Hazleton Mayor Louis Barletta and Gov. Ed Rendell traded barbs over a new city ordinance that cracks down on illegal immigrants, with Rendell saying during a Thursday stop in Scranton that it had been drafted by “mean-spirited” politicians who “feed off hate and divisiveness.”
Barletta disagreed, saying the ordinance simply upholds the law. The only mean-spirited remarks that Barletta said he could recall were made by two members of the Governor’s Advisory Commission on Latino Affairs, who publicly called Hazleton a “Nazi city” and said that Latinos would never assimilate into American culture.
The Associated Press and The (Scranton) Times-Tribune reported on Rendell’s take on the ordinance and remarks he made Thursday in Scranton while attending a gathering of young professionals.
Rendell called the ordinance and similar crackdowns on illegal immigrants a “mean-spirited” work of politicians and said initiatives such as Hazleton’s are skewing the national debate over illegal immigrants. “A lot of this is being pushed by politicians who absolutely want to keep your eyes away from real stuff,” Rendell said Thursday. “They feed off that and divisiveness. The only ones I want to hear speaking up and complaining about immigration are the Native Americans who we screwed.”
Barletta issued a written response to Rendell’s comments Friday.
“As a former mayor of Philadelphia, Governor Rendell should understand the desire to protect the legal citizens of a city,” Barletta said in the news release. “As the governor, Mr. Rendell is aware of the current financial situation of the City of Hazleton , where it is important to make every dollar count, where every dollar should be spent on the legal residents of Hazleton.”
Barletta said he wants to know how upholding a law is “mean-spirited or divisive” and said he was “very surprised” when reading remarks made by the governor. “I was surprised with the governor’s comments – especially since two members of his Governor’s (Advisory) Commission on Latino Affairs have gone on to say some pretty mean-spirited things at me and at the city with no response from the governor’s office,” Barletta said.
The mayor referred to remarks made by Anna Arias, who spoke out against the IIRA during a recent Hazleton City Council meeting and called him a “monkey” during a television interview.
“I would say that calling the mayor a ‘monkey’ during televised interviews, as the representative of the governor did, is also mean-spirited,” Barletta wrote. “The ordinance is not motivated out of anything other than a desire to protect the legal residents of Hazleton and make every precious taxpayer dollar go as far as it can.”
A spokeswoman from the governor’s office announced shortly after Arias made the remarks that Arias was not speaking on behalf of Rendell or the Governor’s Advisory Commission on Latino Affairs.
Arias issued a news release that essentially said the same. Barletta, however, said during a late Friday interview that he was surprised Rendell didn’t offer a comment of his own.
“If I ever had said that same thing to her or anyone else, they would’ve asked for my resignation the next day,” Barletta said. “I think I deserve the same respect I’ve shown. That’s why I’m taken aback by the governor – who did not respond to her hateful comments.”
Rendell reportedly expressed concerns about illegal immigrants, saying Thursday that he agrees with President Bush’s proposal to set up a guest-worker program that would allow aspiring immigrants to take jobs “that Americans don’t fill” as a way to help impoverished families seek a better life.
“I’m upholding the laws of this country,” Barletta continued. “It’s the law. Illegal is illegal. I guess we shouldn’t uphold laws any longer – or am I missing something?”
Barletta’s ordinance, which was approved by city council, makes English the official language of Hazleton and makes all documents available in English only – unless superseded by state or federal law.
It also prohibits businesses found hiring illegal immigrants from operating within city limits for five years and cancels any and all contracts those businesses may have with the city.
Additionally, the ordinance fines landlords $1,000 per person per day for knowingly renting to any illegal alien.