Posted on 07/14/2006 1:01:53 PM PDT by Oshkalaboomboom
Hazleton, Pa., creates one of the strictest laws in the U.S., polarizing its whites and Latinos.
Standing outside City Hall in the gathering dark, Norman Tarantino felt, for once, that he was lucky to live in Hazleton.
Most of his friends had moved away, over the years, convinced that the old coal city's best days were behind it. But as of Thursday night, Tarantino said, Hazleton once again has something to be proud of: It is the most hostile environment in America for illegal immigrants.
Not 20 feet away stood Daniel Jorge, a Dominican immigrant who moved his family to Hazleton last year after 25 years in New York City. Jorge, a real estate agent, was wondering how he would break the news to his wife, who had been enchanted with the small-town friendliness she found in Hazleton, a small city in the hills 80 miles northwest of Philadelphia.
"I'm sad. I loved it here," Jorge said. He gazed at the police officers lined up in the middle of Church Street, separating crowds of white and Latino demonstrators. "I never in my wildest dreams thought I would see this here in this city."
By a vote of 4 to 1, Hazleton's City Council on Thursday approved the Illegal Immigration Relief Act, which imposes severe penalties on landlords who rent space to illegal immigrants, suspends the licenses of businesses that employ them, and declares English the city's official language.
The ordinance has brought celebrity status to Hazleton's mayor, Louis Barletta, and has prompted a ripple of proposed new laws in neighboring communities.
In Florida, the communities of Avon Park and Palm Bay will vote on similar laws, as will the city of Escondido in California.
The law has also attracted a legal challenge from the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
It's about time someone did something like this
You are so right. Now how long do we have to wait until some judge rules that it's all unconstitutional? One second, two seconds, three seconds, ...
"But if so, what's he so worried about and why does he worry what his wife will think?"
Ever been to Hazleton ? ... nice peacefull town - maybe it's exactly what he said, that his wife was enchanted with the "small-town friendliness" but now it seems to have the same big-city racial problems that they moved away from.
If he's been here legally for 25 years, claiming he loves it so, and if he isn't a citizen yet, why is he still here?
Excellent question! Either become a citizen or go 'home'!
Um - does the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund not know that Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens?
I think the above statement got misinterpreted.
I knew what you meant but when I read it I thought "I wonder who will misinterpret that"
"maybe it's exactly what he said, that his wife was enchanted with the "small-town friendliness" but now it seems to have the same big-city racial problems that they moved away from."
I doubt it. I think it's one of two things. He's (1) illegal, so he has a reason to be worried. Or he's (egal, in which case I would speculate that he either has (2)sympathy for illegals or (3) he thinks that in some way he'll suffer because of this. If that's the case, I would wonder why. Thus, 1 or 2 seem more likely to me.
2 charged in Hazleton fatal shooting (Dominican Illegal Aliens)
Just 80 miles from Philly? Seems like a little weekend getaway is in order.
"that he either has (2)sympathy for illegals "
Interesting ... personally, I think ALL illegals should be deported as soon as caught, but that does not mean I don't feel symapthy for them.
Is feeling sympathy for illegals now a deportable offence on it's own ?
I think you can go 25 years of being here legally and not a citizen. Ozzie Guillen apparently started playing here in 1985 and did not become a citizen until 5 months ago.
from wikipedia
Guillén, is a former shortstop in Major League Baseball and the current manager of the 2005 World Series champion Chicago White Sox. He is the first latin-born manager in the history of the game to have won a World Series. His career stretched from 1985 through 2000, playing for the White Sox (1985-97)
On Friday January 20, 2006, Ozzie Guillén passed the citizenship test in Chicago, Illinois to become a naturalized U.S. citizen on the day of his 42nd birthday.[6]
"Is feeling sympathy for illegals now a deportable offence on it's own ?"
Of course not, and I don't know why you would think I thought so. In the context of the article it would be interesting to know.
As for feeling sympathy, I was really using that as shorthand for feeling sympathetic to those who are, for lack of a pithier phrase, soft on illegal immigration.
Puerto Ricans are american citizens by birth, seems that their loyalties lie more along so-called racial lines, as if there is a latino race.
Let's get all these healthy Americans who are sitting home collecting a welfare to working. They now have a program called "Welfare to Work". This program is an failure because it is supposed to get people off welfare and out in the job market. But that isn't working. Why not have working as a condition to get welfare. It should be "Welfare for work." Not work to welfare. Anyone who is healthy should have to work to receive any kind of assistance. For the many teen age girls who are popping out babies they either go to school or work. That is both reasonable and entails that the individual has a hand in taking care of him or herself. It instills responsibility. Let's call our congressman and start pusing Welfare for Work. That way a lot of these jobs that illegal immigrants are working at can be filled by Americans.
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