Well, we knew Hazelton, PA wouldn’t get away with it for long.
In 2006, the City Council and the mayor passed a city ordinance to stop damage being caused by the massive influx of illegal immigrants. The flood of poverty-stricken non-citizens with no stake in the town was destroying Hazelton’s infrastructure. So the town fathers and mothers moved to build a legal dike against the intruders, who brought crime, heavy hospital costs, and a general disregard for the notion of law and order. They have done the same in towns up and down the state of California, causing native citizens to simply abandon ship and move to other states.
With the new laws in place, Hazelton immediately saw a change for the better:
Business owners who employed illegal immigrants or property owners who rented apartments (or homes) to illegal immigrants would be hit with a stiff fine. All city business was to be conducted in English…and only in English.
[…]
[The mayor said] “It’s been incredible. We have literally seen people loading up mattresses and furniture and leaving the city en masse,” he said. “That was our goal, to have a city of legal immigrants who are all paying taxes. It’s already been effective.”
Imagine that. Wanting a city of residents who paid their way for the services provided. A generation ago, this story would not have made sense. Our parents and grandparents would have been scratching their heads in puzzlement: “what, you have people who want services but don’t pay taxes? We call them deadbeats.”
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So inevitably, the legal suits against the city started. This kind of action is a good way to intimidate, to extort, and to browbeat into submission any community which dares to stand up for its own survival. Better people should just give up their lives and property and move on, leaving the territory to the outlaws to trash and plunder.
Now the higher court in Allentown has ruled:
A federal judge on Thursday struck down the city of Hazleton’s tough anti-immigration law, ruling unconstitutional a measure that has been copied around the country.
The city’s Illegal Immigration Relief Act sought to impose fines on landlords who rent to illegal immigrants and deny business permits to companies that give them jobs. Another measure would have required tenants to register with City Hall and pay for a rental permit.
U.S. District Judge James Munley voided the law Thursday based on testimony from a nine-day trial held in March.
The city will almost certainly appeal.
Yes, and the citizens of Hazelton will be forced to shell out even more in legal fees in a valiant effort to keep their town an American city instead of a lawless barrio.
Hazleton’s Republican mayor pushed for the strict laws last summer after two illegal immigrants were charged in a fatal shooting. Mayor Lou Barletta argued that illegal immigrants brought drugs, crime and gangs to the city of more than 30,000, overwhelming police and schools.
Immigrant groups sued, saying the laws usurp the federal government’s exclusive power to regulate immigration, deprive residents of their constitutional rights to equal protection, and violate state and federal housing law.
But we all know the federal government’s (?deliberate) inability to “regulate” immigration. And what constitutional rights do people who have come to this country illegally, who are not citizens, who do not pay taxes…what rights are in what statute protecting them from the normal consequences of being scoff-laws? The responsibilities which correspond with these “rights” are not even on the table for discussion.
Remember the town of Herouxville in Quebec? They dared to set standards. They required that new citizens assimilate to them, rather than vice versa. They wanted their customs and way of life respected by newcomers. Communities do not develop haphazardly. They grow organically, and the better they are, the more sense of place and identity they possess. All of which provides space for “the heart at home.” Without that, we become rootless and diminished:
The citizens in the Town of Herouxville, Quebec for over a century have enjoyed a quality of life in peaceful beautiful rural pastoral settings, with clean crisp air, country roads, farmers markets, country stores, community events, music, dances, festivals and celebrations, complete with old homesteads and ranches, rolling hills, bow hunting and fly fisherman’s paradise with unspoiled crystal clear lakes and streams, reminiscent of memorable times past in what some describe as a Andy Griffith Mayberry County style existence, a naturalist’s and artist’s dream. Hokey as it may sound, it is true in most respects of most rural Canadian and American small towns everywhere, a safe and peaceful community with minimal crime, hard working, church going people, who are quick to smile and laugh as well as help one in need. As a Town we are a close knit neighbourly community who cherish our longstanding values, morals and traditions which have maintained us in a way of life envied by many crime ridden, traffic congested cities where most citizens live side by side with others for years and yet never congregate, support or get to know their neighbours and get involved in their communities.
Granted our Town Charter drafted with the assistance of our townsfolk has been portrayed by some as racist. The Citizens of Herouxville are extremely upset by this comment as it is contrary to our Christian values and would like to emphatically state nothing could be further from the truth. As Quebecois Canadians we are only stating to the world informing them of our way of life is vitally important to us, much like the way of life amongst other cultures is important to them. For us to change our ways and tradition to accommodate others who wish to live here is like asking our country’s respected founding First Nation’s Culture to incorporate Dutch traditions and wear wooden shoes and erect Windmills in their community.
No doubt the pomo intellectuals unfortunate enough to ever have been born there fled Herouxville as soon as they were able to get the bus fare. Those who stay want to be there. And they want others to come and enjoy what they have worked so hard to build.
Since when did it become illegal and immoral to demand limits and accountability of those who wish to become citizens?
California has been trashed by those who have no investment in its welfare and future. It sounds like the same process is beginning in Pennsylvania, with the help of liberal advocates who want to re-live the do-good moral superiority of the 1960’s, while they leave tragedy in their wake.
Not to mention a national government bent on destroying the foundations of federalism.
These are not good times.