It was July 29, 2007 when Barack Obama, candidate for President of the United States praised a federal court decision overturning Hazleton City Council's attempt to protect itself from illegal aliens filling their streets with drugs, crime and gangs as "a victory for all Americans."
And Obama, in a statement issued by his campaign this week, agreed. “The anti-immigrant law passed by Mayor Barletta was unconstitutional and unworkable – and it underscores the need for comprehensive immigration reform so local communities do not continue to take matters into their own hands,” he said.
Mayor Lou Barletta, who led the effort, wanted to make his town of 30,000 "the toughest place on illegal immigrants in America."
"What I'm doing here is protecting the legal taxpayer of any race," he told the Washington Post. "And I will get rid of the illegal people. It's this simple: They must leave."
Lou Barletta has said if they had listened to him in 2006 we wouldn't be having a problem at this point; it would have been addressed. Instead Hazleton and most communities in Luzerne and Lackawanna County are dealing with the effects of illegal immigration with unsustainable budgets leading to service cuts or tax hikes. It was recently discovered that Luzerne County was owed a whopping $38 million in back taxes. The deliquency rates for garbage fees, sewer fees, and water fees have soared in many municipalities. Bankruptcies and mortgage foreclosures are on the rise in many counties. But the pundits bury their head in the sand and say illegal immigration should be embraced.
The Pennsylvania House led by House Majority Leader Todd Eachus passed two immigration bills aimed at curbing illegal hiring. Will Obama come back and say his own party "defeated all those in America"?
Democrats ran on a platform of immigration reform in 2008 and were successful. Well, it didn't happen. Illegal immigration has moved front and center once again with states like Arizona taking matters into their own hands because Obama was too busy growing a government "too big to fail".
To Obama and Eachus, welcome to the party.
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