The New Hazleton, Pennsylvania: Latinos Transform Town Known for Anti-Immigrant Laws
Roughly a decade ago, Hazleton, Pennsylvania became ground zero in the efforts to use local laws to facilitate federal immigration enforcement. Mayor Lou Barletta, who used the issue of illegal immigration to get elected to Congress, championed the laws. The courts repeatedly found that the Hazleton laws went too far and stuck them down in large part as unconstitutional. The U.S. Supreme Court refused to intervene.
In this article, Michael Matza reports on the transformation of Hazleton. The population of the town has held steady at about 25,000. But the Latino portion has surged from 4.9 percent in 2000 to about 46 percent today. A veteran police official estimated 10 percent are undocumented.
Reasonably priced housing and new warehouse and food-processing jobs have been strong magnets for immigrants, mostly Dominicans from New York and New Jersey, often with families in tow. At the same time, many of Hazleton’s residents, long-time resident, have died. In addition, “more have disappeared in the `white flight’ to nearby towns . . . .”
The town is relatively peaceful, without major crime problems. The fear of Latino migration to the area did not lead to the problems that many with which many were concerned.
KJ