Post-Gazette Editorial – 8/29/06

This page was last updated on August 29, 2006.

Hard-line Hazleton / An ambitious mayor appeals to the worst instincts; Editorial; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; August 29, 2006.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject editorial.

“That Hazleton, an otherwise unremarkable blue-collar town in Eastern Pennsylvania, should become ground zero in America’s battle over illegal immigration should be a wake-up call to Congress. In a national leadership vacuum, local politicians can seize the initiative in unproductive ways, as Hazleton Mayor Louis Barletta has done.

“To state the obvious: The United States needs secure borders. Many Americans are frustrated and fearful that the border, especially with Mexico, has become a sieve. In towns such as Hazleton, which locals feel has been changed by an influx of Latino immigrants, resentments are riding high.

“But the problem is a national one, and so is the solution, which has been obvious to President Bush and enlightened members of Congress -- secure the borders once and for all and normalize the status of the 12 million or so illegals already here. Unfortunately, illegal immigrants have become popular scapegoats for every ill.”

[RWC] In case you missed it, “normalize the status of the 12 million or so illegals already here” means grant them amnesty. Why didn’t the author feel he could write what he meant?

Also in case you didn’t pick up on it, if you don’t believe in amnesty, you are not “enlightened.”

“Proving that every Main Street in America can have its own demagogue, Mayor Barletta has championed an ordinance that is all about punishing immigrants, ostensibly illegal ones, although inevitably all come under the same cloud of suspicion.”

[RWC] The editorial author has guts accusing anyone of being a demagogue. In his mind, anyone who advocates border control and enforcement of immigration laws is anti-immigrant.

If the PG believes suspicion of the innocent trumps catching the illegals, perhaps the PG will also come out against searching carry-on luggage at airports, U.S. Customs inspections for incoming travelers, roadside sobriety tests, et cetera. In all of those cases, the vast majority of us are innocent, yet we “inevitably all come under the same cloud of suspicion.”

“Welcome to Hazleton! Prospective renters must obtain a residency permit, which burdens municipal workers with new duties: checking whether renters are really U.S. citizens. Landlords who don’t follow the law will be fined $1,000 a day. Companies employing illegal immigrants will lose their business licenses for five years. And, of course, English is declared the official language.

“Hazleton is a million miles from the America that once welcomed the ‘poor and huddled masses’ -- and profited hugely by their presence. Mr. Barletta, who appears to have greater political ambitions, is buoyed by the support he has received around the country, but then America has never been short of nativists. They know a friend when they see one.”

[RWC] This is BS. As most of the left, the PG believes you are a “nativist” if you advocate border control and enforcement of immigration laws.

“For once such poison seeps out, there is no containing it to those who are illegal. As Post-Gazette writer Milan Simonich reported Sunday, a legal immigrant from the Dominican Republic, a U.S. citizen for 18 years, has endured taunts to ‘go back where you came from.’”

[RWC] No offense, but how do we know this report is true? Even if it is, so what? Idiots have existed forever and will continue to exist forever. I’ve seen web posts referring to Mayor Barletta as a “stinky Italian” and worse. Does that mean everyone who opposes the mayor is an idiot?

“If that anti-foreigner attitude prevails, America can forget competing in the global market and its greatness will be reduced one Hazleton at a time. Congress needs to act.”

[RWC] Once again, if you oppose illegal aliens, the PG brands you as “anti-foreigner.”