Hazleton Ordinances Do Not Infringe on Federal Authority Over Immigration Policy, Says FAIR

WASHINGTON, March 12  /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), together with its auxiliary organization, the Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI), vigorously reject the legal challenges brought by the ACLU that ordinances enacted by the city of Hazleton, Pennsylvania, usurp the federal governments exclusive authority of immigration policy. The city's Illegal Immigration Relief Act, adopted last year, regulates commercial activity within Hazleton, a prerogative guaranteed to state and local governments under the tenth amendment. The trial begins today in federal court in Scranton.
Under the Illegal Immigration Relief Act, Hazleton requires local employers and landlords to verify that the people they hire or rent to are legal U.S. residents. These local policies are no different than countless others that Hazleton and every other local jurisdiction institute and enforce to ensure that businesses operate in a manner consistent with the public interest.
"Hazleton is doing nothing more than setting rules for how employers and landlords in the city do business, which is precisely the function of local governments," stated Dan Stein, president of FAIR. "The ordinances adopted enforce laws against businesses and landlords, not against illegal aliens, which is the federal government's responsibility. Of course, if the federal government were enforcing its own laws in the first place, there would be no need for Hazleton or any other state or local government to regulate the activities of local businesses."
The suit filed by the ACLU is part of a politically motivated effort by a network of advocacy groups to prevent enforcement of U.S. immigration laws, charges FAIR. There is no legal barrier to state and local governments enforcing U.S. immigration laws, so long as that enforcement is consistent with federal law.
"Hazleton and other localities have been forced to take action because of the lack of federal enforcement. And one of the primary causes for the lack of federal enforcement has been the decades-long campaign by groups like ACLU to impede interior enforcement of U.S. immigration laws," said Stein. "Using tactics that amount to legal intimidation, ACLU and others have consistently impeded reasonable federal and local efforts to identify and remove illegal aliens. Finally, in the case of Hazleton, the illegal alien advocacy network has been confronted by a determined local government, led by Mayor Lou Barletta, that refuses to simply rollover."
As the legal challenge to the Hazleton ordinances gets underway, FAIR and IRLI expressed confidence that the courts will uphold them, setting a precedent for other communities all across the country that are dealing with similar issues.
Federation for American Immigration Reform