STEVE MOCARSKY smocarsky@timesleader.com
HAZLETON – Hundreds of people packed Church Street in front of City Hall on Sunday afternoon at a rally to support Mayor Lou Barletta, the city’s illegal immigration ordinance and national immigration reform.
A man who called himself an illegal immigrant chants ‘America, America’ towards the crowd during a rally held in support of Hazleton’s Illegal Immigration Ordinance rally on Sunday at City Hall. (Pete G. Wilcox/The Times Leader)
Organized by members of the Voice of the People movement, the 2 p.m. rally included speeches from a dozen local and nationally recognized supporters of immigration reform, as well as musical entertainment by the political rock band Poker Face.
Local entertainer Tony Angelo got the crowd psyched up for the event, singing patriotic songs such as Lee Greenwood’s “Proud to be an American” starting at 1:30 p.m., as many in the crowd waved flags and held homemade signs against illegal immigration.
Master of ceremonies John Clark, of Americans for Immigration Control, introduced the first speaker – Joey Vento, owner of Geno’s Steaks in Philadelphia.
Vento made national headlines a few days before Barletta first proposed Hazleton’s Illegal Immigration Relief Act in June 2006 when he posted a sign at his restaurant that read: “This is America. When ordering, please speak English.”
Vento contrasted illegal immigrants with “our (immigrant) grandparents … who were proud to assimilate and (learn English). … They never demanded anything. They earned it.”
He criticized government officials who support The Comprehensive Immigration Act of 2007 – a bill that would legalize millions of illegal immigrants who pay $5,000 fines and apply for citizenship, saying they’re “selling their kids and their kids’ kids down the tubes.”
“You are supposed to be our protectors, yet you let our borders go unprotected,” he said.
Ezola Foster, a conservative African-American who was Pat Buchanan’s running mate in the 2000 presidential election, said she wanted to dispel some “myths” about illegal immigrants, including notions that “guest workers would only be here temporarily” and that “illegal immigrants contribute greatly to the economy.”
“I don’t care what they do in Congress. It’s not over yet, and it won’t be over until we win this battle,” Foster said.
Radio talk show host Gary Sutton, from WSBA 910-AM in York, shared some figures on illegal immigration he retrieved from immigrationcounters.com.
Sutton said there are 20.8 million illegal immigrants in the country, that $22.2 billion has been wired to Mexico City since January 2006, that $397 billion was spent on Social Security services for illegal immigrants since 1996 and that 9.8 million skilled jobs have been taken by illegal immigrants.
When Sutton asked, “Is that the America you want?” after providing each figure, the crowd shouted back, “No.”
Hagen Smith, chairman of the Constitution Party of Pennsylvania, said some public officials “bring illegals here so they gain more power.”
“I recommend you get out to the two major parties and start showing these public officials that we are boss and we will put them out of office and we will enforce the Constitution on them when they are in office,” Smith said.
William Gheen, president of the Americans for Legal Immigration Political Action Committee, said he was honored to be in “historic Hazleton.”
“The country is with you. Thank you, Hazleton. … You started the landslide that now involves over 200 cities and towns across the country,” Gheen said, referring to municipalities that passed or are considering laws similar to Hazleton’s.
The city was the first in the nation to enact a local law that would fine landlords who rent to illegal immigrants, suspend licenses of businesses that employ them, and require anyone who rents a home in the city to show proof of citizenship. A federal court is reviewing the constitutionality of the law.
Carmen Morales, a member of You Don’t Speak For Me – a Latino organization that opposes illegal immigration -- said the country is in chaos.
“We believe this is not any more about poor immigrants searching for the American dream. … This is an invasion,” she said.
“I am insulted when I see thousands upon thousands of illegal immigrants demanding recognition from the U.S. government when they enter the U.S. illegally. They didn’t recognize our immigration laws in the first place,” Morales said.
Not surprisingly, the next speaker – Mayor Barletta – received the most enthusiastic applause. He began his speech by berating the Senate’s immigration reform bill, calling it bad legislation that encourages illegal immigrants to return to their countries of origin, apply for a new visa and complete a background check before returning.
“In far too many cases, that means our local and national security will rely on the honesty of criminals and terrorists. This is unacceptable. … This bill grants amnesty first and worries about border security later. It trades our national security for cheap labor wanted by big business,” he said.
Barletta said President Bush suggested that anyone opposed to the bill is racist and doesn’t want to do “what’s right for America.”
“With all due respect, Mr. President, you’re wrong. I’ve said it many times over the past year: Illegal does not have a race. Illegal is illegal,” Barletta said.
The only disruption during the two-hour rally occurred during the speech of Peter Gaudiel, representing 9/11 Families for a Secure America, when a woman began yelling at two men whom someone said opposed the city’s illegal immigration act. Police quickly quelled the situation.
Dan Smeriglio, the 24-year-old Hazleton resident who founded the Voice of the People movement and organized the rally with a core group of about 30 people, said he was pleased with the turnout and with what the speakers had to say.
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