Illegal Immigrants

[Guest Concerned Citizen]

Found this article in the NY Times... Something maybe the towns in Hudson County should think about......This is what happened to Harrison and Kearny.... I am all for Immigration, and people wanting to make a better life but I totally agree, If your Illegal, we don't want you here....

Town Battling Illegal Immigration Is Emptier Now

Sign In to E-Mail This Print Reprints Save

By JILL P. CAPUZZO

Published: July 28, 2006

RIVERSIDE, N.J., July 27 — The downtown streets of this working-class town — usually filled with many of the immigrants who have made this place home — were unusually empty the day after the Township Council approved an ordinance banning employers and landlords from hiring or housing illegal immigrants.

At a heated meeting on Wednesday night that one resident compared to “The Jerry Springer Show,” Riverside’s five-member Council unanimously approved the Illegal Immigration Relief Act, citing overcrowded apartments, jammed parking lots, and a strain on the town’s schools and social services, as reasons for passing the measure.

“They’re jealous of the Brazilians because they’re hard workers and they live well,” said Celeste Martiniano, a Portuguese-American who owns the Pavilion Barbecue restaurant here.

Efforts to reach Mayor Charles Hilton and members of the Township Council were unsuccessful.

The new law is similar to a measure passed in Hazleton, Pa., earlier this month and others being discussed by municipalities around the country. In Congress, the explosive illegal immigration issue has been bogged down over guest worker passes and the level of border enforcement.

Fines start at $1,000 for violations of the Riverside ordinance, which makes it illegal to hire people who cannot prove they are legally in the United States, or to rent or lease them property. A violator also could lose his or her business permit for five years.

Before Brazilian immigrants began moving here in the last five years or so, Ms. Martiniano said, the downtown business district, once a bustling shopping area, had been in decline. But the new ordinance, she said, “this is going to kill the town.”

For the last 25 years, Ms. Martiniano has lived in this Burlington County town of 8,000 residents, where as many as 2,000 to 3,000 immigrants live today. Business has been good since the opening of her restaurant two years ago, largely because of the growing Brazilian population. But on this day, there were no takers for the chicken legs spinning on spits over open flames.

Ms. Martiniano said that immigrants here were scared in the aftermath of the vote, and that those who have been most vocal against immigrants “are not working and have nothing better to do.”

Ingrid Reinhold said that the new ordinance smacked of discrimination. She and her husband, Gustav, own three businesses along Scott Street: a music store that features mostly Latin music, a Brazilian cafe that is undergoing renovations, and a bustling Western Union office, where many of the immigrants can stay in contact with relatives back home. Down the block is another Brazilian restaurant and a Brazilian nail salon. The yellow and green Brazilian flag is pasted to many shop windows.

“Three years ago this was a dead town,” said Ms. Reinhold, who was born in Ecuador. “Now you see all the stores are open, the people are out. If they do this, it’s going to be like it was before.”

Standing in front of his recording studio next door, Ed Robins talked about the Wednesday Council meeting. Describing the meeting’s adversarial atmosphere among members in the audience, Mr. Robins said “it reminded me of being on Jerry Springer.”

Although his business depends very little on the town’s growing immigrant population, Mr. Robins also worried about the ordinance’s impact on the business district and real estate values, which he said have increased with the influx of Brazilians.

“As a community, we should have drawn everybody together, including the illegals and approached it intelligently, rather than taking this small town and ripping it apart,” Mr. Robins said.

Certainly, the Brazilians are not the only immigrant population to call Riverside home. This town on the Delaware River was originally settled by Germans in 1851, followed by Poles, Italians and Irish in the early 20th century. Once a thriving industrial town, the immigrants provided much of the workforce for the textile mills of Riverside, once the country’s leading manufacturer of men’s hosiery, and the Philadelphia Watchcase Company, headquartered here until it closed its doors in 1956.

After the factories closed, the movie theater burned down and many shoppers migrated to nearby malls. Its new distinction, recognized at one point by the Guinness Book of World Records, was having the most bars and liquor licenses in a mile-square town.

Many of those bars remain, and in some of them there is talk about what needs to be done to slow the tide of immigration.

At Big Daddy’s Pub on Scott Street, Dave Dalhman Jr., described the town’s growing immigrant population as “a swarm of bees.” Having lived here for the first 40 years of his life, Mr. Dalhman said he was forced to move to a neighboring town two years ago.

“I’m a minority here now,” said Mr. Dalhman. “I love this town. I was born and raised here, and I’d love to come back here, but that’s not going to happen.”

More Articles in New York Region »

[Guest Guest]

Que ????????????? I am a minority too dont feel bad. our town has been overcome with these illegal immigrants from NORTH CAROLINA!!!(YEAH RIGHT) from all these other foreign countries. why can't we have immigration come and take them all back to there countries. its a disgrace that we pay our taxes and hard earned money and these immigrants get what ever they want.

[Guest Town Worker!]

Found this article in the NY Times... Something maybe the towns in Hudson County should think about......This is what happened to Harrison and Kearny.... I am all for Immigration, and people wanting to make a better life but I totally agree, If your Illegal, we don't want you here....

Town Battling Illegal Immigration Is Emptier Now

Sign In to E-Mail This Print Reprints Save

By JILL P. CAPUZZO

Published: July 28, 2006

RIVERSIDE, N.J., July 27 — The downtown streets of this working-class town — usually filled with many of the immigrants who have made this place home — were unusually empty the day after the Township Council approved an ordinance banning employers and landlords from hiring or housing illegal immigrants.

At a heated meeting on Wednesday night that one resident compared to “The Jerry Springer Show,” Riverside’s five-member Council unanimously approved the Illegal Immigration Relief Act, citing overcrowded apartments, jammed parking lots, and a strain on the town’s schools and social services, as reasons for passing the measure.

“They’re jealous of the Brazilians because they’re hard workers and they live well,” said Celeste Martiniano, a Portuguese-American who owns the Pavilion Barbecue restaurant here.

Efforts to reach Mayor Charles Hilton and members of the Township Council were unsuccessful.

The new law is similar to a measure passed in Hazleton, Pa., earlier this month and others being discussed by municipalities around the country. In Congress, the explosive illegal immigration issue has been bogged down over guest worker passes and the level of border enforcement.

Fines start at $1,000 for violations of the Riverside ordinance, which makes it illegal to hire people who cannot prove they are legally in the United States, or to rent or lease them property. A violator also could lose his or her business permit for five years.

Before Brazilian immigrants began moving here in the last five years or so, Ms. Martiniano said, the downtown business district, once a bustling shopping area, had been in decline. But the new ordinance, she said, “this is going to kill the town.”

For the last 25 years, Ms. Martiniano has lived in this Burlington County town of 8,000 residents, where as many as 2,000 to 3,000 immigrants live today. Business has been good since the opening of her restaurant two years ago, largely because of the growing Brazilian population. But on this day, there were no takers for the chicken legs spinning on spits over open flames.

Ms. Martiniano said that immigrants here were scared in the aftermath of the vote, and that those who have been most vocal against immigrants “are not working and have nothing better to do.”

Ingrid Reinhold said that the new ordinance smacked of discrimination. She and her husband, Gustav, own three businesses along Scott Street: a music store that features mostly Latin music, a Brazilian cafe that is undergoing renovations, and a bustling Western Union office, where many of the immigrants can stay in contact with relatives back home. Down the block is another Brazilian restaurant and a Brazilian nail salon. The yellow and green Brazilian flag is pasted to many shop windows.

“Three years ago this was a dead town,” said Ms. Reinhold, who was born in Ecuador. “Now you see all the stores are open, the people are out. If they do this, it’s going to be like it was before.”

Standing in front of his recording studio next door, Ed Robins talked about the Wednesday Council meeting. Describing the meeting’s adversarial atmosphere among members in the audience, Mr. Robins said “it reminded me of being on Jerry Springer.”

Although his business depends very little on the town’s growing immigrant population, Mr. Robins also worried about the ordinance’s impact on the business district and real estate values, which he said have increased with the influx of Brazilians.

“As a community, we should have drawn everybody together, including the illegals and approached it intelligently, rather than taking this small town and ripping it apart,” Mr. Robins said.

Certainly, the Brazilians are not the only immigrant population to call Riverside home. This town on the Delaware River was originally settled by Germans in 1851, followed by Poles, Italians and Irish in the early 20th century. Once a thriving industrial town, the immigrants provided much of the workforce for the textile mills of Riverside, once the country’s leading manufacturer of men’s hosiery, and the Philadelphia Watchcase Company, headquartered here until it closed its doors in 1956.

After the factories closed, the movie theater burned down and many shoppers migrated to nearby malls. Its new distinction, recognized at one point by the Guinness Book of World Records, was having the most bars and liquor licenses in a mile-square town.

Many of those bars remain, and in some of them there is talk about what needs to be done to slow the tide of immigration.

At Big Daddy’s Pub on Scott Street, Dave Dalhman Jr., described the town’s growing immigrant population as “a swarm of bees.” Having lived here for the first 40 years of his life, Mr. Dalhman said he was forced to move to a neighboring town two years ago.

“I’m a minority here now,” said Mr. Dalhman. “I love this town. I was born and raised here, and I’d love to come back here, but that’s not going to happen.”

More Articles in New York Region »

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hey Ray,

If you want more votes in Nov. and don't want Milan to get in, you should think about what this Mayor in this town did. Harrison would be a ghost town, and I bet alot of folks would love you for it. How many illegals do you think live and work in Harrison?

signed

your "BUDDY"

[Guest Guest]

Que ?????????????  I am a minority too dont feel bad.  our town has been overcome with these illegal immigrants from NORTH CAROLINA!!!(YEAH RIGHT)  from all these other foreign countries.  why can't we have immigration come and take them all back to there countries.  its a disgrace that we pay our taxes and hard earned money and these immigrants get what ever they want.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

why dont you go back to italey or ireland and whatever country your parents came from. then see if you like it.

[Guest Guest]

Ray should get rid of all the spics in this town

[Guest Spic]

Ray should get rid of all the spics in this town

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

...including his handpicked peruvian spics Villalta (2nd ward councilman) and Huaranga (1st ward candidate).

[Guest Guest]

Great article. What I do not understand is why is this considered racist??? There are immigration LAWS, laws were made to be followed. But because legal, white americans want to see their laws upheld, they are branded racists. On the same token it is the legal, white americans who are hiring the illegal, latino, immigrants.

You can not have your cake and eat it too. Says is all.

PS. I thought harrison had the honor of most bars in a square mile. Is that just a urban legend? Damn and I was so proud....

[Guest Guest]

Ray should get rid of all the spics in this town

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You must be an idiot . who are you?

[Guest GUEST]

Que ?????????????  I am a minority too dont feel bad.  our town has been overcome with these illegal immigrants from NORTH CAROLINA!!!(YEAH RIGHT)  from all these other foreign countries.  why can't we have immigration come and take them all back to there countries.  its a disgrace that we pay our taxes and hard earned money and these immigrants get what ever they want.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

OPPS!!!!! I THOUGHT THAT THERE WAS ONLY 'ONE' NORTH CAROLINA, WHICH IS A STATE IN THE US. IF THERE IS 'ANOTHER' NORTH CAROLINA THAT IS A COUNTRY, THAN I 'AGREE' THAT ANYONE WHO CAME FROM THERE THAT IS NOT A US CITIZEN OR 'AWAITING' THEIR US CITIZENSHIP BY HAVING GONE THROUGH IMMIGRATION, HAD BETTER GO OR BE SENT BACK BY IMMIGRATION TO THAT 'COUNTRY' OF NORTH CAROLINA THAT HAS THE 'SAME' NAME AS OUR US SOUTHERN STATE!!!

[Guest GUEST]

why dont you go back to italey or ireland and whatever country your parents came from. then see if you like it.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

IF MY PARENTS OR GRANDPARENTS CAME HERE 'ILLEGALLY', THEN GUESS THAT I SHOULD GO BACK. GUESS I HAD BETTER LOOK UP THEIR IMMIGRATION RECORDS TO SEE IF THEY CAME HERE LEGALLY OR ILLEGALLY.

GEE, MY FATHER FOUGHT IN THE US ARMY, I 'ALWAYS' PRESUMED THAT HE WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN 'DRAFTED' IF HE WAS HERE 'ILLEGALLY'!!

Hey, why pick only on Ireland or Italy? Anybody who came from any other country should be allowed to 'stay' if they are here 'legally. That includes, Europe and South America, etc. If they are here 'illegally', then they should go back to Europe and South America, etc. and fill out the paperwork and apply to come here legally. No favortism toward any 'particular' country.

[Guest GUEST]

Ray should get rid of all the spics in this town

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

NOT THE ONES WHO ARE GOOD CITIZENS, LEARNED ENGLISH AND CAME HERE LEGALLY. ONLY THE ONES WHO BROKE THE LAW , ALONG WITH THOSE anglos from europe who snuck in here illegally, too.

What's good for the goose is good for the gander!

[Guest GUEST]

Que ?????????????  I am a minority too dont feel bad.  our town has been overcome with these illegal immigrants from NORTH CAROLINA!!!(YEAH RIGHT)  from all these other foreign countries.  why can't we have immigration come and take them all back to there countries.  its a disgrace that we pay our taxes and hard earned money and these immigrants get what ever they want.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

OPPS!!!!! I THOUGHT THAT THERE WAS ONLY 'ONE' NORTH CAROLINA, WHICH IS A STATE IN THE US. IF THERE IS 'ANOTHER' NORTH CAROLINA THAT IS A COUNTRY, THAN I 'AGREE' THAT ANYONE WHO CAME FROM THERE THAT IS NOT A US CITIZEN OR 'AWAITING' THEIR US CITIZENSHIP BY HAVING GONE THROUGH IMMIGRATION, HAD BETTER GO OR BE SENT BACK BY IMMIGRATION TO THAT 'COUNTRY' OF NORTH CAROLINA THAT HAS THE 'SAME' NAME AS OUR US SOUTHERN STATE!!!

[Guest Guest]

Illegals? Get 'em all out!

[Guest Guest]

Illegals?  Get 'em all out!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

IF YOUR HERE ILLEGALLY, GO BACK TO WHERE YOU CAME FROM. WE DON'T WANT YOU HERE. YOU MAKE OUR TOWN LOOK AND SMELL LIKE SHIT. WE DON'T NEED YOU, YOU CAN'T VOTE SO GET OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Guest Guest]

IF YOUR HERE ILLEGALLY, GO BACK TO WHERE YOU CAME FROM.  WE DON'T WANT YOU HERE.  YOU MAKE OUR TOWN LOOK AND SMELL LIKE SHIT.  WE DON'T NEED YOU, YOU CAN'T VOTE SO GET OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

HAVE YOU SEMELLED YOURSELF LATELY, ROTTEN SHIT. AND YOU DO NEED US TO DO ALL THE WORK YOU CHOOSE NOT TO DO. BECAUSE WE KNOW THE VALUE OF THE DOLLAR, AND THAT IT WILL FEED OUR FAMILY.

[Guest Guest]

HAVE YOU SEMELLED YOURSELF LATELY, ROTTEN SHIT.  AND YOU DO NEED US TO DO ALL THE WORK YOU CHOOSE NOT TO DO.  BECAUSE WE KNOW THE VALUE OF THE DOLLAR, AND THAT IT WILL FEED OUR FAMILY.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I smell very good.... I know I do. I am an American citizen, who takes pride in what I do. I am not here illegally, and I work hard and do what I need to do for my family too... All you illegals just come here and take advantage of our systems.

We don't need you here, you have taken all our American jobs away from our workers, because you will work for minimum wage, eat rice at every meal, and have 20 people at a time living in an illegal 1 bedroom apt. We as American tax payers are paying for you to be here, so do us all a favor and "GET THE HELL OUT".....