I thought the mayor was good on Dobbs program. He probably has a good future in statewide politics

Amen brother and well said!

Four hours after Mayor Barletta signed the ordinance into law, Hazelton police arrested illegal aliens at a local playground for selling crack cocaine. This is what Mayor Barletta is up against in his town. Many of the illegal aliens that have come mostly via NYC to Hazelton, PA are not "working in the fields just trying to feed their families", they are working in the playgrounds and parks of Hazelton selling drugs.

Illegal alien, others busted for selling drugs at playground
Saturday, 15 July 2006
By L.A. TARONE
tarone@standardspeaker.com
The Hazleton Police Department made another drug bust.
Another illegal alien was involved. About 5:30 p.m. Friday, police arrested four males – three adults and a juvenile – for selling crack cocaine at Pine Street Playground,.
Arrested were: Jesus Rivera-Santos, 23, Freeland; Ivan Garcia-Lopez, 34, no known address; Miguel Cruz, 20, Freeland; and a male juvenile.
Cpl. Dave Bunchalk said police had received several tips on the Drug Tip Hotline and conducted surveillance at the playground Friday afternoon.
“Police observed the males selling drugs to several individuals at the playground,” a press release read.
Bunchalk said police moved in and arrested the four without incident. He said police found several hundred dollars among them, and quantities of crack on each.
While the arrest went off without incident, trying to identify them was another matter. One gave police four different forms of identification with four different names.
While the arrests happened at 5:30, it wasn’t until almost 11 p.m. until police had solid IDs on each.
Rivera-Santos is in the country illegally. He had three different aliases. He was charged with criminal conspiracy and possession with intent to deliver. He was also wanted on an outstanding warrant from Luzerne Country Adult Probation Office.
Police contacted the federal Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which will begin deportation proceedings. ICE identified him as Rudy Jonatan Guidiel-Rivera, though if that actually was his real name wasn’t clear at press time.
Cruz is a legal resident, though he first told police was born in New York. Police determined he is in the country on a visa. However, if convicted of criminal conspiracy and possession with intent to deliver, he will be deported.
Garcia-Lopez initially identified himself as Higinio Cancel Cordova and showed a Puerto Rican birth certificate. However, a fingerprint check showed his real name to be Garcia-Lopez. Since he was born in Puerto Rica, he is an American citizen. He was charged with possession of crack cocaine, criminal conspiracy and possession with intent to deliver. He is also wanted on a felony drug charge from New York.
The unidentified juvenile was also charged with criminal conspiracy and possession with intent to deliver.
The three adults were taken to Luzerne County Prison just after midnight Saturday. The juvenile was taken to Luzerne County Juvenile Detention Center, Pittston Township, earlier.
Bunchalk called the arrest part of an “ongoing effort to rid the city of drug activity,” and said it was the latest example of the department’s “proactive approach.”
An angry Mayor Lou Barletta was in City Hall as the suspects were taken to country prison.
“I despise the fact that they were selling drugs at a playground – which I consider sacred ground,” Barletta said. “Children should be free to play at playgrounds and not be menaced by this kind of stuff.”
The arrests came less than 24 hours after City Council passed his Illegal Immigration Relief Act, and only about four hours after he signed it into law.
“Well, there’s another illegal alien who’ll be leaving the city and the country,” Barletta said. “We will take back the streets. There will be law and order in Hazleton again.”

Digger-

I think that you are a little bit confused about the concept of assimilation. This is not a wonderful thing that we should all embrace, it is in fact a dangerous concept. The aim of assimilation is homogeny, a society where we are all the same. No different cultures, beliefs, ideas, just conformity. Our whole country was built on the fact that our ancestors wanted the freedom to choose their own beliefs, and they wanted the right to be different. The loss of culture and language is a shameful thing, and it should not be promoted in a society that derives its very own culture from over generations of customs brought from other countries. Don’t forget that YOUR relatives were immigrants, too. None of us would be here without immigration.

The laws being imposed in Hazelton are indeed racist, and it shames me to see that so many of my fellow Americans seem to be supporting them. I was born in this country, and for this I feel very blessed. I also feel like the fact that I was born here does not give me more of a right to enjoy the benefits of American life more than anyone else. Because my ancestors stole this land from the Indians 200 years ago, that means I deserve to live here over someone born across an imaginary border?

How are these laws going to be enforced? Are they going to go around to every store in the city and ask the patrons for their identification? Do they have the manpower to do this? If so, then why can’t they control the crime in their city? It seems to me that if they have enough money and workers to enforce this law, then they aren’t as burdened as they claim to be. Otherwise, I imagine that a person will be asked to prove their citizenship based on the way that they look, the color of their skin. This is a problem for obvious reasons. They might as well force them to wear a yellow star.

I understand the desire and the right of the people of Hazleton to be protected from crime. However, one must be careful when placing the blame of crime all on the shoulders of the illegal immigrant community. When there is a rise in population, there is sure to be a rise in the crime rate. It must be recognized that there are crimes also committed by legal citizens, too. There are other answers to this problem, too. Community programs for the youth would be a good start. Neighborhood organizations, events to bring everyone together, these are ideas that could help to unite the city and search for a solution instead of polarizing the community and pitting one side against the other.

Above all, it is important to recognize that most of the illegal immigrants ARE here to make a better life for their family. There are many opportunities in this country that don’t exist in theirs, and we must remember that our own government and business interests can be held accountable for many of the economic struggles in Latin America. From the end of the Spanish empire’s rule in the region, the United States has exploited their land and resources for our benefit by being involved in their economy and government every step of the way, setting up our industry on their land and exporting their raw materials to ourselves at low cost and then selling the finished product back to them at ridiculous prices. So, we could reasonably put the resources used in other particularly wasteful ways in our country into helping build stable economies in the Latin American regions, and thus eliminate the need for massive illegal immigration altogether.

I am amazed that there are actually people who claim that it is illegal to enforce the law.

Hey, if you don't want to play by the rules, then leave Hazleton!

Hey Liz Coon -

The race card isn't in this deck. Crack open an English dictionary and look up "illegal". The American Heritage Dictionary states: 1. Prohibited by law. For example, "an illegal immigrant".

This is not a race issue. It is a security issue. This problem has been going on too long and has come to the forefront because of terrorism. One day, it's probably going to be sooner than later, a terrorist (skin color doesn't matter) will come strolling across the border with a suitcase full of explosives. All your liberal programs and America-hatred won't make a difference.

If you hate your country so much, move to Mexico. Of course, if you crossed their border illegally, you'd sit in a stone-aged cell full of human waste waiting for a trial that may never come.

I find it frightening that if someone's ideals are not totally aligned with the sentiments of the U.S. government (or border guards for that matter), that we automatically resort to labeling such opinions as "America-hatred." It seems that we lose so much in translation when we start slinging around such generalizations.
Perhaps Ms. Coon's alleged "liberal" agenda and "America-hatred" are mistaken for compassion and empathy toward our southern neighbors?
Alternately, I can understand that the border guard must have a very unique perspective of the situation, given his position. Keeping our country safe seems to be a very dangerous job these days.
I don't profess to know any easy solution for the United States' immigration problem. However, I will say that we will get nowhere if we can't shed our biases and learn listen to eachother.

Yes, the poster got the information all wrong, you completely misread what Mr Agapito Lopez means, because probably you do not understand what assimilation means (yes, like the Borg from Star Trek)

Mr Lopez stated "they" will learn the language, the laws and follow the laws, but not assimilate to "anglo" culture, there is nothing wrong, unethical or illegal about that, they will BE members of the society if they speak the language, learn the laws and follow them.

Assimilation would mean following "anglo" celebrations, for instance they might have their own celebrations, religion, and customs untouched, and again, there is nothing wrong with that.

Assimilation is likely to come 1 or 2 generations down the road, take for instance the italians, germans, and irish when they settled here.. they ended up amalgamating and assimilating into a semi homogeneous society.

You are either biased or cannot or do not want to read properly what Mr Lopez stated.

Best, (oh and by the way if you are against immigration (illegal or legal) there is nothing you can do, better embrace it, it really is what makes America great.

Matt and the other LIBTARDS should stop drinking the coolaid. The immigration laws of our country have been ignored, flouted and treated with disdain. That obviously means nothing to the leftist/bleeding hearts out there.