Ignorance and Racism in Hazleton, PA

Hazleton, PA passed an anti-immigrant ordinance because it claimed an influx of undocumented migrants were causing a crime wave. Not so much:

In the midst of a rapidly increasing population and a drastic cut in the size of the police force, total crimes in Hazleton from 2001 to 2006 remained relatively stable, and the crime rate- incidents per 100,000 residents- actually dropped. ...

• From 2000 to 2005, Hazleton's population increased from 23,000 to 33,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
• In 2000, the city PD had 42 officers but went down to 23 in 2001 due to budget cuts. Today the department has 30 officers with three more in training. ...

• In 2001, there were 1358 crimes in the city.
• In 2006, there were 1397 crimes in Hazleton.

Oops.

Meanwhile, Hazleton's idiotic mayor, Lou Barletta, has allowed a group called the Mountain States Legal Foundation use his name and the town's name for fundraising. Now he claims he had no idea those fundraising letters said things like this:

Among other assertions, the letter predicts the fall of America because of an influx of illegal immigrants, specifically, Mexicans. ...

After predicting America’s demise, [Mountain States' president William Perry] Pendley's letter goes on to say those fighting Mr. Barletta’s ordinance “love illegal immigration.” The next sentence asks: “What better way to turn America into a socialist, multicultural ‘Tower of Babel’ than to have open borders?”

Mr. Barletta said the foundation asked about using his name for fundraising purposes, but he did not approve the mass mailing message.

“I have no control over what they do to solicit donations,” Mr. Barletta said. “It wasn’t put out by us.”

Well, you know, Mayor Barletta, you could tell them to stop using your name is that stuff offends you. Because if you don't tell them to stop, you are clearly endorsing their message. It's not like you can claim there isn't intimate contact between you and Pendley, since he's been writing the latest iterations of your moronic law:

Mr. Barletta said in his testimony Wednesday that  Mr. Pendley helped draft recent versions of Hazleton’s ordinance.

(Via Mac at pesky 'apostrophe.)