Photo: Pennsylvania Court Ordered to Take Another Look at Hazleton Immigration Law
Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered a federal appeals court to a look at the Hazleton, Pennsylvania law that calls for a local authorities to enforce immigration laws that are generally left to the federal government to enforce.
The high court threw out the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals’ ruling that prevented city officials from enforcing a law that allows the denial of permits to businesses that hire undocumented immigrants and the fining of landlords who rent to such immigrants.
The Hazleton Illegal Immigration Relief Act was written by attorney Kris Kobach, who also wrote a similar measure for Fremont, Nebraska.
Tuesday, Kobach stated the opposition to the regulations are on “life support,” after the high court’s ruling the prior day.
Hazleton’s former mayor, U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta said, “Hazleton has paved the way for other cities and states across the country to enact similar laws, so this is a great day for all of those cities and states, and for the people of Hazleton who had to endure criticism from those who opposed what we were trying to do because the federal government didn’t want do its job.”
As mayor, Barletta passed the measures in 2006.
However, attorneys with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) disagreed with Kobach’s assessment, with the ACLU in Pennsylvania’s legal director Witold Walczak stating, “Any celebration by the Hazleton officials would be premature. We’re certainly not putting up the white flag. There’s much battle left to be done in this case.”
