From: Susan Kniep, President
The Federation of Connecticut Taxpayer Organizations, Inc. (FCTO)
Website: http://ctact.org/
email: fctopresident@aol.com
860-524-6501
July 26, 2007
Welcome
to Tax Talk 107
BREAKING NEWS
NATIONWIDE IMPACT ON
ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION
JUDGE
STRIKES DOWN
HAZLETON ORDINANCE
JURIST
LEGAL NEWS
Federal judge strikes down
Pennsylvania
city illegal immigration laws
Michael Sung at 1:43 PM ET July 26, 2007
[JURIST] US District
Judge James Munley
[official profile] ruled Thursday that two anti-illegal immigration laws passed
by the city of Hazleton, Pennsylvania [official website; legal defense
website] are unconstitutional, issuing a permanent injunction [memorandum and order, PDF; docket] prohibiting the enforcement of the Illegal Immigration Relief Act and the Landlord Tenant Ordinance [PDF
texts], which were intended to make it more difficult for illegal immigrants to
live or work in the town. Munley wrote:
The ordinances disrupt a well-established federal scheme for
regulating the presence and employment of immigrants in the United States.
They violate the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution and are
unconstitutional. ...
The Hazleton ordinances violate the procedural
due process protections of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States
Constitution. They penalize landlords, tenants, employers and employees without
providing them the procedural protections required by federal law, including
notice and an opportunity to be heard. Our analysis applies to illegal aliens
as well as to legal residents and citizens. The United States Constitution provides
due process protections to all persons. ...
Whatever frustrations officials of the City of Hazleton
may feel about the current state of federal immigration enforcement, the nature
of the political system in the United
States prohibits the City from enacting
ordinances that disrupt a carefully drawn federal statutory scheme. Even if
federal law did not conflict with Hazleton's measures, the City could not enact
an ordinance that violates rights the Constitution guarantees to every person
in the United States, whether legal resident or not. The genius of our
Constitution is that it provides rights even to those who evoke the least
sympathy from the general public. In that way, all in this nation can be
confident of equal justice under its laws. Hazleton, in its
zeal to control the presence of a group deemed undesirable, violated the rights
of such people, as well as others within the community. Since the United States
Constitution protects even the disfavored, the ordinances cannot be enforced.
The court also found that the ordinances violated federal
equal rights protections for a person's right to contract [42 USC
Sec. 1981 text], ruling that the "City may not burden [illegal aliens']
right to contract more than that of other persons.
Hazleton [JURIST news archive] has the option of appealing to the US
Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. In March, Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta
testified that the laws were an appropriate
response to illegal immigration [JURIST
report], saying that the city has suffered a 70 percent increase in instances
of violent crime since 2001, which Barletta
attributes to rising illegal immigration.
**************************
AP News Break:
Pa.
Immigrant Law Voided
Jul 26, 2:06 PM (ET)
By MICHAEL RUBINKAM
ALLENTOWN, Pa. (AP) -
A federal judge on Thursday struck down the city of Hazleton's tough anti-immigration law, ruling
unconstitutional a measure that has been copied around the country.
The city's Illegal Immigration Relief Act
sought to impose fines on landlords who rent to illegal immigrants and deny
business permits to companies that give them jobs. Another measure would have
required tenants to register with City Hall and pay for a rental permit. Continued
at this website….. http://apnews.myway.com/article/20070726/D8QKE6800.html
*******************
During
the next few weeks, FCTO will be highlighting the Officers and Board Members
of FCTO,
which collectively will be displayed on FCTO’s
website. We recognize Len Chaponis at this time for his efforts in keeping us current
on illegal immigration news throughout the country.
In Recognition of Lenoard Chaponis of
The Citizens Property
Owners Association of New Britain
The Oldest Taxpayer
Group in Connecticut
Lenoard Chaponis: Leonard is a
member of the oldest taxpayers group in Connecticut,
The Citizens Property Owners Association of New Britain (CPOA). Leonard worked with CPOA President Ann Mikulak and member Lou Salvio to
update the written genealogy of the Assocation in 1999. It is interesting to note that The CPOA
Constitution was Ordained on July 7, 1924;
The CPOA Articles of Association were Incorporated on May 24, 1929, and
the CPOA BY-Laws were revised May 20, 1999.
Leonard is a native of Pennsylvania and moved with his parents to
Hartford, Connecticut
in 1940. Upon graduation from Bulkeley High
School in Hartford in 1946, he
enlisted in the U.S.
Army. He was stationed in Alaska, the Aleutian Islands of Attu, Kisa
and Adak.
Leonard is also a Veteran of the Korean War 1950 -1951. In 1956 he
graduated from the University
of Hartford with a B.F.A.
in Graphic Design. After graduation he married and settled in New Britain, CT. He was then hired by the Travelers Insurance
Companies as a Graphic Designer retiring in 1993. In addition to his involvement with FCTO,
Leonard is actively involved in the following community associations: Member, New Britain Senior Center – Computer
Class instructor for period of 5 years; Member, New Britain Area Seniors -
member of Leadership Team; Member, The
American Legion - Post No. 0006; Member,
VFW – Pvt. Walter J. Smith Post No. 511; and a Member, The Travelers Retirees
Club. Leonard and his wife Mary have two
children. Robert is a senior Director of
Pfizer Gobal Pharmaceuticals, New York City. Christopher is an Emergency Technician (EMT)
Southington, CT. While the city of New Britain, a former manufacturing town has moved into
the service economy, the current New
Britain Voter Registration numbers tell the story:
Total 30,434 voters; 3,728
Republicans; 10,454 Unaffiliated; and 16,054 Democrats. As of July 26, 2007, a Republican serves as
Mayor.
******************
Dobbs:
New immigration plan ignores history's lessons
Lou Dobbs, May 23, 07
Editor's Note: Lou Dobbs' commentary appears weekly on
CNN.com.
NEW YORK (CNN) -- There
are times when reason carries the mind no further, when the mind is carried
from the rational across the penumbra of the absurd. That is where the
leadership of the U.S.
Senate now resides.
What many once regarded as the world's great deliberative
body looks more like a clamorous bazaar in which senators feverishly hawk
duplicity and deceit as bright jewels of public policy. Comprehensive
immigration reform is just such a bauble, and buyer beware. http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/05/22/Dobbs.May23/index.html
*******************
Both sides confident of victory
By L.A.
TARONE, Staff writer, July 26, 2007
So, what happens after the decision comes down?
With U.S. District Judge James Munley expected to
issue a decision in the suit against Hazleton’s Illegal Immigration Relief Act
today, the city is making plans – for both the long and short terms.
The immediate short-term plans are to discuss the decision, whatever it may be.
While the plaintiffs will discuss the decision at the federal courthouse in Scranton, Mayor Lou
Barletta will hold a press conference at City Hall about 4 p.m. He said he
wanted to react to the decision here rather than in Scranton
so the national media could “see Hazleton
again.” http://www.standardspeaker.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5610&Itemid=2
Another news story on the above court case….
http://www.standardspeaker.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5611&Itemid=2
*******************
Judicial Watch
Recent Cases -
Immigration Enforcement
http://www.judicialwatch.org/litigation.shtml
- GARCIA v. CITY OF LAGUNA
BEACH - JW
lawsuit on behalf of residents of the City of Laguna Beach, California,
challenging the use of taxpayer funds to operate a day laborer center that
refuses to verify day laborers’ eligibility to work in the United States.
- KARUNAKARAM v. TOWN OF
HERNDON – JW lawsuit on behalf of residents of
the Town of Herndon, Virginia challenging the use of taxpayer funds to
operate a day laborer center that refuses to verify day laborers’
eligibility to work in the United
States.
- STURGEON
v. BRATTON - JW
lawsuit on behalf of a resident of the City of Los Angeles challenging the
use of taxpayer funds to support the Los Angeles Police Department’s
“sanctuary” policy, which prohibits police officers from inquiring about a
person’s citizenship or immigration status or notifying federal
immigration authorities about an illegal alien’s immigration status.
*******************
Many
Americans have no healthcare…..
Mexico Promotes Free U.S.
Healthcare For Illegal Immigrants
May 31, 2007 - Mexico’s government operates programs in about a
dozen American cities that refers its nationals--living in the U.S.
illegally--to publicly funded health centers where they can get free medical
care without being turned over to immigration authorities. The program is called Ventanillas
de Salud (Health Windows) in Spanish and its mission
is to help illegal immigrants find U.S. hospitals, clinics and other
government programs where they can get free services without being deported for
violating federal immigration laws. http://www.corruptionchronicles.com/2007/05/mexico_promotes_free_us_health_2.html
Judicial
Watch: http://www.judicialwatch.org/litigation.shtml
Illegal
aliens threaten U.S.
medical system
Docs journal reports hospitals being closed, previously vanquished diseases
being spread http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=43275
Illegal Aliens Free
Medical Care from Bush
NEWS - Bush Administration gives $1
billion in taxpayer money for Illegal
Aliens Free Medical Care NEWS -
Why Congress and the White House stupidily want ...
www.warriorsfortruth.com/illegal-aliens-free-med...
-
*****************
Mortgage
lenders court illegal aliens
Friday, July 08, 2005
By Miriam Jordan, The Wall Street Journal
MILWAUKEE -- Javier and Araceli
Garcia, illegal immigrants from Mexico, never imagined that the U.S.
government would help them realize their dream of owning a home. http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05189/535094.stm
*******************