http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-immigration-law-20100910,0,1006172.story




By David G. Savage, Tribune Washington Bureau

September 10, 2010



Reporting from Washington —
A city may not punish employers who hire illegal immigrants or landlords who rent to them, the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia ruled Thursday, asserting that immigration is "clearly within the exclusive domain of the federal government."

The decision strikes down an anti-immigrant ordinance adopted four years ago in Hazleton, Pa., that inspired a wave of similar measures elsewhere, including in Arizona.

The court's unanimous decision is the latest to send the message that Washington sets the rules on immigration, not states or localities.

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"Deciding which aliens may live in the United States has always been the prerogative of the federal government," said Chief Judge Theodore McKee of the appellate court. "If Hazleton can regulate as it has here, then so could every other state or locality."

The court cited 11 states and several municipalities, including two in California — Mission Viejo and Escondido — that have passed similar laws to punish illegal immigrants or those who do business with them. Most of those measures have been prevented from taking effect.

In July, a federal judge in Phoenix blocked much of the new Arizona law that requires police to check the immigration status of people they legally stop and suspect are in the country illegally.

Omar Jadwat, an immigrants rights lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union, called Thursday's decision "a major defeat for the misguided, divisive and expensive anti-immigrant strategy that Hazleton has tried to export to the rest of the country. The Constitution does not allow states and cities to interfere with federal immigration laws."

But one of the lawyers for the Washington Legal Foundation, which helped defend the ordinance, expressed optimism that the city would eventually win. States and localities "have traditionally regulated housing and employment, and that's what they wanted to do here," chief counsel Richard Samp said.

Hazleton is a former coal mining center in northeastern Pennsylvania with about 30,000 residents. Mayor Lou Barletta and the City Council gained national attention in 2006 with their crackdown on illegal immigrants. A newly enacted ordinance would have imposed a $1,000 fine on landlords for each rental to an illegal immigrant.

A federal judge blocked the ordinance from taking effect. The city appealed, but lost in Thursday's 3-0 decision.

The ruling is not the final word on this issue, however. In December, the Supreme Court is set to hear an Arizona case to decide whether a state may take away the business licenses of companies that knowingly hire illegal immigrants.

This law, passed when Democrat Janet Napolitano was Arizona's governor, was upheld by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on the grounds that states traditionally control the licensing of businesses. The Supreme Court's conservative justices may be inclined to give state and local officials more leeway to enforce their own laws on crime, employment or housing.

Hazleton's lawyers said they would appeal Thursday's decision, but the Supreme Court is unlikely to act on the matter until it resolves the Arizona case early next year.

david.savage@latimes.com

they raid companies here and find illegals, i dont know if the company is fined or not, but this is a hot issue and we will get a answer , i cant understand how a company can get off scott free with illegals working for them ,,, but the majoity of americans are against illegal immigration so when the congress goes more conservative, and possibly the a new administration that is more conservative, things may change , we need a federal law on this,

rosco 357 wrote:they raid companies here and find illegals, i dont know if the company is fined or not, but this is a hot issue and we will get a answer , i cant understand how a company can get off scott free with illegals working for them ,,, but the majoity of americans are against illegal immigration so when the congress goes more conservative, and possibly the a new administration that is more conservative, things may change , we need a federal law on this,

like I said a long time ago, the Govenement is the one who passes a law, not the individual stat, about immigration,as i also said a law is being worked on but again the Repubs are saying Hell No!!they are not going to work with Obama, as i also said they want him to fail Boehner and others have said this, and this is who some of the American people want to vote back in?

yep they do that ., i remember the dems on bush senior, the dems passed some things they knew bush senior would not sign, as to hurt his reelection , its something they all do before an election,

I agree, but not totally/what the bad guys(Repubs) are doing now//heck they might as well stay home in bed,for what they are doing to help this country//Ooops I forgot they did that for what six years//nothing moved ,everything failed/as they put money in their pocket/the worse fall since the great depression
who was in control? Repubs,and this is after Clinton left them a surplus!

well im fiscally more to the left of center, but its always been the dems and repubs, have different views, there is plenty of blame to go around, and recessions will come and go, they always have and always will.. its like a roller coaster, every so many years the economy goes thru this, and as other countrys grow stronger in manufacturing it may only get worse, but i think i heard, china is buying lots of american things,its picking up, but china it scary, they grow more techie, which scares me, they are catching up, we must stay ahead of the world in new defense technology and such as that or things will really change world wide, if china ever gets ahead of us on defense technology, they will dictate to us,

One Point! the Repubs/have caused more failure in strength of America,they have not supported the working class ever,if you can find they have.; [i] will think twice,give me one time the Repubs have helped the working.and the poverty stricken/then I will rethink~ doesn't matter who your state supports //repub/dem you need to rethink as most of y'all should/as Kentucky should all the mitch,sessions and others need ousted~~ then if it comes and goes who!!I( have researched/the Repubs do more harm than good give me some of their good

Another thing Repubs do /is war//worried if one country gets ahead of us//WOW!! so with your (repubs) they are doing exactly that~ Repubs are warmongers/most are military
they have nothing but themselves in mind/not the country,look BACK!!

well apparently more ppl in ur state and mine dont believe as u do, ur one vote, and u know how ur state goes, good luck, just wait till november and u will have a higher hill to climb,, u make it sound so easy, but most of the country now is not going ur way, but that will be answered in november,, im dont with this,

umm maybe! they need to wake up their redneck ways//umm like slavery/they supported for decades/still are ??
I am including all states/guilty

they had slavery for over a century, and i think more solders died in the civil war than in any other war we have had, but i have not read on it in a while, a republican put the end to slavery, Lincoln was a repub,

u just like a Republican,did not answer the question/that is my point//do you think republicans can solve/correct what they created//catastrophe

gypsy wrote:u just like a Republican,did not answer the question/that is my point//do you think republicans can solve/correct what they created//catastrophe

well i dont necessarily agree its all republicans fault, obama does not seem to be helping much, u really cant pay much attention to whats going on in washington till next year after the elections and the state of the union address. neither side before an election will do anything to help the other, this is not new it happens at this time before elections every time, its part of the game .. u just have to wait it out, there is nothing u or anyone can do about it, but vote is all, so we will see how ur state votes, probably vote in conservatives again, but the economy as i have said runs in cycles, it will have its up times and down times, my feeling is its getting harder because some countrys are catching up technology wise, but thats another story, i think depending on how the election turn out, its a good chance of 2 years of gridlock, in washington, the next couple of years, with the republicans in a stronger position than they have been the last 2 years,i once heard years ago, gridlock is not necessarily a bad thing, it keeps spending down,with every law passed, in the fine print there always is some pork barrel spending to obtain votes, so gridlock keeps spending down, but no need to speculate. see what the election brings, it will be interesting. its getting close so we will know, who will control what, i think the country is swinging back the other way, it always happens in midterms anyway, and i think this midterm will be a strong swing, but we will know soon enough,