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ORDINANCE
2006-18
ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION RELIEF ACT
ORDINANCE
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL
OF THE CITY OF HAZLETON AS FOLLOWS.
SECTION 1. TITLE
This chapter shall be known and
may be cited as the "City of Hazleton Illegal Immigration
Relief Act Ordinance. "
SECTION 2. FINDINGS AND
DECLARATION OF PURPOSE
The People of the City of
Hazleton find and declare:
A.That state and federal law
require that certain conditions be met before a person may
be authorized to work or reside in this
country.
B.That unlawful workers and
illegal aliens, as defined by this ordinance and state and
federal law, do not normally meet such conditions as a
matter of law when present in the City of
Hazleton.
C.That unlawful employment, the
harboring of illegal aliens in dwelling units in the City of
Hazleton, and crime committed by illegal aliens harm the
health, safety and welfare of authorized US workers and
legal residents in the City of Hazleton. Illegal immigration
leads to higher crime rates, subjects our hospitals to
fiscal hardship and legal residents to substandard quality
of care, contributes to other burdens on public services,
increasing their cost and diminishing their availability to
legal residents, and diminishes our overall quality of
life.
D. That the City of Hazleton is
authorized to abate public nuisances and empowered and
mandated by the people of Hazleton to abate the nuisance of
illegal immigration by diligently prohibiting the acts and
policies that facilitate illegal immigration in a manner
consistent with federal law and the objectives of
Congress.
E.That
United States Code
Title 8, subsection 1324(a)(1)(A) prohibits the harboring of
illegal aliens. The provision of housing to illegal aliens
is a fundamental component of harboring.
F. This ordinance seeks to
secure to those lawfully present in the United States and
this City, whether or not they are citizens of the United
States, the right to live in peace free of the threat crime,
to enjoy the public services provided by this city without
being burdened by the cost of providing goods, support and
services to aliens unlawfully present in the United States,
and to befree of the debilitating effects on their economic
and social well being imposed by the influx of illegal
aliens to the fullest extent that these goals can be
achieved consistent with the Constitution and Laws of the
United States and the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania.
G. The City shall not construe
this ordinance to prohibit the rendering of emergency
medical care, emergency assistance, or legal assistance to
any person.
SECTION 3.
DEFINITIONS
When used in this chapter, the
following words, terms and phrases shall have the meanings
ascribed to them herein, and shall be construed so as to be
consistent with state and federal law, including federal
immigration law:
A."Business entity" means any
person or group of persons performing or engaging in any
activity, enterprise, profession, or occupation for gain,
benefit, advantage, or livelihood, whether for profit or not
for profit.
(1)The term business entity
shall include but not be limited to self employed
individuals, partnerships, corporations, contractors, and
subcontractors.
(2)The term business entity
shall include any business entity that possesses abusiness
permit, any business entity that is exempt by law from
obtaining such a business permit, and any business entity
that is operating unlawfully without such a business
permit.
B."City" means the City of
Hazleton.
C."Contractor " means a person,
employer, subcontractor or business entity that enters into
an agreement to perform any service or work or to provide a
certain product in exchange for valuable consideration. This
definition shall include but not be limited to a
subcontractor, contract employee, or a recruiting or
staffing entity.
D."Illegal Alien" means an
alien who is not lawfully present in the United
States,
According to the terms of
United States Code Title 8, section 1101 et seq. The City
shall not conclude that a person is an illegal alien unless
and until an authorized representative of the City has
verified with the federal government, pursuant to United
States Code Title 8, subsection 13 73(c), that the person is
an alien who is not lawfully present in the United
States.
E."Unlawful
worker" means a person who does not have the legal right or
authorization to work due to an impediment in any provision
of federal or state law, including but not limited to a
minor disqualified by nonage, or an unauthorized alien as
defined by United States Code Title 8, subsection
1324a(h)(3).
F. "Work" means any job, task,
employment, labor, personal services, or any other activity
for which compensation is provided, expected, or due,
including but not limited to all activities conducted by
business entities.
G."Basic Pilot Program " means
the electronic verification of work authorizationprogram of
the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigration
Responsibility Act of 1996, P.L. 104-208, Division C,
Section 403(a); United States Code Title 8, subsection
1324a, and operated by the United States Department of
Homeland Security (or a successor program established by the
federal government.)
SECTION 4 BUSINESS PERMITS,
CONTRACTS, OR GRANTS
A.It is unlawful for any
business entity to recruit, hire for employment, or continue
to employ, or to permit, dispatch, or instruct any person
who is an unlawful worker to perform work in whole or part
within the City. Every business entity that applies for a
business permit to engage in any type of work in the City
shall sign an affidavit, prepared by the City Solicitor,
affirming that they do not knowingly utilize the services or
hire any person who is an unlawful worker.
B. Enforcement: The Hazleton
Code Enforcement Office shall enforce the requirements of
this section.
(1) An enforcement action shall
be initiated by means of a written signed complaint to the
Hazleton Code Enforcement Office submitted by any City
official, business entity, or City resident. A valid
complaint shall include an allegation which describes the
alleged violator(s) as well as the actions constituting the
violation, and the date and location where such actions
occurred.
(2) A complaint which alleges a
violation solely or primarily on the basis of national
origin, ethnicity, or race shall be deemed invalid and shall
not be enforced.
(3) Upon receipt of a valid
complaint, the Hazleton Code Enforcement Office shall,
within three business days, request identity information
from the business entity regarding any persons alleged to be
unlawful workers. The Hazleton Code Enforcement Office shall
suspend the business permit of any business entity which
fails, within three business days after receipt of the
request, to provide such information. In instances where an
unlawful worker is alleged to be an unauthorized alien, as
defined in United States Code Title 8, subsection
1324a(h)(3), the Hazleton Code Enforcement Office shall
submit identity data required by the federal government to
verify, pursuant to United States Code Title 8, section 13
73, the immigration status of such person(s), and shall
provide the business entity with written confirmation of
that verification.
(4) The Hazleton Code
Enforcement Office shall suspend the business permit of any
business entity which fails correct a violation o this
section within three business
days after notification of the
violation by the Hazleton Code Enforcement
Office.
(5)The Hazleton Code
Enforcement Office shall not suspend the business permit of
a business entity if, prior to the date of the violation,
the business entity had verified the work authorization of
the alleged unlawful worker(s) using the Basic Pilot
Program.
(6) The suspension shall
terminate one business day after a legal representative
Ofthe business entity submits, at a City office designated
by the City Solicitor, a sworn affidavit stating that the
violation has ended.
(a) The affidavit shall include
a description of the specific measures andactions taken by
the business entity to end the violation, and shall
includethe name, address and other adequate identifying
information of the unlawful workers related to the
complaint.
(b)Where two or more of the
unlawful workers were verified by the federalgovernment to
be unauthorized aliens, the legal representative of the
business entity shall submit to the Hazleton Code
Enforcement Office, in addition to the prescribed affidavit,
documentation acceptable to the City Solicitor which
confirms that the business entity has enrolled in and
willparticipate in the Basic Pilot Program for the duration
of the validity of the business permit granted to the
business entity.
(7) For a second or subsequent
violation, the Hazleton Code Enforcement Officeshall suspend
the business permit of a business entity for a period of
twenty days. After the end of the suspension period, and
upon receipt of the prescribed affidavit, the Hazleton Code
Enforcement Office shall reinstate the business permit. The
Hazleton Code Enforcement Office shall forward the
affidavit, complaint, and associated documents to the
appropriate federal enforcement agency, pursuant to United
States Code Title 8, section 13 73. In the case of
anunlawful worker disqualified by state law not related to
immigration, the Hazleton Code Enforcement Office shall
forward the affidavit, complaint, and associated documents
to the appropriate state enforcement agency.
C. All agencies of the City
shall enroll and participate in the Basic Pilot
Program.
D. As a condition for the award
of any City contract or grant to a business entity for which
the value of employment, labor or, personal services shall
exceed $10,000, the business entity shall provide
documentation confirming its enrollment and participation in
the Basic Pilot Program.
E. Private Cause of Action for
Unfairly Discharged Employees
(1) The discharge of any
employee who is not an unlawful worker by a business entity
in the City is an unfair business practice if, on the date
of the discharge, the business entity was not participating
in the Basic Pilot program and the business entity was
employing an unlawful worker.
(2)The discharged worker shall
have a private cause of action in the Municipal Court of
Hazleton against the business entity for the unfair business
practice. The business entity found to have violated this
subsection shall be liable to the aggrieved employee
for:
(a) three times the actual
damages sustained by the employee, including but not limited
to lost wages or compensation from the date of the discharge
until the date the employee has procured new employment at
an equivalent rate of compensation, up to a period of one
hundred and twenty days; and
(b) reasonable attorney's fees
and costs.
SECTION 5. HARBORING ILLEGAL
ALIENS
A. It is unlawful for any
person or business entity that owns a dwelling unit in the
City to harbor an illegal alien in the dwelling unit,
knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that an alien
has come to, entered, or remains in the United States in
violation of law, unless such harboring is otherwise
expressly by federal law.
(1) For the purposes of this
section, to let, lease, or rent a dwelling unit to an
illegal alien, knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact
that an alien has come to, entered, or remains in the United
States in violation of law, shall be deemed to constitute
harboring. To suffer or permit the occupancy of the dwelling
unit by an illegal alien, knowing or in reckless disregard
of the fact that an alien has come to, entered, or remains
in the United States in violation of law, shall also
bedeemed to constitute harboring.
(2) A separate violation shall
be deemed to have been committed on each day thatsuch
harboring occurs, and for each adult illegal alien harbored
in the dwellingunit, beginning one business day after
receipt of a notice of violation from the Hazleton Code
Enforcement Office.
(3) A separate violation of
this section shall be deemed to have been committed foreach
business day on which the owner fails to provide the
Hazleton Code Enforcement Office with identity data needed
to obtain a federal verification of immigration status,
beginning three days after the owner receives written notice
from the Hazleton Code Enforcement Office.
B. Enforcement: The Hazleton
Code Enforcement Office shall enforce the requirements of
this section. An enforcement action shall be initiated by
means of a written signed complaint to the Hazleton Code
Enforcement Office submitted by any official, business
entity, or resident of the City. A valid complaint shall
include an allegation which describes the alleged
violator(s) as well as the actions constituting the
violation, and the date and location where such actions
occurred.
(2) A complaint which alleges a
violation solely or primarily on the basis of
nationalorigin, ethnicity, or race shall be deemed invalid
and shall not be enforced.
(3) Upon receipt of a valid
written complaint, the Hazleton Code Enforcement Office
shall, pursuant to United States Code Title 8, section 13
73(c), verify with the federal government the immigration
status of a person seeking to use, occupy, lease, or rent a
dwelling unit in the City. The Hazleton Code Enforcement
Office shall submit identity data required by the federal
government to verify immigration status. The City shall
forward identity data provided by the owner to the federal
government, and shall provide the property owner with
writtenconfirmation of that verification.
(4) If after five business days
following receipt of written notice from the City that
aviolation has occurred and that the immigration status of
any alleged illegal alienhas been verified, pursuant to
United States Code Title 8, section 13 73(c), theowner of
the dwelling unit fails to correct a violation of this
section, the HazletonCode Enforcement Office shall deny or
suspend the rental license of the dwelling
unit.
(5) For the period of
suspension, the owner of the dwelling unit shall not be
permitted to collect any rent, payment, fee, or any other
form of compensation from, or on behalf of any tenant or
occupant in the dwelling unit.
(6) The denial or suspension
shall terminate one business day after a legal
representative of the dwelling unit owner submits to the
Hazleton Code Enforcement Office a sworn affidavit stating
that each and every violation has ended. The affidavit shall
include a description of the specific measures and actions
taken by the business entity to end the violation, and shall
include the name, address and other adequate identifying
information for the illegal alienswho were the subject of
the complaint.
(7) The Hazleton Code
Enforcement Office shall forward the affidavit, complaint,
andassociated documents to the appropriate federal
enforcement agency, pursuant toUnited States Code Title 8,
section 13 73.
(8) Any dwelling unit owner who
commits a second or subsequent violation of thissection
shall be subject to a fine of two hundred and fifty dollars
($250) for each separate violation. The suspension
provisions of this section applicable to a first violation
shall also apply.
(9) Upon the request of a
dwelling unit owner, the Hazleton Code Enforcement Office
shall, pursuant to United States Code Title 8, section
1373(c), verify with the federal government the lawful
immigration status of a person seeking to use, occupy,
lease, or rent a dwelling unit in the City. The penalties in
this section shall not apply in the case of dwelling unit
occupants whose status as an alien lawfully present in the
United States has been verified.
SECTION 6. CONSTRUCTION AND
SEVERABAILITY
A. The requirements and
obligations of this section shall be implemented in a manner
fully consistent with federal law regulating immigration and
protecting the civil rights of all citizens and
aliens.
B. If any part or provision of
this Chapter is in conflict or inconsistent with
applicableprovisions of federal or state statutes, or is
otherwise held to be invalid or unenforceable by any court
of competent jurisdiction, such part of provision shall be
suspended and superseded by such applicable laws or
regulations, and the remainder of this Chapter shall not be
affected thereby.
ORDAINED by Council this
&emdash;&emdash;&emdash; day of ...
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