Opinion

OUR OPINION

July 27, 2007

Hazleton immigration law ruling was right decision

JUDGE JAMES MUNLEY did on Thursday what he had to do – uphold the U.S. Constitution.

Frankly, his decision on Hazleton’s anti-immigration law was a foregone conclusion from the time testimony was presented during a nine-day trial in March.

The federal judge – whose rulings must be based on legal principles, not public sentiment – struck down the city’s ordinance because he determined it violates the very document on which this nation’s democracy is founded. No doubt, his 206-page opinion will rile lots of area residents who justifiably are annoyed by the nation’s lax border control.

But it was the proper decision.

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.

The judge concluded that such laws usurp federal power.

“Whatever frustrations ... the city of Hazleton may feel about the current state of federal immigration enforcement,” wrote Munley, “the nature of the political system in the United States prohibits the city from enacting ordinances that disrupt a carefully drawn federal statutory scheme.”

In other words, it’s up to the U.S. government to write and revise immigration laws, not local municipalities. That’s the way it should be, or the state and nation risk creating a patchwork of regulations that vary widely from place to place. Imagine, for instance, if Luzerne County’s various cities, boroughs and townships began seizing authority of other federal duties, such as interstate transportation.

Would Butler Township’s leaders vote to re-configure a section of Interstate 81? Would Plains Township opt to set up interstate toll booths?

That said, this high-profile case has cemented the notion that the nation’s leaders must work to fix massive flaws in the United States’ immigration policy and do it soon.

Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta and his administration can be commended for spotlighting how the federal government’s prolonged inattention has allowed problems to fester from anthracite country to California’s coast. Those problems include over-burdened school systems and strains on certain social services.

However, Barletta’s claim that illegal-immigrant arrivals, primarily Hispanic people, brought a disproportionate rise in drugs, gangs and crime to the city of more than 30,000 residents seems dubious. It deserves further investigation.

In the meantime, people on both sides of this emotion-laden issue must keep their cool. Under no circumstance should clashing opinions spill over and result in harassment, ethnic intimidation or violence.

Controlling U.S. immigration is a matter that ultimately must be handled by working through proper political channels, not by joining an angry posse.

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