Lawyers take final shots for, against Hazleton law
WADE MALCOLM
www.thetimes-tribune.com
Mar 23, 2007
Hazleton’s attorney compared the city to a “sinking ship,” submerged under the strain of illegal immigration, during closing arguments Thursday in the federal court suit over the city’s illegal- immigrant-control ordinance.
An attorney opposing the ordinance presented a much different metaphor, with a lengthy allusion to illegal immigrants as “sacrificial goats” unfairly blamed for the city’s problems.
But the vastly different language and completely divergent approaches of the two lawyers had the same goal Thursday at the William J. Nealon Federal Building: make one final plea for Judge James M. Munley to rule in their favor.
Both sides have until early May to file written arguments in the case, which will decide if a city can target illegal immigrants by penalizine landlords and employers who deal with them. Then the case will be in the hands Judge Munley.
Most expect he will take at least a month or more to reach a decision in a case he candidly called “very convoluted.”
Along with the typical speeches on the courthouse steps to conclude the day closing arguments spelled a spirited conclusion to the trial, which began March 12.
The story of Hazleton’s ordinance likely won’t end with Judge Munley’s ruling. The losing side will almost certainly appeal the decision to the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia.
In the ninth and final day of the trial, American Civil Liberties Union attorney Witold J. Walczak made a mostly emotional appeal, asking Judge Munley to void an ordinance the plaintiffs believe will lead to widespread discrimination against Latinos.
Hazleton attorney Kris Kobach, meanwhile, asserted a more technical argument, stating why the city has every legal right to target illegal immigrants through fines and license suspensions against landlords and employers.
Mr. Walczak used the word “scapegoat” several times to describe illegal immigrants in Hazleton.
“There’s no doubt the mayor’s PR campaign, the passing of the ordinance has been received as promoting hostility toward all immigrants,” he said.
Mr. Walczak said the damage, though, has already been done, and the ordinance is “likely to promote discrimination, firings and evictions and that’s likely to follow a pattern of discrimination toward Hispanics.”
The ACLU and attorneys from the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund argue the ordinance treads on the federal government’s sole authority to regulate immigration. They also contend it will violate equal protection and due process rights.
Enforcement has been on hold since Judge Munley granted a restraining order in November.
Last week, Hazleton police produced crime statistics that indicate only a few out of 428 violent crimes in the past six years are known to have involved illegal immigrants. Those facts don’t support a legitimate illegal immigration problem, the plaintiffs argued.
“I totally disregard any of their comments about us not having enough crime statistics,” said Mayor Lou Barletta, who proposed the law in June. “If the ordinance could have stopped one crime and that would have been the rape of a 6-year-old girl by an illegal immigrant, that would be enough for me.”
Saying “they came here for a better life,” Mr. Walczak attempted to cast a sympathetic light on the city’s “unfairly blamed” immigrants. He said blanket terms like illegal immigrant are “dehumanizing.”
“They are real people,” he said “There’s going to be real harm to come to them if this ordinance is enacted.”
Mr. Kobach opted for a more direct approach.
“I’m not going to waste the court’s time with a story,” Kobach said. “I’m going to go straight to the law.”
The residents and organizations suing the city cannot prove the ordinance injured them, Kobach said, particularly pointing to plaintiffs Jose and Rosa Lechuga, who testified on the trial’s first day to plummeting sales at their store and restaurant after the ordinance passed. Mr. Kobach said the Lechugas simply made poor business decisions, and 23 new Hispanic businesses opened in the city since the ordinance passed in July.
The constitution and legal precedent allow Hazleton to enforce immigration laws “concurrently” with federal law through regulating licenses of businesses, he said. The city’s ordinance is also consistent with a federal statute forbidding the harboring of illegal immigrants.
