SHAMOKIN —
It's been four years since a group of illegal immigrants was caught working on a construction site in Coal Township, and Pennsylvania lawmakers are still debating immigration reform.
Candidates in the coming state House election are also weighing in on the issue.
Vying for a seat in the 107th District, Democrat George Zalar, a Coal Township commissioner, and Republican Kurt Masser, an Elysburg resident and business owner serving his second term as a Northumberland County commissioner, say they favor immigration reform in Pennsylvania, where more than 140,000 illegal immigrants reside.
While the issue is a much larger problem for border states, such as Arizona, which has a controversial immigration law aimed at identifying, prosecuting and deporting illegal immigrants, Masser and Zalar said Pennsylvania should step up and enact a law.
"I support Arizona's law and thought it was something the federal government should be doing," Masser said, referring to the law that includes requiring immigrants to carry documents proving they're in the country legitimately.
"If I get pulled over, the police ask me for identification," he said. "If they're illegal, why should they have more rights than me?"
Zalar said he supports a proposed bill that places the onus on employers by prosecuting them for knowingly employing illegal aliens.
"We have our own people who aren't working and can't find jobs, and illegals are here working for less and aren't giving anything back to the community," he said. "If you remove the jobs, you remove illegal immigration."
A raid on The Plaza in Coal Township as the shopping center was being built in June 2006 shone a light on illegal immigrants in the Valley.
Although several illegal aliens were nabbed fleeing the construction site during the raid, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials refused to investigate.
In the end, the only charges filed against a contractor on the site, O&H Masonry, of Columbus, Ohio, were for violating child labor laws by employing three people under the age of 18. The company agreed to pay $7,000 in fines.
Zalar said he supports a proposed state law requiring building contractors to verify a prospective employee's immigration status or risk fines, loss of operating license or access to state grants if they knowingly hire an illegal immigrant. "We have high unemployment in Northumberland County, and illegal immigrants are getting jobs in nurseries, construction and harvesting," Zalar said. "We don't want to penalize legal immigrants or make more paperwork for small businesses and companies, but we have to address it. The only way to do that is to cut off the source — the jobs."
Existing immigration laws should be enforced, say Lewisburg Borough Council member Trey Casimir, the Democratic candidate in the 85th District, and Trevorton attorney Antonio Michetti, the Democratic candidate in the 108th District race.
"It's not appropriate for states. It involves the boundaries of the nation and is the place of the federal government" to decide, Casimir said.
Michetti, who said the region's farmers have relied on immigrants throughout the harvest season, doesn't see a need for states to pre-empt federal law and opposes further governmental intrusion.
"I don't have sympathy for those who enter our country illegally, but it's a slippery slope when we increase police power," he said.
Michetti's Republican opponent, Lynda Schlegel-Culver, who's employed at JDM Consultants in Watsontown, said she hasn't reviewed the proposed immigration laws fully but will be looking to make sure taxpayer money isn't being spent on people who aren't citizens.
Casimir's opponent, Republican Fred Keller, plant operations manager at Conestoga Wood Specialties, could not be reached Monday for comment.
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