HAZLETON, PA. - Standing outside City Hall in the gathering dark, Norman Tarantino felt, for once, that he was lucky to live in Hazleton.
Most of his friends had moved away, over the years, convinced that the old coal city's best days were behind it. But as of Thursday night, Tarantino said, Hazleton once again has something to be proud of: It is the most hostile environment in America for illegal immigrants.
Not 20 feet away stood Daniel Jorge, a Dominican immigrant who moved his family to Hazleton last year after 25 years in New York City. Jorge, a real estate agent, was wondering how he would break the news to his wife, who had been enchanted with the small-town friendliness she found in Hazleton, a small city 80 miles northwest of Philadelphia......
Hazleton's mayor signed the Anti-Illegal Immigration Relief Act on Friday, a day after the city council approved it by a 4-1 vote. The ordinance imposes severe penalties on landlords who rent space to illegal immigrants, suspends the licenses of businesses that employ them and establishes English as the city's official language.
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But the mood in City Hall was upbeat Thursday; white residents exploded into applause when Barletta strode into the chamber, accompanied by a bodyguard. They yelled "Yes!" when a local Hispanic leader asked if they would deport U.S.-born children of illegal immigrants, and cheered again when Joe Yannuzzi, the city council president, compared illegal immigrants to burglars.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/nation/4048427.html