BY KENT JACKSON
STAFF WRITER

Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta thinks he can win an immigration case on the second try.

A federal judge overturned the city’s immigration ordinance in July 2007, but Barletta believes the city will prevail in an appeal that he expects will be heard on Oct. 31.

“I’ve never wavered in my belief that Hazleton has the right to pass the Illegal Immigration Relief Act and firmly believe our case will be vindicated in the higher court,” Barletta said during a news conference that he called Monday to say the United States Third Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia tentatively scheduled a hearing on the city’s case for Oct. 31.

By Bob Reynolds

The city of Hazleton will once again be the focal point of a national debate over a crack-down on illegal immigration.

An appeals court will hear Hazleton's proposed ordinance that would make it against the law to hire or rent to illegal immigrants. The same ordinance that a lower court ruled unconstitutional last summer.

Other communities all over the country are watching this case very closely.

Officials said the problem of illegal immigrants living in Hazleton is not getting better.

"We continue to have a severe immigration problem here and again there were just two more arrested over the weekend," said Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta.

By L.A. TARONE
Staff Writer

Hazleton will file its legal briefs in its appeal of the Illegal Immigration Relief Act with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Philadelphia by Jan. 22.

Initially they’d been due Dec. 26, but that was delayed to Jan. 9.

Attorney and law professor Kris Kobach, the immigration law expert for former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft who is representing the city, said he asked for a two-week extension for several reasons.

“There’ve been a bunch of new cases that support our arguments,” Kobach said. “The Arizona case is very favorable for Hazleton.”

By BILL O ’ BOYLE
Staff Writer

HAZLETON – A postcard that hangs in the mayor’s office shows a team of German shepherds watching as a brave little kitten strides by. The caption recites Psalm 23: “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.”

Lou Barletta smiles when he looks at the card; he sees himself as the brave kitten.

“That’s how I often feel,” he said.

That fearlessness that has brought physical threats to the mayor’s doorstep has also endeared him to ordinary people who hunger for a politician with unwavering convictions.

This is a rush transcript from "Your World with Neil Cavuto," November 7, 2007. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

NEIL CAVUTO, HOST: Get-tough-on-illegals Mayor Lou Barletta just winning reelection by a landslide in Hazleton, Pennsylvania, a sign cracking down on illegals won't hurt GOP presidential candidates in '08.

Well, let's ask him.

Mayor, welcome. Congratulations.

LOUIS BARLETTA, MAYOR OF HAZLETON, PENNSYLVANIA: Thank, Neil. We're glad to be here with you today.

CAVUTO: You were under enormous heat for your get-tough policies, some of whom were saying that you were circumventing Uncle Sam. You said, Uncle Sam was dropping the ball. And away you went. And away the voters went for you.

By L.A. TARONE
Staff Writer
Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta swept into his third term by a wide margin and running mates Joe Yannuzzi and Evelyn Graham retained their council seats by campaigning closely with him.
With all wards counted unofficially, including absentee ballots, Barletta culled 3,530 votes, while Libertarian challenger John Medashefski polled 405.
Barletta becomes the first three-term mayor since Joe Conahan.
Yannuzzi was the top vote- getter in the council race with 2,729. Graham was close behind with 2,709.
Democratic challengers Dickie Cusatis got 1,245, while Maureen DeCosmo-Pozzessere got 1,240.

By RENITA FENNICK

Vicente Fox’s appearance in Wilkes-Barre Monday night couldn’t come at a better time.

Fox, the former president of Mexico, will speak at the F.M. Kirby Center for the Performing Arts as part of the Wilkes University’s Outstanding Leaders Forum. He will talk about bringing a new economy to Latin America to people who will dish out $25 to hear his speech.

All this on Election Eve. Voters in all of Luzerne County’s municipalities will head to the polls on Tuesday to choose the men and women who will make the big decisions that affect their boroughs, townships and cities.

By Mary E. Young
Reading Eagle

Senior citizens in Hazleton are afraid to sit on their front porches for fear they will become crime victims.

Parents, including those who speak Spanish, refuse to allow their children to visit playgrounds for fear the youngsters will be approached by drug dealers or recruited into gangs.

Those conditions were described by Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta, who said they have caused him to be labeled a racist and led him into a legal quagmire over illegal immigration.

Barletta said he actually is just the mayor of a small, financially strapped Luzerne County city who is trying to improve the quality of life for legal residents with laws penalizing landlords and businesses that exploit illegal immigrants.

By: Kaitlynn Riely

Four leading voices in the national debate about immigration reform spoke to the Notre Dame community Monday about showing compassion for the illegal aliens living within American borders while enforcing immigration laws.

Ray Suarez, a senior correspondent for The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer and the moderator for the third annual Notre Dame Forum, opened the event in the Joyce Center with a film that provided a face for one of the roughly 12 million immigrants who have come to the U.S. illegally.

The Mexican immigrant knew she was breaking the law but entered the U.S. anyway to live and work so she could pay for her daughters' educations. But the immigrant, the video showed, was caught, and is certain she will face deportation.

MARGARET FOSMOE
Tribune Staff Writer

SOUTH BEND -- The panelists who gathered Monday to discuss immigration came from different backgrounds and philosophies, but they agreed on one thing: Congress needs to take comprehensive action on immigration reform.

Four panelists met Monday -- Columbus Day -- at the University of Notre Dame. The forum was designed to prompt discussion about the 12 million undocumented workers living in the United States.

The event drew a crowd of about 3,000 people to the Joyce Center. It was moderated by Ray Suarez, a correspondent for "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer."