Vegas, Nev., I have seen and am seeing what the terribly destructive effects of an invasion of illegal aliens on a community are,” Morton wrote. “Crime is very high, and the number of Hispanic gangs has grown exponentially. We build up to 12 new schools every year, and still can’t keep up with the number of illegal alien children we have to pay to educate.
“Emergency room waits are generally four to eight hours, because illegals know that they cannot be turned away because they can’t or won’t pay for doctors to treat colds, fevers, etc.,” Morton wrote. “I am not against legal immigration, just illegal immigration.
“You seem like a brave community; stick with your convictions before it’s too late,” Morton continued. “It’s already too late for us; I’m leaving.”
Dorothy Campbell left Hazleton after college.
“I work and live in Georgetown in (Washington) D.C. and I can seriously say that I feel safer walking the streets at night here than I do in the middle of the day in downtown Hazleton,” she wrote.
Campbell recalled an incident where she and her father decided against eating at a downtown restaurant after she was harassed and her car nearly looted minutes after parking.
“I would like to thank Mayor Barletta for having the guts to make Hazleton a place I am proud to come home to,” she wrote.
Cherie Homa, the mayor’s secretary, can’t believe the numbers of e-mails coming into the mayor’s office. She counted nearly 7,000 through Friday.
A computer technician came in to set up her computer to handle the flow, which has been in the neighborhood of 1,000 a day, Homa said.
The Standard-Speaker, too, received hundreds of emails, and like those coming into city hall, the vast majority is positive.
Only a handful criticized Barletta and city council, some accusing them of racism or forgetting the area’s ethnic diversity and questioning the legality of the measures.
“It’s a sad commentary that the Hazleton area has made the nation news through the actions of Mayor Barletta,” wrote Steven Schwartz of South Orange, N.J.
“As a former Hazle Township business owner (Hazleton Machine Co.), I enjoyed the ethnic diversity of the area, including all of the various “ethnic” churches. But it would appear that the children and grandchildren of immigrants have forgotten their roots in a new wave of xenophobia,” he continued. “There must be Hazletonians out there who find these measures as odious and ludicrous as I do.”
Another writer, Tom from Washington, D.C., planned to seek out and discourage companies from doing business in Hazleton, saying it would damage their reputations.
“I live in one of the most culturally diverse cities in the country with more than its fair share of illegal immigrants, but our citizens aren’t ignorant enough to label criminals by the color of their skin or ethnicity,” he wrote.
Tom chose not to give his last name.
Frank J. Witt of Harrisonburg, Va., wondered how the proposals would affect the possible thousands of illegal immigrants working in the Humboldt Industrial Park and how the economic developers feel about the changes.
“A good friend of mine is a shift manager at Cargill and he tells me that Spanish is spoken more often than English,” Witt wrote. “Now, just because Spanish is the language of choice doesn’t mean that anyone is illegal; however, it sure does raise suspicion.”
The vast majority of people who took the time to write aren’t worried about the effects on the local economy or the color of people’s skin – they just want the country to enforce its laws.
“I agree with Mayor Barletta 100 percent!” wrote Becky Souter. “I wish the mayor of Dallas, Texas, and President Bush, in fact, had as much backbone as Mayor Barletta on this issue. It has nothing to do with immigrants or race; it is an illegal immigrant issue. We need to stand firm and united on this!”
And they want to see Barletta’s name on another ballot.
“Has Mayor Lou Barletta ever considered running for president?” asked Shirley Francis of Sulphur Springs, Texas. “He is attempting to do what our national government should have always been doing (yet is) still not doing! Good for you, sir!”
Sam Summerfield from Mesa, Ariz., congratulated the mayor for his determination to take back the city from illegal aliens.
“I hope all cities would adopt your program,” he wrote. “I believe a majority of our citizens in the United States do not favor amnesty or illegals being in this country.”
Another Arizona resident, Trish Rodemeyer, also extended her congratulations.
“I wish we had a few men like Lou Barletta in our local government,” the Green Valley resident wrote. “We have tolerated crime and fraud too long and when the American flag is flown upside down beneath the Mexican flag, during their protest marches, you know it has gotten out of hand.
“Hats off to Hazleton. Keep up the good work,” she wrote.
Dora Wolden of Clearlake Park, Calif., said she’s tired of getting the same “old rhetoric of how this country was built by immigration” from her congressmen.
“Kudos to the City of Hazleton and the mayor for their stand on illegal immigration. Good for you!” she wrote.
Almost all who wrote made a point that they weren’t against immigration, but didn’t feel they should have to tolerate illegal immigration.
Stanley and Ethel Blodgett, of Pearland, Texas, saw Barletta’s photo in the Houston Chronicle, and then on television.
“We say your Mayor Louis Barletta is absolutely right. More power to him,” they wrote. “Why should we Americans have to support people who sneak into our country?”
Being so close to the Mexican border, the Blodgetts don’t know if the person standing next to them is legal or not, they said.
“We just take living among Hispanics for granted here. But we don’t want them to be here illegally, no matter how hard-working they are. The ones who are here illegally are sending their money back to their Mexican families via banks and money orders. So, it sure isn’t spent here in our economy.
“Believe us, (Mayor Barletta) has a great many supporters here as well as everywhere else,” they wrote.
Dan Finch from Bettendorf, Iowa, also tipped his hat to the mayor.
“We need more mayors such as him to take a stance with the flow of ‘illegal’ aliens in this country. Why doesn’t anyone understand the difference between ‘illegal’ and ‘legal?’ Keep up the great job, Mr. Mayor!,” he wrote.

Very interesting. Leadership. Stand up and be counted! MR Barletta has what it takes.

Just goes to show if GW would have done the right thing on this he would have united the whole country in a truly American fashion. What a stab in the back.

Show support for him. I emailed him last week!

Moosetracks,

I emailed him the first day I heard about it! Great minds!!