Pa. City Gets Tough On Immigration

Hazleton, Pa., Says Employers And Landlords Of Illegal Immigrants Face Steep Fines

(AP)  Jack Mundie, the 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 the provision would likely be invoked only against business people who knowingly violated it, and 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 about 80 miles northwest of Philadelphia, 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.

Carolina Taveras, a 30-year-old naturalized citizen from the Dominican Republic who moved to Hazleton from New York City a year ago, said the mayor's proposal has made her feel unwelcome.

A few doors down from where Taveras was getting her hair done at a downtown beauty salon that caters to Hispanic women, restaurant owner George Giannakouros said he is sympathetic to Barletta's approach.

"I agree with the mayor, there is a problem," Giannakouros said. "I work at my business at night, I like to feel safe."

In a letter sent to Barletta earlier this week, attorneys with the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund threatened to sue on the grounds that the ordinance infringes upon the federal government's power to regulate immigration.

The lone "No" vote was cast by councilman Robert Nilles, who expressed concern about the legality of the ordinance.

Nilles attempted to amend the vote by stripping out a portion regulating landlords, but it died for lack of a second.

The act passed the council 4-1 on a preliminary vote last month. A similar measure was approved Tuesday by the supervisors in Hazle Township, which surrounds the city of Hazleton.

Other municipalities across the country also have considered acting to address illegal immigration. Ordinances similar to the Hazleton measure have been proposed in the Florida communities of Palm Bay and Avon Park and the California towns of Escondido and San Bernardino.