Illegal Immigration and Hazelton PA

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.