Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta on Tuesday before speaking to the Berks County Republican Committee.
Posted on 10/17/2007 7:42:14 PM PDT by Graybeard58
Barletta, who spoke in Berks County Tuesday, backs laws penalizing landlords and businesses that exploit illegal immigrants.
Senior citizens in Hazleton are afraid to sit on their front porches for fear they will become crime victims.
Parents, including those who speak Spanish, refuse to allow their children to visit playgrounds for fear the youngsters will be approached by drug dealers or recruited into gangs.
Those conditions were described by Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta, who said they have caused him to be labeled a racist and led him into a legal quagmire over illegal immigration.
Barletta said he actually is just the mayor of a small, financially strapped Luzerne County city who is trying to improve the quality of life for legal residents with laws penalizing landlords and businesses that exploit illegal immigrants.
“Thirty percent of the drug arrests we made in the last two years were illegal immigrants,” said Barletta, who has made headlines nationwide with his stand. “Thirty percent of the gang members are illegal immigrants.
“It’s estimated that 10 percent of our entire population is illegal.
“We were watching the quality of life being destroyed. How could I sit back and do nothing?”
Every dollar spent investigating a crime committed by an illegal resident is one less dollar the city has to spend on services for legal residents, Barletta said.
Barletta, a 51-year-old Republican seeking a third term in a face-off against a Libertarian opponent, was in the area Tuesday to speak at a Berks County Republican Committee dinner at the Inn at Reading, Wyomissing.
“I’m not blaming illegal aliens for committing all the crimes,” he said. “What I’m saying is they’re taking valuable resources our community needs to protect itself.”
The illegal immigrants also are draining the school system at the expense of children whose parents are here legally, Barletta said.
They are overwhelming the hospital emergency room, forcing legal residents to wait longer for treatment, he said.
The federal government is doing nothing to solve the problem, so he felt he had to do something to reverse the downhill path of the city, Barletta said.
Federal law gives immigration enforcement power to the federal government with one exception, he said.
The exception — permitting and licensing — became the basis of Hazleton’s laws fining landlords who rent to illegals and businesses that hire illegals, Barletta said.
In July, a federal judge ruled the laws unconstitutional.
The American Civil Liberties Union and the Puerto Rican Legal Defense Fund have sued the city for $2.4 million, Barletta said.
“That would bankrupt our little city, but we’re not going to back down,” he said. “We’re going to keep fighting to save our city.
“I think when we get to the Supreme Court we’ll win because we think our laws are legal.”
No tax money has been spent defending the laws, because he raised $400,000 in private contributions for a defense fund, Barletta said
Barletta dismissed a report issued last week that concluded the city’s attack on illegal immigrants is harming its chances for economic development.
Dr. John Zogby, who did the report, used it as a platform for his political opinions, Barletta claimed.
“He interviewed 135 Hispanic residents and only 45 non-Hispanic residents,” Barletta said. “He wrote a 36-page executive summary calling me a racist, and he never interviewed me.
“His crime statistics were wrong. He projected the school district’s enrollment would be 10,600 by 2014. We’ve already exceeded that today.
“There really wasn’t much in that study worth looking at.”
Barletta said most of the illegal immigrants in Hazleton are from the Dominican Republic, not Mexico as most people believe.
But the laws Hazleton is fighting to keep are not directed at any one race, he said.
He offered the results of the primary election as proof that most of Hazleton’s residents back him.
Barletta received 94 percent of the Republican vote and beat the Democratic candidate by a 2-1 margin with a write-in campaign.
“We’re not rolling up the welcome mat to new immigrants,” Barletta said. “We simply want people to come in through the front door and not the back door.”
•Contact reporter Mary Young at 610-478-6292 or myoung@readingeagle.com.
Rights of illegals
Immigration issues spark heated debates. Often the arguments consist of myths and misunderstandings. We took some of these issues to government agencies for answers. The responses are according to law and don’t take into account illegal activities.
In Pennsylvania, can an illegal immigrant:
Get a job? No.
Get a valid Social Security number? No.
Get an individual taxpayer identification number?
Yes. The Internal Revenue Service issues a nine-digit tax-processing number to people who are not eligible to obtain a Social Security number. ITINs are issued regardless of immigration status because both resident and nonresident aliens may have to file a federal tax return.
Obtain a tax refund? Yes.
Receive welfare, food stamps, Social Security payment? No.
Attend government-funded day care or preschool (Head Start)?
Yes. A 1982 U.S. Supreme Court ruling prohibits public school officials from asking the immigration status of any student.
Attend public school? Yes.
Get free health care at a hospital or a clinic?
Yes. Federal law requires that hospitals with emergency rooms must treat everyone requiring emergency care.
Get a driver’s license?
No, but they can in eight other states.
Obtain a marriage license?
Yes. with a valid photo ID.
Enlist in the military? No.
Obtain small business loans, credit cards or savings and checking accounts?
Yes. Federal guidelines require banks to request two forms of identification, but not a Social Security number, for someone to open an account.
If people maintain those accounts, banks may consider them to be good risks to issue loans and credit.
Some banks follow U.S. Small Business Administration guidelines that call for loan applicants to have a green card indicating a status as a lawful permanent resident to get a loan or, if they don’t have a green card, to require applicants to show they are working toward becoming a citizen.
Register to vote? No.
Get workers’ compensation? No.
Sources: U.S., Pennsylvania and Berks County governments; Pennsylvania National Guard; and the Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators.
Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta on Tuesday before speaking to the Berks County Republican Committee.
“Dr. John Zogby”
Is this the brother of the pollster?
Never mind,. It is the pollster!
Not sure but if so we may disbelieve anything he says. I don't even click on articles with "Zogby Poll" in the title.
Frivolous lawsuit for a not-so-frivolous monetary amount.
CEO of Zogby International, so it is biased to the max!
Bless this courageous mayor. A precedent-setter.
Wonder if the city can countersue for harrassment.
Principled.How refreshing in this sea of wishy-washy types.
I think it is the Pollster.
Good one.
A classic!!
Yeah, I snagged that one today. It’s a keeper.
ping
Keep the faith, Mayor Barletta!!!
from the article...
“Barletta dismissed a report issued last week that concluded the city’s attack on illegal immigrants is harming its chances for economic development.”
“Dr. John Zogby, who did the report, used it as a platform for his political opinions, Barletta claimed.”
An aside...Dr. John Zogby was on WJR radio in Detroit this morning with Paul W. Smith (who fills in for Rush Limbaugh from time to time) promoting his upcoming Arab-American leadership conference in Dearborn (Dearbornistan) Michigan...here...
Paul W. also had on US Senator Debbie Stabenow - D Michigan (one of the original 41 signers of the attack on Rush Limbaugh)
HOORAY Lou Barletta!
I noticed that Barletta had no grey in his hair when he took up this fight.
If more public officials attempted what he’s doing all across our nation Soros and the scum organizations he backs would be depleted of funds and resources quickly. As it is we’re letting the enemy choose the time and place of battle.
I’d prefer a time and place of battle: Soros as first defendant at a hearing of a revitalized Un-American Activities Committee.
What the hell does Puerto rico have to do with illegal aliens. BTW, don't Puerto Ricans know that Mexicans detest them on general pricniples. .. along with everybody else. Our compadres from South of the ZBorder are racist as hell!
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