The (Border) Line Has Been Drawn in the Sand!

Hazleton gets real tough on illegals
Associated Press

HAZLETON - The Hazleton City Council last night approved an ordinance designed to make the city among the most hostile places in the United States for illegal immigrants to live or work.

The 4-to-1 vote came after nearly two hours of passionate debate. Opponents argued it was divisive and possibly illegal, but supporters argued that the rising number of illegal immigrants has damaged the quality of life in Hazelton, about 80 miles northwest of Philadelphia.

"We must draw the line, and we are doing it tonight," Mayor Lou Barletta told a packed City Council chambers.

Barletta proposed the Illegal Immigration Relief Act last month as a response to what he said were Hazleton's problems with violent crime, crowded schools, hospital costs and the demand for services.

The ordinance would deny licenses to businesses that employ illegal immigrants, fine landlords $1,000 for each illegal immigrant discovered renting their properties, and require city documents to be in English only.

"The illegal citizens, I would recommend they leave," Barletta said after the meeting.

"What you see here tonight, really, is a city that wants to take back what America has given it," said the mayor, who said he wore a bulletproof vest to the meeting. He said he had not been threatened but took precautions because the issue was such an emotionally charged one.

"I think it's good for Hazleton, and I think it's good for the country," council president Joseph Yannuzzi said.

Outside City Hall, about 300 people gathered with opponents of the measure, some with signs that read "Bias," separated by a line of police from supporters, some waving American flags.

Anna Arias spoke at the meeting against the ordinance. She asked the council, "Are any of us ready to support U.S. citizens born of someone who is undocumented?" Several people in the audience responded, "Yes!"

She warned the council that approving the ordinance would make Hazleton "the first Nazi city in the country."

Jack Mundie, council vice president, voted for the ordinance.

"We're against illegal immigrants that are coming here and that are draining the resources of our city," he said.

The ordinance adopted at the meeting had been extensively amended from an earlier draft. One change would deny a license to any business that provides goods or services to an illegal immigrant. City solicitor Christopher B. Slusser said that the provision would likely be invoked only against business people who knowingly violated it and that the city would deal with violators "on a case-by-case basis."

The Republican mayor's proposal has thrust the 31,000-population city to the fore of the national debate on illegal immigration.

The number of Hispanic residents in Hazleton, a former coal-mining town, has increased dramatically in the past six years.

City officials acknowledge they do not know how many are illegal immigrants, whom Barletta has blamed for higher crime rates, failing schools and a diminished quality of life.