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Pennsylvania Town's Immigration Law Overturned
A federal judge in Pennsylvania issued a permanent injunction on July 26 on a Hazleton, Pa., town ordinance aimed at penalizing businesses that hire illegal immigrants and landlords who rent to them.
The decision casts doubt on the legality of similar laws passed by some 100 municipalities attempting to restrict illegal immigration in response to failed federal reform efforts. U.S. Senators voted 46 to 53 against a procedural motion on June 28 to move toward a final vote on the immigration bill (S.1639).
U.S. District Judge James Munley ruled that Hazleton's "Illegal Immigration Relief Act" was unlawful because it tried to regulate the country's immigration policy and violated procedural due process protections under the U.S. Constitution.
“This ruling shows the need for federal lawmakers to work towards a comprehensive solution to address immigration concerns with one federal law, instead of hundreds of different state and local requirements that will create a tangle of regulatory confusion for employers,” said Jerry Howard, executive vice president and CEO of NAHB.
The Hazleton ordinance, the first passed in the country, thrust the mayor and his town onto the national stage. Mayor Louis Barletta began searching for ways to reign in illegal immigration last year after two illegal immigrants were charged in a fatal shooting. Barletta said a petition on the Internet drafted by an anti-illegal immigration activist in San Bernardino, Calif., provided a template for his ordinance.
Barletta said that he will appeal. Several legal observers predicted that the issue would be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Since last year, politicians from Massachusetts to California have been drawing up laws and ordinances to limit illegal immigrants' access to jobs, housing and government services.
Arizona's Democratic Gov. Janet Napolitano signed a law early this month requiring all employers to ensure that job candidates are legal residents. The Board of Supervisors in Prince William County (Northern Virginia) voted unanimously to permit its police force to ask residents their status as immigrants. If they are found to be in the country illegally, then county police can promptly arrest them and send them on to the local Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) unit to initiate deportation proceedings.
The challenge to Hazleton's ordinance was led by the American Civil Liberties Union and other civil-rights and Latino advocacy groups.
For more information, e-mail Carlos Gutierrez at NAHB, or call him at 800-368-5242 x8242.
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