gaithersblog.net

• Steve Mocarsky in the Times-Leader: Hazleton administrator back on stand
• Updated: Steve Mocarsky in the Times-Leader: Experts testify in immigration trial
• Michael Rubinkam, AP writer, in the Philadelphia Inquirer: Hazleton illegal immigrant laws simplistic, expert witness says
• New: Wade Malcolm in the Times-Tribune: Chief in dark about immigration law
• The Times-Tribune: Witness testifies immigration leads to depression of wages
• Gabrielle Banks in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Director of ACLU says it’s playing vital role
• Tom Ragan in the Standard-Speaker: Barletta distances himself from letter
• New: Kent Jackson in the Standard-Speaker: Supporters of city’s immigration law rally in front of courthouse
• New: Kent Jackson in the Standard-Speaker: Part of IIRA could be used nationwide
• Update 2: Digger’s Realm: Hazleton Trial: Harvard Economist Says Wages Would Increase If Ordinance Enacted, Plaintiffs Argue Illegal Isn’t Illegal [Day 6 Recap]
• Stu Bykofsky, Columnist, in the Philadelphia Inquirer: Words have power, and liars know it

  A quote from Mr. Bykofsky:

  In a news release, the American Civil Liberties Union said the ordinance “would prevent people who look or sound ‘foreign’ from living or working in Hazleton - regardless of their actual immigration status.”

  On the contrary, the ordinance says it seeks to “secure to those legally present in the United States and this city, whether or not they are citizens of the United States, the right to live in peace . . . .”

  The italics are mine. The ACLU is lying.

  Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta has said repeatedly his town welcomes legal immigrants.

  In an op-ed piece in the Inquirer last week, ACLU Executive Director Anthony D. Romero said, “The mean-spirited anti-immigration laws of Hazleton, Pa., went on trial Monday.”

  Mr. Romero is a mean-spirited liar.

  He’s entitled to characterize Hazleton’s laws as “mean-spirited.” That’s his opinion. But when he calls the laws “anti-immigrant,” he is lying. He’s a lawyer and he knows what he’s doing.

  When he omits the word “illegal” - as those in his camp usually do - he’s saying the law is an attack on all immigrants.

  That is a lie.

Mocoprogressive has a post up about how the crisis in the market for subprime mortgages could have a particularly big impact on the Hispanic community — as many as 40% of subprime mortgages are held by Hispanics. As Gaithersburg has a particularly large population of Hispanics (nearly 20% of the population of Gaithersburg was Latino as of seven years ago), could this be hitting Gaithersburg particularly hard? I found an interesting interactive map here [it was linked from this page, which also has an interesting paper on the geographic distribution of subprime mortgages, and links to several more useful maps] which shows Percent of conventional home purchase mortgage loans by subprime lenders in USA. If you zoom in on Maryland, and then on to Montgomery County, you can see that Gaithersburg and Wheaton are the most vulnerable localities in the County. However, as you were doing all that zooming, you probably did notice that this is nothing compared to the situation in Prince George’s, Eastern Charles and St. Mary’s Counties, where in much of those areas as many as 10% to more than a quarter of all conventional home purchase mortgage loans are from subprime lenders. This does not, however, correlate strongly with the map of Latino population in those areas.