Barletta: Illegals are behind many problems in U.S.

Barletta: Illegals are behind many problems in U.S.


By David Pierce
The Pocono Record (Stroudsburg, PA), March 26, 2008

Saylorsburg, PA -- Republican congressional hopeful Lou Barletta says illegal immigrants have depressed wages earned by Americans, while boosting costs for everything from public education to health care.

'It affects many issues,' the Hazleton mayor, who garnered national headlines for his anti-illegal immigrant stand, told the West End Republicans on Tuesday night.

Barletta, who is running this fall against 11th District incumbent Democrat Paul Kanjorski, led the charge for enactment of a Hazleton city ordinance requiring landlords to verify that anyone they rent to is in the U.S. legally. Barletta said he acted after it became apparent that a large percentage of the city's violent crimes, including murders, were committed by undocumented foreigners.

'I saw many gangs moving into Hazleton,' he said. 'It started with graffiti.'

He said Hazleton authorities confirmed that 48 people in the community belonged to six gangs with ties to New York.

'It's something we have to be aware of and it all ties in with our fight against illegal immigrants,' Barletta said during the local GOP dinner at the Olde Saylors Inne.

Barletta, 52, said American workers are forced to compete for jobs against illegal immigrants who are willing to work for substandard wages. He said cracking down on employers is the most effective way to curtail the flow of illegals.

'That is the magnet that is drawing illegal aliens to our country, and it's depressing wages,' Barletta said.

He said undocumented residents are treated for free in hospital emergency rooms, boosting health costs for others, and require schools to spend additional money on expensive 'English as a second language' curricula.

Barletta said he stood up for Hazleton against the burdens of illegal immigration, despite costly legal challenges to its law and negative national press coverage.

'I have the courage of my convictions,' Barletta said.

He said Kanjorski, whom Barletta is challenging for Congress for the second time, doesn't have deep convictions.

'Our congressman originally supported tolls on Interstate 80, to doing nothing, to finally fighting it,' he said of a proposal by Gov. Ed Rendell to federal highway officials. 'That's a failure of leadership.'

Barletta opposes I-80 tolls.

Barletta said when he became mayor nine years ago, he successfully challenged the legality of four city union contracts negotiated by his predecessor but never submitted to the Hazleton Council for approval. New contracts were approved and a $1.2 million deficit was turned into a surplus.

As mayor, Barletta said, he helped acquire and redevelop a small section of the community for housing that uses energy efficiencies.

Barletta said he favors public/private partnerships to solve problems. He points to a Hazleton program in which employers work with the school district to teach students the specific skills needed for local jobs.

'We became a farm system for the businesses that located there,' he said. 'Those are the types of things we should be doing everywhere.'

Barletta said he is opposed to mandatory universal health coverage.

'Government-run health care scares me to death,' he said. 'I don't think the government should be in the health care business. It could encourage more people to come into the country illegally for health care.'

He favors individual tax credits and greater competition among health facilities to improve health care access.



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