Editorials

OUR OPINION

June 25, 2007

Immigration a tough issue that we must address now

THE TIMES LEADER?

Or the Northeastern Pennsylvania Immigration News?

We wouldn’t blame you if you were confused about that this week because there was an avalanche of immigration-related stories in our newspaper.

A minimum of six articles detailed stories such as the formation of Hazleton’s new gang unit as a proactive approach to gang-related crime.

Another article said that the county Register of Wills office refused to accept a marriage license application from an illegal immigrant, which led to the American Civil Liberties Union filing a federal suit against Register of Wills Dorothy Stankovic.

Then there was the blame-game series of articles about who dropped the ball -- locals or federal agents -- in the release of three illegal immigrants, the lively debate about Hazleton’s Illegal Immigration Relief Act at Penn State’s Wilkes-Barre campus and, well, you get the picture.

The article that brought the overwhelming scope of the immigration situation to our eyes -- and perhaps to yours as well -- was the Associated Press article from White Haven on Thursday that noted that “more than half of the passengers who escaped after their bus teetered off the side of the bridge on Interstate 80 were in the country illegally and will be deported.”

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detained 23 of the 44 people on the bus for immigration violations, the AP reported. The bus, which was headed for New York City when it crashed and nearly plunged into the Lehigh River, carried 22 Chinese nationals and one Mexican.

We can only speculate on how many other buses -- buses that don’t crash -- are, minute-by-minute, traveling our interstates with similar passenger lists.

What does this all mean?

It means we have a huge problem that we cannot afford to ignore anymore, one that will determine the essence of our society into the next century and beyond.

 

The federal government, ostensibly in control of immigration matters, is asleep at the wheel.

The feds insist on complete control, but they are far more noticeable in what they don’t do in controlling immigration -- from failing to close our porous borders to illegal aliens to not clarifying the roles of the myriad of involved federal agencies, to refusing to spell out to states, cities and towns what they can and cannot do.

With the feds wringing their hands in despair, the only glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel is the decision spurred by Hazleton’s Illegal Immigration Relief Act, currently in federal court.

Unfortunately, that battle will surely end up in the Supreme Court and by the time the last appeal has been made and the last lawyer has been heard, years will have passed.

Meanwhile, immigration news will continue.

We don’t have the answers here.

What we can see, however, is that we can’t wait for the federal cavalry to charge in and save us. It may never happen or, if it does, it may be too late.

It’s a problem we -- and by we, we mean all of us in Northeastern Pennsylvania -- need to start addressing now.

The Penn State discussion was a good example of how we can proceed. But let’s kick it up several notches: Let’s get the brain trusts of our local colleges and universities together to hold forums and seminars on how we can tackle all of these sticky situations.

Let’s get all the local mayors -- not just Hazleton’s Lou Barletta -- looking at ways to deal with these issues, whether it’s gang units or sharing information in a better and more timely fashion.

Most importantly, we call upon our county commissioners to take the lead on this issue, which impacts every county resident.

Show us that, unlike with the Yankees baseball team and the proposed cargo airport, you do not have to be the caboose at the end of the train, but can be the engineers of a train of progress that will help us with these momentous problems, which cannot wait.

If these leaders start us down the track, we believe that a concerned citizenry will be willing to participate in finding solutions to these vexing problems.

All aboard?

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