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Discrimination
Hazleton Residents Sue to Halt Harsh Anti-Immigrant Law (8/15/2006)
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: media@aclu.org
HAZLETON, PA - An
ordinance that classifies certain immigrants as "illegal," punishes landlords
and employers who do business with those immigrants and makes English the
official language is unconstitutional and should be blocked immediately,
according to a lawsuit filed today by the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and
Education Fund, American Civil Liberties Union, the Community Justice Project,
the law firm of Cozen O'Connor and local attorneys George Barron, David Vaida,
and Barry Dyller.
"All this ordinance does is create more tension
and hatred between neighbors," said Cesar Perales, President and General Counsel
of the PRLDEF. "The city will also face major litigation costs. It is patently
illegal for a local municipality to usurp the role of the federal
government."
Perales cited a report published by the Congressional
Research Service, a nonpartisan agency that writes reports for lawmakers, which
confirmed that federal law likely precludes Hazleton from enforcing the
ordinance.
"Hazleton's anti-immigrant ordinance is bad for the
community, is unconstitutional and will foster rampant discrimination," said
Omar Jadwat, a staff attorney with the ACLU's Immigrants' Rights Project. "This
mean-spirited law is wrong for many reasons, but the most obvious is that the
city does not have the power to make its own immigration
laws."
Enforcement of the ordinance, approved on July 13, is
expected to begin on September 11. The ordinance defines certain persons as
"illegal aliens" using a definition so broad that it actually includes many
lawful residents and naturalized citizens. Under the ordinance, property
owners are subject to fines of more than $1,000 a day for renting to individuals
classified as "illegal aliens," and business owners could be fined and have
their licenses suspended for hiring "illegal aliens" either knowingly or
unknowingly. In addition, businesses would be barred from selling merchandise to
"illegal aliens," including basic necessities such as food.
The
ordinance would also turn Hazleton into an "English-only" community in which
city documents and other written communications would not be available in any
language but English unless specifically required by federal or state law.
Also, documents from residents to city officials would have to be written in
English.
The groups filed the lawsuit on behalf of 11
Hazleton residents and business owners as well as three non-profits. Plaintiffs
include a lifelong Pennsylvanian and U.S. citizen who moved with her husband to
Hazleton and opened a small business using her family's life savings. The
business was doing well and the couple became foster parents intent on adopting.
Since the passage of the ordinance her business has been cut in half and she can
no longer pay the bills. The family has been verbally abused with anti-Latino
epithets and is contemplating moving from the area, according to legal
papers.
In addition to filing the lawsuit, counsel for the
plaintiffs today sent a letter to the Mayor and the City Council informing them
that litigation can be avoided if the ordinance is repealed. If the city
fails to do so, the court proceedings will be aggressively
pursued.
"Not only is this law a bull in the china shop of
constitutional rights, but it will do real injury to lawful immigrants and even
citizens," said Witold Walczak, Legal Director of the ACLU of
Pennsylvania. "It makes every person who looks or sounds foreign a
suspect, including those who are here legally. You might as well just
paint a target on every foreigners' forehead or a sign saying 'please treat me
differently.'"
The groups said in legal papers that the
ordinance violates the U.S. Constitution's Supremacy Clause because it seeks to
override federal law and the exclusive federal power over immigration. The
ordinance also violates business and property owners' due process rights under
the Constitution because it is nearly impossible for them ensure compliance. In
addition, the ordinance's "English only" provision violates city residents'
First Amendment rights to free speech.
In a separate action today
the ACLU of Florida, PRLDEF and other local groups opposed similar ordinances in
Palm Bay, FL, also on the grounds that local governments cannot usurp federal
authority over immigration issues.
The complaint is available at:
www.aclu.org/immigrants/discrim/26463lgl20060815.html
The
letter to the Hazleton Mayor and the Hazleton City Council is online at: www.aclu.org/immigrants/discrim/26464lgl20060815.html
The
documents are also available at www.prldef.org
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