In a ruling with national implications, a federal judge this afternoon struck down a controversial year-old ordinance in Hazleton designed to crack down on illegal immigrants in the Northeastern Pennsylvania city.
In a 206-page ruling, U.S. District Judge James Munley found that Hazleton's ordinance that would have penalized city businesses that hire illegal immigrants and landlords who rent to them was unconstitutional because the federal government alone crafts and enforces immigration policies.
"The genius of our Constitution is that it provides rights even to those who evoke the least sympathy from the general public. In that way, all in this nation can be confident of equal justice under its laws," Munley wrote. "Hazleton, in its zeal to control the presence of a group deemed undesirable, violated the rights of such people, as well as others within the community."
City officials, led by its outspoken and popular Mayor Lou Barletta, argued the ordinance was needed to curb the influx of illegal aliens, which they blame for Hazleton's growing crime problem.
The ACLU, on behalf of 11 plaintiffs, including four undocumented aliens who went by aliases, challenged the ordinance in federal court insisting city officials were using the Hispanic community as scapegoats for social ills.
Hazleton, a struggling former coal-mining town of 30,000 people, delayed enforcement of the ordinance pending the outcome of the legal challenge.
The ruling in the widely watched case likely will have far-reaching implications for towns and cities across the nation that have followed Hazleton's lead and have enacted similar local laws.
