The legislation is modeled after an anti-immigrant measure passed recently in Hazleton, Pennsylvania, and some other towns. The “Illegal Immigration Relief Act” establishes fines starting at $1,000 for anyone who hires or rents to people who cannot prove they are legally in the United States. Violators could also lose their business permit for five years.

Riverside, a town near Philadelphia, has a population of 8,000. As many as 2,000 to 3,000 of its current inhabitants are recent immigrants, many from Brazil.

Residents say the ordinance initially had a chilling effect on many immigrants, but they have begun returning to the streets. Some said they had attended demonstrations for immigrant rights in nearby Philadelphia in April and May. “We are here to defeat this ordinance with the power of the people because we need to live in dignity and peace,” Franco Ordóñez, one of the residents who attended the protest meeting, told the Militant.
 
 
Related articles:
Legalization of all immigrants now!
D.C. conference backs protests, meetings for immigrant rights
N.Y. protest opposes rightist Minutemen  
 
 
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