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Home > Press Room > 2007 > Press Release
Press Release
Hazleton Anti-Immigrant
Ordinance Ruled Unconstitutional.
Coalition Applauds Decision to Prevent Chaos and
Discrimination.
July 27, 2007
Washington, DC - Today, a
federal judge in Scranton, PA ruled against the
City of Hazleton in a landmark challenge (Lozano
v. City of Hazleton) to local ordinances aimed
at punishing landlords, employers, and people
perceived to be immigrants. The following is a
statement by Clarissa Martinez, Campaign Manager
for the Coalition for Comprehensive Immigration
Reform.
"Today's decision is a win in
America's effort to restore the rule of law
while upholding our tradition of fairness and
equality. We are grateful that the court
recognized these are not mutually exclusive
concepts and made a decision to prevent the
harmful effects we would have all suffered if
this law had been implemented. This ruling sends
a clear message that the Hazleton ordinance, and
other similar anti-immigrant laws around the
country, are unconstitutional and will not be
allowed to stand."
Frustration over Congressional
failure to enact comprehensive immigration
reform is real and legitimate. Congress
abdicated its responsibility on one of the
nation's most pressing issues, and has passed
the buck on to state and local governments. But
we should focus our frustration on the
appropriate targets - those members of Congress
who continue to obstruct a comprehensive and
bipartisan solution for the sole purpose of
scoring political points - rather than
attempting to render whole communities suspect
and in the process undermine quality of life for
us all.
Anti-immigrant laws like those
proposed in Hazleton are reprehensible because
their proponents know fully well these
ordinances will not solve the problem and often
use misinformation and faulty statistics to sell
them to the public. We are at this point today
because Congress cannot get itself to put aside
partisanship and political calculations to do
what is best for the country. In the wake of
their failure to fix our broken immigration
system, we are left with a situation in which
every small town and city around the country may
try to enact their own legislation on
immigration, creating total anarchy and chaos in
the system.
The American people will
continue to demand a workable and fair solution
that restores the rule of law, secures our
borders, strengthens our economy and upholds the
values of faith, family and hard work that are
the cornerstone of our democracy. The Hazleton
ordinance would have led us away from that path;
now we must continue pressuring Congress to do
its job."
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The Coalition for
Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CCIR) is a
campaign powered by the strategic, coordinated
activities of immigrant advocacy, civil rights,
faith-based and labor organizations across the
United States and Capitol Hill. Our central
purpose is to achieve passage of workable
comprehensive immigration reform legislation
that serves our nation.
Clarissa Martínez-De-Castro
Campaign Manager
Coalition for Comprehensive Immigration Reform
50 F Street NW, #300 Washington, DC 20001
(202) 383-5990
www.cirnow.org <http://www.cirnow.org>
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