Federal Trial to Test Legality of Local anti Immigration Law
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Jose and Rosa Lechuga
operated a successful grocery store for a decade in this
northeastern Pennsylvania city, but they say a local crackdown
on illegal immigrants killed their business.
The Mexican-American couple, in this country legally, closed
their store and moved to Arkansas. But they are returning as
plaintiffs in a federal court trial opening Monday that has
thrust the former coal town into the middle of the national
debate over illegal immigrants.
As Congress considers changes to immigration policy, the trial
will determine whether Hazleton has the right to make life
difficult for illegal immigrants by penalizing landlords who
rent to them and businesses that give them jobs. A companion
measure requires tenants to register with City Hall.
The case, to be heard north of here in the city of Scranton, is
the first to explore whether local governments may act on their
own to curb illegal immigration. There are an estimated 12
million illegal immigrants in the United States.
Because dozens of towns and cities around the nation have
followed Hazleton's lead, the showdown will be closely watched.
"We're not only fighting for Hazleton, we're fighting for cities
all across America," said Republican Mayor Lou Barletta. He
championed the laws, saying illegal immigrants were joining
gangs, dealing drugs, committing violent crimes and destroying
the quality of life in this city of 31,000.
The American Civil Liberties Union and Hispanic groups filed
suit, calling the city's action divisive and racist and saying
it tramples on the federal government's exclusive power to
regulate immigration.
U.S. District Judge James Munley barred enforcement of the laws
pending conclusion of the trial, but even the threat of action
has led many Hispanics to flee the city, and businesses that
cater to them report plummeting sales.
"The city of Hazleton is promoting discrimination," said Anthony
Romero, the national ACLU's executive director.
The plaintiffs include business owners such as the Lechugas,
landlords, Hispanic groups and a number of illegal immigrants
who were allowed to remain anonymous.
In court papers, the city said illegal immigrants have committed
at least 47 crimes since last spring - including one killing -
and were the subject of one-third of all drug arrests in 2005.
They also have driven up the costs of health care and education,
the city said.
The law empowers the city to investigate written complaints
about a person's immigration status, using a federal database.
Ethnicity may be used as a basis for a complaint, as long as it
is not the sole or primary factor.
Critics contend it will make white residents suspicious of every
Hispanic they see.
"Every Latino will be a target," said Cesar A. Perales,
president of the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund,
one of the groups filing suit. "The significance of Hazleton is
about stopping this anti-immigrant movement dead in its tracks."
But King's College political science professor David Sosar, a
Hazleton resident and former City Council member, said Barletta
had little choice but to act.
"For the most part, it's a quiet little town. When you have a
few murders, a few major drug busts, shootings, those are the
indicators that something is going on and you as a city
government need to react to it," he said.
