Same Old Same Old

A recent story in Hazleton ’s daily newspaper, the Standard-Speaker, outlines the claims of various Hispanic advocacy groups that Hazleton ’s Illegal Immigration Relief Act has cost the city of Hazleton more than 20 Hispanic-owned businesses.
Let’s examine some of their statements:

The Reverend Luis Cortez of Esperanza USA said “Illegal immigrants have been unfairly lumped in with legal Latino citizens.
He also claims that “The business owners who left were just afraid..that they were no longer wanted”.

The Reverend Jane Hess of the Faith United Church of Christ claims “We should hold government accountable (regarding illegal immigration), not take the law into our own hands” and “Mayor Barletta’s use of the term “illegal immigrant” is inflammatory”.

As usual, these folks are long on rhetoric and short on solutions.

Regarding Reverend Cortez’s claim of illegal immigrants being unfairly lumped in with legal Latino citizens, he should examine his own statement a little more carefully.
Illegal immigrants as opposed to legal Latino citizens.
Yes Reverend, as your own words show,there is a difference.
One group chose to come to America and go through the process of becoming U.S. citizens, the other did not. There is a distinction.
And the Illegal Immigration Relief Act did not target all Hispanics, rather it’s purpose is to hold accountable firms that employ or landlords who rent to individuals who are in this country illegally.

I am also curious as to why the Esperanza USA website does not mention the issue of illegal immigration.
An examination of that issue would seem to be a given for a Latino advocacy group, yet the focus of the website seems to be targeted to Hispanics that are legal U.S. citizens.
And to all those who claim that the process to become a citizen is too onerous, how is it that so many Latino’s have done so?
It surely cannot be any more difficult now than it was for my ancestors, who came to the U.S, unable to speak English and certainly did not have all the support systems and assistance that is available today..
It only seems logical that Reverend Cortez’s group should provide at least some information as to how to obtain U.S. citizenship.

As to the reverend’s claim about business owners leaving Hazleton because they were afraid they were no longer wanted, I fail to understand the logic of that statement also.

I have made numerous visits to the Hazleton Wal-Mart, both before and after the IIRA was proposed, and the predominant language I’ve heard spoken was Spanish.
So I can’t help but draw the conclusion that Wal-Mart was more of a factor in these stores closing than any proposed ordinance was.
Perhaps the citizenship status, or lack thereof, of the store owners and/or their employees was a factor in the closings. And I surely don’t recall anyone picketing outside of a Latino-owned establishment demanding that the proprietors leave town.


Reverend Hess’s statement about holding government accountable and not taking the law into our own hands also misses the mark.
No one is taking the law into their own hands; there are no bands of vigilantes roaming the streets of Hazleton targeting Hispanics.
To my way of thinking, the purpose of the IIRA is to attempt to remedy the fact that the federal government is NOT accountable.
If the government had been doing it’s job, cities and towns across the U.S. would not be passing laws whose aim is basically the same as those set forth in the IIRA.

As to Reverend Hess’s statement that Mayor Barletta’s use of the term “illegal immigrant” is inflammatory, I’m baffled.
Reverend, if someone enters a country without going through the proper channels and/or without the proper documentation, that person is an illegal immigrant in the eyes of that country.
However, I highly doubt that any country other than the United States would provide me with welfare benefits, allow me access to hospital emergency rooms, educate my children, etc.

All that the Reverends Cortez and Hess have don e is trot out the same old tired cliches’
without addressing the real issues

Rather than spending all their time deriding the efforts of people like Mayor Barletta, perhaps they should shift their focus towards helping these people understand tbhat they need to become legal U.S. citizens and to assimilate into OUR culture and way of life, not wait for us to chang our way of life to suit them.