We have a little town in Pennsylvania named Hazelton that recently pass an anti-illegal alien law. It provided penalties for anyone who did business with an alien, for example, rent a house to them, employ them, etc. It was targeting those who did business and could check the credentials. The objective was to make it difficult for an illegal to reside and work in the town.
Let me assure you, the people in Hazleton are not mean spirited, snotty bigots. They are typical in many ways of residents of small towns in Pennsylvania who can be a little provincial but generally they accept people from the outside if that person makes an effort to become a part of the town. Most small towns in Pennsylvania are populated by a mixture of blue and white collar workers who live together, work together, go to church together and when something bad happens works together to help. I have seen volunteer fire company with both managers and shop workers from the same company working a fire together.
So if they are that open minded why did they pass this mean spirited law as it is claimed to be? There are several reasons but they all go back to a couple of things. First, many of them have strong religious backgrounds. They believe in right and wrong. They believe you obey the law. Their pastors and priests remind them of that on a regular basis. Secondly the believe in fairness. If one has to obey a law, all have to obey the law. Thirdly they are hard working people and try to both pull their own weight and expect others to do likewise.
The immigrants they came from came here legally. They may not have had papers when they got to New York but they were legal when they started work. They believe that if grandpa had to come in legally, so should others. They see the illegals not paying taxes while taking of services. They see a contradiction of fairness in that. And finally they see more than a few of the illegals who are not only illegal but lawless. Crimes perpetrated by illegals in most towns are far more frequent than it should be based on their percentage of the population. And they see these people get away with it.
The mayor of Hazelton didn't just dream up this problem. It was foisted upon him by the illegals that are as he sees it, destroying his town, a town he swore to protect. And he is working to protect those who elected him.
So the law was passed. But before it could be enforced the Hazelton law was declared unconstitutional because only the federal government has jurisdiction over immigration. A consortium of malcontents, meddling outsiders and liberals filed suit against the law being enforced and the federal court agreed. That ruling is being appealed but I as much as I would want in my heart to see the Hazelton law to be upheld, I believe those appeals will be futile. It pains me to say it but I happen to agree with those who filed the suit that the Mayor of Hazelton does not have jurisdiction over immigration but on the other hand I can see why the people of Hazelton are concerned and more important I see why this problem has to be addressed.
I am not ready to see us round up illegals and deport them. I would like to but there is reality, there just are not enough lawmen to do the job. I can't and don't condone illegal activity, let's face it, every illegal is a lawbreaker, a criminal. They broke United States federal law when they crossed our border without permission. For the ones already here I can turn my head and hold my nose to keep from smelling the stench of lawlessness if they will just live legally. That means they pay taxes, they obey the law, they don't misuse services. And they learn English so we don't have to provide interpreters for them in hospitals, courts, and the like. That costs money. There is no where in the constitution that either says or implies that we should be doing that.
But the manure pile of illegals here is large enough. Let's not make it bigger. Let's shut down the border. I am in favor of predator drones and anything else that closes the border including arming the predators and returning fire if fired upon. And let's tell employers here, if you have illegals here working for you now, declare them, get them green cards, and if they are law abiding except their immigration status, we let them stay. They have to pay taxes, live legally and report where they are every time they move. If they don't work for thirty days they go home and they have no right to come back except by the usual process. This would actually serve to provide a more stable work force for those who claim to need illegals. Next we need the immigration service to get off their duffs and process workers through in some reasonable time frame. But to come in they must have a clean record from the police here and in their home country. We don't need any more drug dealers, thieves murderers, terrorists and assorted rabble. Let them stay where they are. Decent law abiding people who want to work, that is different.
