Yesterday the AP reported that a controversial immigration law in Hazleton, PA was struck down.
According to Seth Hoy at Immigration Impact in "Federal Appeals Court Strikes Down Hazleton, Pennsylvania’s Immigration Enforcement Laws:"
Today, the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Hazleton, Pennsylvania may not enforce its immigration enforcement laws, which sought to deny business permits to companies who hire undocumented immigrants, fine landlords who rent to the undocumented and require prospective tenants to register with City Hall. The laws, which were never enforced, were previously struck down by a federal judge in 2007 and were again found to conflict with the federal government’s "exclusive power to regulate immigration."
According to Chief Judge Theodor McKee:
It is ... not our job to sit in judgment of whether state and local frustration about federal immigration policy is warranted. We are, however, required to intervene when states and localities directly undermine the federal objectives embodied in statutes enacted by Congress.
Hoy continues:
Today’s ruling will likely end Hazleton’s four-year battle with immigration enforcement legislation and may serve as a cautionary warning to other states currently considering similar measures. The court’s ruling also follows a district judge’s decision to enjoin key provisions of Arizona’s controversial enforcement law, SB1070.
At the time of the Arizona law ruling, America's Voice Executive Director Frank Sharry commented:
The tragic fact is that the judicial system was forced to intervene and impose adult supervision in response to the irresponsible and divisive behavior by the elected officials who currently run Arizona. The state legislature approved this bill on a party-line vote, ensuring a divisive debate and heated fallout. Republican Governor Jan Brewer signed this odious bill into law, plunging Arizona further into crisis. And the two Arizona Republican Senators – Senators McCain and Kyl – are blocking badly needed federal reforms they once championed. Thankfully, the Founding Fathers created checks and balances to rein in this kind of unconstitutional and un-American legislation.
Another tragic fact is that the issue of illegal immigration cannot and will not be solved by state legislatures or federal courts. It can only be solved by Congress and the Administration, and unless and until Washington steps up and enacts a coherent, comprehensive, and national immigration policy, we will continue to see this debate roil local and state politics from coast to coast. Comprehensive immigration reform that combines targeted enforcement with a legal workforce is what the American people want. It is more popular than the Arizona law and an understandably frustrated public won’t be satisfied until Congress acts to put a stop to illegal immigration through comprehensive reforms.
State immigration measures have often been used to advance partisan politics instead of common-sense, effective immigration policy. Here's hoping that rulings like this one will put some of the more radical measures to rest and force Washington to focus on the kind of real immigration reform that America is hungry for.
As Latina Lista's Marisa Treviño writes:
The case, Lozano v. Hazleton had been going through the court system for the past four years.
During the trial, Hazleton officials claimed that undocumented immigrants were responsible for bankrupting the city, driving up healthcare costs and increasing local crime. In fact, the evidence at trial showed that from 2000-2005, Latino immigrants actually helped to transform a huge city budget deficit into a surplus, that the private hospital system made a $4 million profit and that the crime rate actually fell.
"The Latino plaintiffs who brought this lawsuit knew this law was intended to drive them out of Hazleton," said Cesar Perales, President and General Counsel of LatinoJustice PRLDEF. "The court clearly recognized this danger."
Other towns, like Fremont, Nebraska and Summerville, South Carolina that were considering a similar law like Hazelton have scrapped their plans due to either local opposition or the threat of legal pressure.
One town where the City Council members voted their conscience to oppose a similar law was in Tomball, Texas.
As Vivir Latino reports, in Anti-Immigrant Law Does Not Stand in Hazleton:
The mayor is promising to appeal.
Cross-Posted at America's Voice.