Oral History of Pa. Mining Town at Center of Illegal Immigration Conflict

Over the past several years, Hazleton, Pa., has attracted thousands of Hispanic immigrants, most of them from the Dominican Republic. This influx lead to conflict over illegal immigration in 2006 and 2007, thrusting Mayor Lou Barletta into the national news. This year, Barletta is running for Congress, his campaign based largely on that issue. “I had the courage to stand up and say what other politicians wouldn’t say,” he told a News 21 reporter.

Pennsylvanians’ concern about illegal immigration is tied to anxiety about the economy. While northeast Pennsylvania once supplied much of the nation’s energy, in the form of anthracite coal, in recent decades local leaders have struggled to bring new jobs to the area and young people, in search of well-paid work, have left.

Hazleton’s previous waves of immigrants came from Europe in the 19th and early 20th centuries to mine coal or work in textile mills. The coal industry crashed after World War II, and then the garment industry moved south in search of cheaper labor. To stave off economic collapse, civic leaders in 1956 formed CAN DO, the Community Area New Development Organization. CAN DO built three industrial parks, which continue to expand.Today’s immigrants are attracted by thousands of hourly jobs, such as meat-packing, shipping candy bars or manufacturing cardboard boxes.

Joan Sacco, 77, is a lifelong resident of Hazleton. Now retired, she once danced on the local Vaudeville stage and ran the Joan Sacco Dance Studios for 40 years. In the audio slideshow above, she gives a tour of the local historical society’s museum and offers her own recollections.

Stay tuned for more coverage from Pennsylvania.