ACLU sues Hazelton, PA over new illegal alien law

Stylerod · 08-16-2006, 10:22 PM

Everyone who is surprised by this stand on your head!!!!

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - Civil rights campaigners sued the Pennsylvania town of Hazleton on Tuesday, seeking to block one of America's toughest local laws against illegal immigrants.

The suit says Hazelton's City Council violated the U.S. constitution when it passed a law denying business permits to companies that hire illegal aliens and fining landlords who rent homes to them.

The measure, which also establishes English as the town's official language, has made Hazleton a focus of the national debate on immigration. The plaintiffs say their suit is the first in the country to challenge a local immigration ordinance.

The suit was filed in federal court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania by groups including the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund and the American Civil Liberties Union. They accuse Hazleton of overstepping its authority on the federal matter of immigration and say the law discriminates against immigrants.

"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," Omar Jadwat, an attorney for the ACLU's Immigrants' Rights Project, said in a statement.

Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta, a proponent of the Illegal Immigration Relief Act Ordinance, says illegal immigration from Mexico and Central America has increased crime, overburdened schools and hospitals, and eroded the quality of life in the town of some 31,000 people.

Barletta predicted the law would survive a court challenge and said he would take it to the Supreme Court if necessary. "We're not going to be bullied," he said in a statement.

About a third of the Hazelton's residents are Hispanic, up from around 5 percent in 2000, officials say.

At the federal level, the House and Senate are trying to reconcile starkly different immigration bills that call for tougher border controls and provide routes to citizenship for the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the country.

I like what they mayor said though

Kytro · 08-16-2006, 10:29 PM

Interesting, I don't know if you can class it as an immigration law.

The state of people being legal immigrants or not isn't determined by the law, the law just uses that state to discriminate.

kinggovernor · 08-16-2006, 10:30 PM

I hope the ACLU gets owned, I don't support the law but I hate them

Kytro · 08-16-2006, 10:32 PM

Originally Posted by kinggovernor

I hope the ACLU gets owned, I don't support the law but I hate them

You hate civil liberties?

kinggovernor · 08-16-2006, 10:33 PM

Originally Posted by Kytro

You hate civil liberties?

I am a huge fan of civil liberties, not a fan of the ACLU

Kytro · 08-16-2006, 10:57 PM

Because they support liberties you don't agree with?

It is better that they stand up for people's rights than not. They are not always right though

IminWonderland · 08-16-2006, 11:10 PM

The ACLU has it's place in our society.

I hope they fail at this case though, because I agree with that mayor, and wish my own would do the same thing.

thomez · 08-16-2006, 11:14 PM

they have every right to not give business permits to businesses that break the law, I would have to imagine

who's rights are being violated?

the right of illegals to live there? obviously that right doesn't exist

town's official language doesn't really mean jack...

are we missing anything else that could be a violation of rights?

JaJae · 08-16-2006, 11:16 PM

Towns can set whatever laws they want regarding what businesses can and can't do in their state. There's nothing I'm aware of that says a town can't do this.

kinggovernor · 08-17-2006, 01:45 AM

Originally Posted by Kytro

Because they support liberties you don't agree with?

It is better that they stand up for people's rights than not. They are not always right though

they support the liberties they believe in, look at their 2nd amendment stance for a good example.

illegal immigrants have very little rights as far as I am concerned

Kytro · 08-17-2006, 02:10 AM

Originally Posted by kinggovernor

they support the liberties they believe in, look at their 2nd amendment stance for a good example.

illegal immigrants have very little rights as far as I am concerned

Yeah I agree, they have very little rights, but the organisation still does some good.

motivez · 08-17-2006, 03:16 AM

It's going to be damn hard for them to define this law as unconstitutional on the basis that they don't have the authority to create immigration policy, since this says nothing about who's allowed to LEGALLY immigrate into their city.

It's simply saying that they will disallow business who break current federal law from operating in their city.

I love the ACLU because I think they stand up for our rights regardless of how unpopular they may be, but I think they're dead wrong on this one.. and I think they'll lose in court.

thomez · 08-17-2006, 03:25 AM

the beauty of the ACLU is NOT that they are right on every issue, because they are of course not, but that they will take so many cases to court and let the Judicial branch of govt exercise its duty to interpret the Constitutionality of contraversial law

without them the fact is that many cases in which they are right would never be challenged at all - they take the risks and backup the Nazis or whatever and I truly think it is great for our system to do so

and when they are wrong, no big deal, they just lose the case and then we have precedent on that issue in the future...

it's a win-win IMO

Thorgrim · 08-17-2006, 03:54 AM

Originally Posted by Stylerod

Everyone who is surprised by this stand on your head!!!!

I like what they mayor said though

His daughter, lindsey, is on the right, she's a lil hot shortie, she really knows how to turn a guy on

(the one thing i miss about hazleton) the girl on the left is mary shes not related to barletta but shes a frat rat...i just thought id throw that in

Thorgrim · 08-17-2006, 03:57 AM

Originally Posted by kinggovernor

they support the liberties they believe in, look at their 2nd amendment stance for a good example.

illegal immigrants have very little rights as far as I am concerned

the 2nd amendment gives a right for a civic duty, you should read my thread sometime, its pretty long though, ill bump it for you

also, the ACLU is not like some "anti-NRA positions" organization, they are fairly vague about where they stand, realizing that there are many 2nd amendment organizations with a lot more money than they have

kinggovernor · 08-17-2006, 09:02 AM

Originally Posted by Thorgrim

the 2nd amendment gives a right for a civic duty, you should read my thread sometime, its pretty long though, ill bump it for you

also, the ACLU is not like some "anti-NRA positions" organization, they are fairly vague about where they stand, realizing that there are many 2nd amendment organizations with a lot more money than they have

so what, it is a civil liberty. The ACLU refers to the 2nd admendent as a collective right, so they don't touch it. The truth is that it doesn't fit their left wing agenda so they want nothing to do with it

Thorgrim · 08-17-2006, 09:06 AM

Originally Posted by kinggovernor

so what, it is a civil liberty. The ACLU refers to the 2nd admendent as a collective right, so they don't touch it. The truth is that it doesn't fit their left wing agenda so they want nothing to do with it

its a civil liberty to protect the people from the federal government, not that every citizen can have a nuclear weapon...its a liberty that relates to a civic duty

btw

the left wing agenda that has helped protect Sean Hannity, the KKK and neo nazis

Phantom · 08-17-2006, 09:10 AM

Originally Posted by motivez

It's going to be damn hard for them to define this law as unconstitutional on the basis that they don't have the authority to create immigration policy, since this says nothing about who's allowed to LEGALLY immigrate into their city.

It's simply saying that they will disallow business who break current federal law from operating in their city.

I love the ACLU because I think they stand up for our rights regardless of how unpopular they may be, but I think they're dead wrong on this one.. and I think they'll lose in court.

It's going to be very easy to declare this law unconstitutional.

The principle is called preemption: Preemption (law) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The idea is (and it has already been decided) that the federal government has exclusive authority of all matters immigration. Therefore, states, municipalities and any other lower governments have no authority to legislative in that area.

Stylerod · 08-17-2006, 10:02 AM

Originally Posted by Phantom

It's going to be very easy to declare this law unconstitutional.

The principle is called preemption: Preemption (law) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The idea is (and it has already been decided) that the federal government has exclusive authority of all matters immigration. Therefore, states, municipalities and any other lower governments have no authority to legislative in that area.

As stated by someone above. If the City finds out the person is breaking a federal law (ie, here illegally) they don't can prevent them from doing certain things.

motivez · 08-17-2006, 10:05 AM

Originally Posted by Phantom

It's going to be very easy to declare this law unconstitutional.

The principle is called preemption: Preemption (law) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The idea is (and it has already been decided) that the federal government has exclusive authority of all matters immigration. Therefore, states, municipalities and any other lower governments have no authority to legislative in that area.

I don't see what this law has to do with immigration though? It's simply saying that they will enforce the current immigration laws, and those who break the law wont be allowed to operate in their city