The US Chamber of Commerce has decided to step in on the side of illegal aliens and their supporters in the case against Hazleton, Pennsylvania's Illegal Immigration Relief Act (IIRA). The act would crack down on landlords who rent and businesses that hire illegal aliens. While there is no surprise that the Chamber of Commerce supports illegal aliens, since businesses profit off the work of illegal aliens, there was a surprise that it wasn't the Greater Hazleton Chamber of Commerce, but the Chamber for the whole US.
This seems to show that the Chamber sees this bill as a serious threat to illegal immigration nationwide. If this bill survives legal scrutiny and actually shows a marked decline in crime and expenditures in taxpayer funds it will spread nationwide like wildfire and be absolute proof as to the adverse impact that illegal immigration is having on this nation as a whole.
Currently groups like the Chamber of Commerce try to spin the statistics and claim that things like the increase in crime and taxpayer costs can't be traced back to illegal aliens because they aren't tracked (thanks to clever laws put in place by proponents of illegal immigration not allowing prisons, law enforcement, schools and hospitals to ask for immigration status).
The US Chamber of Commerce is for expedited immigration and was fully behind last year's and this year's Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act that would give amnesty to millions of illegal aliens.
Hazleton Standard Speaker
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has sided with plaintiffs in the suit against Hazleton’s Illegal Immigration Relief Act.
The federal chamber filed a brief on behalf of plaintiffs in the case in U.S. Middle District Court in Scranton Monday afternoon.
Mayor Lou Barletta has not seen the brief, but was informed Monday afternoon it had been filed. He said he was "disappointed" by the U.S. Chamber’s actions.
"Unfortunately for some, this is more about businesses profiting than it is about illegal aliens," Barletta said. "Our ordinance does the opposite. It stands up for the legal worker and punishes businesses trying to profit from the use of illegals. I’d rather be on the side of the American worker."
Barletta said he disagrees with those who contend illegal aliens will do jobs Americans won’t.
"They’re getting construction jobs and putting legal American businesses out of business – because they are getting undercut by firms to hire illegals and pay them under the table," Barletta said. "It’s a shame the chamber would take the position it has."
...
The trial pitting the city against the American Civil Liberties Union, the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, as a handful of local people and several private law firms is set to open Monday.
On Monday, Judicial Watch filed a brief on behalf of the city. The battle begins Monday March 12, 2007.
