Barletta Day 2: Crime Spike Prompted Hazleton Ordinance

"A crime surge in a former coal town prompted a crackdown on illegal immigrants, the mayor testified Thursday as he defended the ordinance against claims that it is unconstitutional. Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta said violent crime spiked 60 percent between 2003 and 2006, driving businesses away and making residents afraid to come out of their homes. Within weeks last spring, he said illegal immigrants were arrested for fatally shooting a man, shooting a playground with a BB gun and dealing drugs," the AP reports. "'People were demanding that something be done,' Barletta said on the fourth day of a trial to determine the constitutionality of Hazleton's Illegal Immigration Relief Act. 'I understand those who say the federal government is in charge of regulating immigration,' Barletta said. 'However, these crimes are being committed on our streets.'

The Digger's Realm blog has a post analyzing the testimony yesterday. "During cross examination Vic Walczak pointed out to Barletta that statistics provided by Hazleton police show that less than one percent of more than 8,000 crimes in the city were committed by illegal aliens between 2001 and 2006."

"Now this is a false statistic. Under federal law - pushed through by groups like the ACLU - you cannot ask an inmate if they are illegally in the country unless you are an immigration agent. Hazleton also does not participate in the Department of Homeland Security's 287(g) program which is used to screen local inmates for their immigration status. In Orange County, California they saw a 63% increase in the numbers of illegal aliens detected in their prison system when they joined the program. Since Hazleton is not using this program, the 'less than one percent' figure is not a real statistic. Maybe if they joined the federal program they'd see a 63% increase and they'd find that the percentage of illegal aliens apprehended is quite a large number."

Read the full story