City of Hazelton Proposes Unconstitutional Immigration Law
A federal judge ruled last week that a city ordinance which imposes fines on landlords who rent to undocumented workers is unconstitutional. That city is Hazelton, Pennsylvania. The major of Hazelton, Lou Barletta, pushed for this measure after two undocumented workers were charged in a fatal shooting. Immigrant groups sued, alleging that the rationale for this measure is racist. The lawyer for the city, Kris Kobach, stated that he believes this decision will be overturned on appeal and called the ruling by a U.S. District Judge as going “too far out on a limb.”
In a separate interview, Mayor Barletta attributes a surge in crime rates in Hazelton to the presence of illegal immigrants. His so-called “Illegal Immigration Relief Act” went so far as to declare English as the city’s official language and forbid the translation of documents into another language without official authorization. At Citizen by Choice, we seem to recall a concept known as “overbreadth” of laws, where a law tries to make illegal behavior which is legal. It is therefore no big surprise a federal judge ruled this law to be unconstitutional.
Unfortunately, Barletta’s behavior brought him much attention, mostly words of praise from his like-minded brothers. Citizen by Choice notes that the city of Hazelton has a long history of immigration, always greeting by complaints from those who got there first that the new arrivals didn’t speak English or couldn’t integrate well.
We would like to knock on Mr. Barletta’s forehead and ask him whether there are any other factors leading to a recent increase in crime in his town, if any are Americans, what he believes to be the cause of crime in any city, who the victims of the crime are, and whether immigrants (legal or undocumented) fear criminal acts in their neighborhoods. We are also curious if the percentage of immigrants committing violent acts is proportionate to the population of immigrants, as such percentage is proportionate to any group regardless of race.
Citizen by Choice suggests we keep an eye on this appeal. If this mayor has his way, we will toss out the U.S. Constitution that is protecting all of us.
