Anti-Illegal Immigration Hazleton Mayor Running for Congress
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HAZLETON, Pa.—Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta, who has gained a national following with his get-tough approach to illegal immigration, is running for Congress.
Barletta announced Thursday that he will seek the Republican nomination to challenge incumbent 12-term Democratic Rep. Paul Kanjorski, who represents a heavily Democratic district in northeastern Pennsylvania.
“I realized that I’m not just fighting for Hazleton any more. I’m fighting for people all over the country who want their voices heard,” Barletta said.
“I’ve done as much as I can fighting illegal immigration as the mayor of a city. I need to take this fight to Washington, because that’s where the problem needs to be fixed.”
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In a statement Thursday, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee accused Barletta of favoring the privatization of Social Security and “gambling with our seniors’ retirement savings,” a line of attack Democrats hope will resonate in a district whose population is largely elderly.
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Premising his campaign on opposition to illegal immigration, Barletta said he wants to secure the nation’s borders, airports and seaports; target criminals who supply fraudulent documents to illegal immigrants; go after “sanctuary cities” that shelter them; and “crack down on businesses that are hiring illegal immigrants, who are profiting from cheap labor and depressing the wages of the American worker.”
Barletta has sought to make his city of 30,000 inhospitable to illegal immigrants, whom he says are responsible for violent crime, graffiti, and overburdened schools and hospitals.
At Barletta’s urging, Hazleton City Council in 2006 approved the Illegal Immigration Relief Act, which sought to deny business permits to companies that employ illegal immigrants, fine landlords who rent to them and require tenants to register and pay for a rental permit.
Anti-illegal immigration activists hailed Barletta’s approach, and he became a fixture on cable TV and talk radio, advocating his view that illegal immigrants are wrecking the country and that local governments can no longer wait for federal action to do something about it.
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Kanjorski’s district is a largely blue-collar area where illegal immigration is a hot-button issue. Anticipating that Barletta would run, the incumbent in recent months has sought to portray himself as tough on illegal immigration.
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[Editor’s note: Lou Barletta’s campaign website can be accessed here.]
(Posted on February 8, 2008)
Comments
The backlash continues - but will it be too little too late?
Posted by Obscuratus at 5:43 PM on February 8
Since Hazleton has mayoral elections in “off years,” this means that Barletta can have all the free tries he wants for Congress, Senate, Governor, without having to resign as mayor. However, since I think 2008 will be a Democrat year, especially because of McCain at the top of the ticket, I wish he would wait until 2010. That way, he could have his pick of Congress, or Senate (Specter’s Seat), or Governor (Ed Rendell ATM). If he runs and loses in 2008, the media will trumpet the pro-open borders victory.
Posted by St. Louis CofCC Blogmeister at 5:48 PM on February 8
Candidate may not get the Hispanic vote.
Somehow, no one worried that FDR might not get the Germanic vote when he declared a war against Hitler’s III Reich.
Posted by A Reader at 8:57 PM on February 8
I grew up in the area,Lou Barletta is a good honest man, he is also a business man who understands you can’t tax people to death.
Posted by Jim at 9:30 PM on February 8
Candidate may not get the Hispanic vote.
Who gives a flying you-know-what? Did Wilson care during WWI that we might offend Germans by declaring war on them? Did FDR care during WWII if he’d offend the Japense or Germans by declaring war on them too? I can’t believe we’re so shallow as a nation that we’d not want to offend a group of people invading our culture.
Posted by at 10:36 PM on February 8
I support Mayor Lou Barletta, and I wish I could vote for him.
He is a man of principle and a courageous gentlemen. He is not afraid to standup to the smears of the controlled media. He reminds me of Tom Tancredo, another American hero.
Posted by Sardonicus at 1:55 PM on February 10
The mayor should get strong suport (including money) from the Republican party and the president. Think he will? Don’t bet on it.
Posted by FRANK at 2:28 PM on February 10
I saw him on Lou Dobbs. Hope he makes it. The one thing i don,t get is why go after landlords? Do they have access to govt records to check social security no.s? I am so sick of this illegal immigration and all immigration now for that matter. The country is overcrouded now. The country wants to save gas and energy send them all back and there would,t be so much traffic on the highways. Whites have to follow all the laws and rules but the people of color have a free hand to do almost anything (short of murder) they want. I also wonder what would happen after he gets there. Washington seems to change people, they say one thing before they,re elected then do something else when they get elected. (NO NEW TAXES????)
Posted by at 6:07 PM on February 19