Judge James Munley of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania declared several Hazleton, Pa., anti-immigration ordinances unconstitutional July 26. Under Hazleton's Illegal Immigration Relief Act, people renting housing were required to obtain an occupancy permit proving legal citizenship or residency. Landlords and employers could be punished for renting to or employing undocumented immigrants. Landlords faced fines, while companies risked losing their business licenses.

Pennsylvania residents and business organizations filed a suit challenging the laws in August 2006. Plaintiffs included lawful U.S. residents of Latino descent, several anonymous undocumented immigrants, the Hazleton Hispanic Business Association, the Pennsylvania Statewide Latino Coalition and Casa Dominicana de Hazleton Inc., an organization that provides assistance and education to Hazleton's Latino community.

According to court documents, though the number of undocumented immigrants in Hazleton is unknown, a sharp jump in the city's population is largely due to a recent increase of mostly Latino immigrants; in addition, following 9/11, many Latino families, including some undocumented immigrants, moved to Hazleton from New York and New Jersey.

In a 206-page opinion, Munley found the Illegal Immigrant Relief Act violates due process and the right for all persons to enter and enforce contracts, and is thus unconstitutional. The law “does not provide notice to challenged employees or tenants, does not inform the employers and owners/landlords of the types of identity information needed and provides for judicial review in a court system that lacks jurisdiction,” Mulney wrote.

“The genius of our Constitution is that it provides rights even to those who evoke the least sympathy from the general public,” Munley wrote. “In that way, all in this nation can be confident of equal justice under its laws. Hazleton, in its zeal to control the presence of a group deemed undesirable, violated the rights of such people, as well as others within the community.”