lozano2.txt IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA PEDRO LOZANO, et al, : Plaintiffs : : : : #06-CV-1586 : :

Transcription

1 1 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA PEDRO LOZANO, et al, : Plaintiffs : : : vs CITY OF HAZLETON, et al, : Defendants : : #06-CV-1586 : : VOLUME 2 BEFORE: PLACE: HONORABLE JAMES M. MUNLEY UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE SCRANTON, PENNSYLVANIA PROCEEDINGS: NON-JURY TRIAL DATE: TUESDAY, MARCH 13, 2007 APPEARANCES: For the Plaintiffs: WITOLD J. WALCZAK, ESQ. OMAR C. JADWAT, ESQ. American Civil Liberties Union of PA & NY 313 Atwood Street Pittsburgh, PA FOSTER MAER, ESQ. DENISE ALVAREZ, ESQ. JACKSON CHIN, ESQ. GHITA SCHWARZ, ESQ. Puerto Rican Legal Defense & Education Fund 99 Hudson Street New York, NY THOMAS G. WILKINSON, JR., ESQ. Page 1

2 THOMAS B. FIDDLER, ESQ. ILLAN ROSENBERG, ESQ. Cozen O'Conner 1900 MARKET STREET Philadelphia, PA DAVID VAIDA, ESQ. Law Office of David Vaida 137 North 5th Street Allentown, PA SHAMAINE A. DANIELS, ESQ. Community Justice Project 118 Locust Street Harrisburg, PA For the Defendants: KRIS W. KOBACH, ESQ Rockhill Road Law Kansas City, MI HARRY G. MAHONEY, ESQ. DREW B. ADAIR, ESQ. CARLA P. MARESCA, ESQ. Deasey, Mahoney, & Bender, LTD JFK Boulevard Suite1300 Philadelphia, PA ELIZABETH GALLAWAY, ESQ. Mountain States Legal Foundation 2596 South Lewis Way Lakewood, CO WITNESS INDEX FOR THE PLAINTIFFS DIRECT CROSS REDIRECT RECROSS Dr. Agapito Lopez (Recalled) Jose Molina Rodolfo Espinal Joseph Yanuzzi (As of Cross) EXHIBIT INDEX Page 2

3 FOR THE PLAINTIFFS IDENTIFIED Exhibit No Exhibit No Exhibit No Exhibit No Exhibit No Exhibit No Exhibit No Exhibit No Exhibit No Exhibit No Exhibit No Exhibit No Exhibit No FOR THE DEFENDANTS Exhibit No Exhibit No THE COURT: Good morning. 2 Mr. Wilkinson, your next witness. 3 MS. ALVAREZ: We would like to call Dr. Lopez back 4 to the stand, Your Honor. 5 THE COURT: Good morning, Doctor. You're still 6 under oath. 7 AGAPITO LOPEZ, called as a witness, having been previously 8 duly sworn or affirmed, testified as follows: 9 DIRECT EXAMINATION 10 BY MS. ALVAREZ: 11 Q. Good morning, Doctor. 12 A. Good morning. 13 Q. When we spoke yesterday about the days leading up 14 to the second reading at City Hall, you testified that you 15 had received hate mail the day before the second reading. Do 16 you recall that? 17 A. Yes, ma'am. 18 Q. Do you recall which day the second reading Page 3

4 19 occurred? 20 A. It was on the 13th of July. 21 Q. Of 2006? 22 A. 2006, yes, ma'am. 23 Q. Can you tell us how you received this hate mail? 24 A. As I told before, when I opened the door of my 25 office that morning, I found this packet with about two 5 1 pieces of propaganda and I was surprised. 2 Q. You said it was under your door, which door? 3 A. The front door. I have only one door in the office 4 that I share with my wife and the Migrant Education Program. 5 Q. I would like you to take a look at Plaintiffs' 6 Exhibits A. Yes, ma'am. 8 Q. There is a note. Can you read that for us? 9 A. Yes. The note says, "Read this, exclamation mark, 10 you may learn something, exclamation mark." It is not 11 signed. 12 Q. The pamphlet is too long, so I will pick out an 13 excerpt here that I would like you to read. I would like you 14 to read the first two sentences under the heading that begins 15 "Will America become." 16 A. "European - Americans are being dispossessed of 17 their own nation. We are under invasion by millions of 18 unskilled Mexicans who threaten to bankrupt us." 19 Q. Now, if could you skip down to the last paragraph 20 in that same column, start with the sentence that begins "The 21 consequences." 22 A. The other paragraph, ma'am? Page 4

5 23 Q. On the bottom part of the column. It says, "The 24 consequences." 25 A. "The consequences which this immigration disaster 6 1 holds for our children is horrendous. Coloreds will take 2 political control of more states, along with both houses of 3 Congress and the presidency. Whites will quickly be stripped 4 of their rights with our wealth confiscated for 5 redistribution to non-whites as is taking place in South 6 Africa." 7 Q. If you could read me the title in that section, the 8 title right above the column, "Will America become." 9 A. "Will America become the United States of Mexico?" 10 Q. Now, I want to quickly ask you, the City Council 11 meeting occurred the day after you received this, correct? 12 THE COURT: When did you receive this? I'm sorry. 13 I missed that. When did you receive this? 14 THE WITNESS: The day before the second reading, on 15 the 12th of July of BY MS. ALVAREZ: 17 Q. Can I ask you, Dr. Lopez, how did receiving this 18 piece of mail make you feel? 19 A. It made me feel very, very sad that some people 20 have the mindset that we are trying to take control of the 21 United States of America. We just want to be part of the 22 United States of America in equal terms as the rest of the 23 population. 24 Q. Now, at the City Council meeting, you testified 25 yesterday that Mayor Barletta spoke at the hearing? Page 5

6 7 1 A. Yes. 2 Q. Can you generally just tell us what he said? 3 A. Well, he says that immigration is trashing our 4 cities. It is depleting the schools. It is making the 5 schools fail. It is making -- the hospitals have a great 6 fiscal economic burden. 7 Q. Now, you also testified yesterday that you received 8 a second piece of hate mail. 9 A. Yes. 10 Q. Would you take a look at Plaintiffs' 186, please? 11 First I would like to ask you, when did you receive 12 this mail? 13 A. I received it 18th of July, It is 14 postmarked, however, in Wilkes-Barre, the 17th of July, Q. Where did this mail go? 16 A. This mail went to my office. 17 Q. Would you please open up the envelope and explain 18 to us what this is? 19 A. This is a handwritten letter addressed to Dear 20 Doctor. 21 Q. Would you please read the letter for us? 22 A. "We think your and your cohort, that bold, brazen 23 Anna Arias, should spend some time on a few streets in town 24 before defending your (Latin community). To name a few, East 25 First, Pine, Cedar, North Wyoming, Laurel and Vine. Then ask 8 1 why people are afraid to go out. It is time to teach your 2 people honesty, morality, respect for property, et cetera. Page 6

7 3 The stealing is awful: Gas grills, patio furniture, anything 4 not nailed down. 5 "Another thing, these young girls having one baby 6 after another without husbands. Must we keep them from the 7 cradle to the grave? The well will soon run dry. Young, 8 able-bodied man sitting on the porches. Give something back 9 in return, cut grass, shovel snow, et cetera. 10 "Oh, yes, all have their gold jewelry and cell 11 phones. Who is paying for all that? We think you and Anna 12 had better think twice before you speak. Where were you 13 Friday p.m. when Pine Street playground was once again a 14 scene of trouble? Never see you two show your faces. Signed 15 disgusted citizens." 16 Q. Dr. Lopez, what did you think when you received 17 this letter? 18 A. I felt very, very bad, because the letter is 19 talking about Latinos. It is not talking about undocumented 20 immigrants, and it is implying that we are criminals and we 21 are thieves, that we're lazy and that our women are 22 promiscuous, and that is not very well felt by me, by saying 23 those things on my Latin cohorts. 24 Q. Does this letter reflect what was happening in the 25 community as a result of the ordinances? 9 1 A. I think the last part which says, Where were you on 2 the Pine Street incident? That looks very much like what 3 Mayor Barletta had been telling me when I was with him in the 4 meeting that I had with him and the City Council before the 5 second reading, and that looks a lot like what appeared in 6 the Standard Speaker by Sean Kelly, one of the reporters Page 7

8 7 there that stated exactly the same thing. 8 So, to me, my impression is that this is the effect 9 that the ordinance has had on the population. They don't 10 distinguish between undocumented immigrants and Latinos. For 11 them, they are all the same. 12 Q. Dr. Lopez, I would like you to look at Plaintiffs' 13 Exhibit 187. What is this? 14 A. This is a letter addressed to me in block letters, 15 but handwritten. 16 Q. What address was it sent to? 17 A. It is postmarked from Hartford, Connecticut, and 18 the date is the 16th of October, Q. And where did you receive this? 20 A. I received it the 18th of October, Q. Where? 22 A. This is addressed to my home. I received it in the 23 mailbox in my home. 24 Q. Can you take a look at the letter and describe it 25 for us and read what it says? 10 1 A. It is a two-sided letter. On Page 1 it says, "The 2 cost of illegal immigration - professor speaks out, reported 3 in the LA Times written by Professor Donald Huddle." 4 Q. You don't need to read the whole thing. Can you 5 read the other side of the letter? 6 A. The other side has a face of what appears to be a 7 Mexican warrior, a person with a huge Mexican hat, and I 8 think it came from a spaghetti western, This is the ugly. 9 Q. What does it say on the hat? 10 A. It says, "Subhuman spic scum." Page 8

9 11 Q. What does it say in large letters around the photo? 12 A. It says, "If it is brown, flush it down." 13 Q. How did it make you feel when you received this 14 letter? 15 A. It really made me feel bad. 16 Q. Why? 17 A. Because, this is my opinion, this is what all the 18 people do to blame things on Latinos. They first try to make 19 them subhuman, like illegal aliens, and then spic is a very 20 descriptive, racist word for my people. It comes from we 21 speak English. Scum is the worst of the population. So this 22 is the most denigrating thing that I ever read in my life. 23 Q. Dr. Lopez, we have already discussed three pieces 24 of hate mail that you received. 25 A. Yes, ma'am Q. Why do you believe you received all of this hate 2 mail? 3 A. I think, No. 1, it is intended to intimidate me. 4 You can see that the second letter says that I should think 5 before I speak, Anna Arias and I should think before we 6 speak, because we are the only voices for those who cannot 7 talk. So they want to silence us. 8 This one says you may learn something. I cannot 9 learn from letters like this, but it is intimidation to me 10 personally, because I have received a letter to my office and 11 to my home. So they know where I live and where I used to 12 work and where my wife works. So it is very fearful. I felt 13 afraid. 14 When I reported this letter to the human -- Page 9

10 15 Pennsylvania Human Relations, they told me to go to the 16 police, to file a complaint, and I did. I filed a complaint 17 with the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission on these 18 letters and I filed a complaint with the police. 19 However, the police did not pay attention to this 20 and when they -- when I went to the police station, they told 21 me this was not hate mail, and I don't know if they filed it 22 or not. I don't have that information. 23 Q. I have another quick question for you, Dr. Lopez. 24 At the City Council meeting you attended, the second reading, 25 was there a translator at that meeting? 12 1 A. No. 2 MS. ALVAREZ: I have no other questions. 3 CROSS EXAMINATION 4 BY MR. MAHONEY: 5 Q. Dr. Lopez, taking a look at the third piece of mail 6 that came to you with the B movie picture, as you described 7 it, whoever sent this to you, I think we can agree has a bit 8 of a sick, twisted mind, wouldn't you agree? 9 A. Definitely. 10 Q. And apparently the web site that is listed on here, 11 I went on the web site last evening, because I 12 got these documents for the first time yesterday morning. It 13 is a nationalist socialist movement. 14 You would agree, Doctor, would you not, that these 15 kinds of communications and correspondence really should play 16 no part in the debate that we're having here in court 17 concerning whether or not these ordinances are appropriate or 18 not? Page 10

11 19 A. No, I don't agree with that, sir. 20 Q. You think these things should be part of that 21 debate? 22 A. I think these things have relation with the debate. 23 Q. If you take a look at the third one, sir, would you 24 look at the envelope? 25 A. Yes Q. Would you tell the Court where the postmark is from 2 on that envelope, sir? 3 A. Hartford, Connecticut. 4 Q. That is dated 16 October of 2006, correct? 5 A. Yes, sir. 6 Q. That wasn't signed by anybody, was it? 7 A. No, it wasn't. 8 Q. And the second piece, that came from Wilkes-Barre, 9 according to the envelope? 10 A. Yes. 11 Q. Again, that is not signed by anybody except 12 somebody who identifies himself as a disgusted citizen, is 13 that correct? 14 A. Yes, sir. 15 Q. And the first piece that was put under your door, 16 that also was not signed, correct? 17 A. No. 18 Q. At the time that these items were sent to you, you 19 had already come out in strong opposition to the illegal 20 immigration ordinance, correct? 21 A. Yes, sir. 22 Q. So it would be fair to say that you were perceived Page 11

12 23 as the leader of the opposition to the ordinance, correct? 24 A. Yes, sir. 25 Q. You said yesterday, sir, I think I can quote you, 14 1 that everyone has prejudices you can't erase from the earth. 2 Do you recall saying that? 3 A. Yes, sir. 4 Q. And so there is going to be people with prejudices 5 against ethnic groups whether there is ordinances or not, 6 isn't that right? 7 A. Yes, sir. 8 Q. You quoted the Mayor, or at least you paraphrased 9 what the Mayor said at the July 13th meeting that he spoke 10 against immigration, is that what you said, sir? 11 A. Yes, sir. 12 Q. Isn't it true, sir, that the Mayor, in fact, said 13 that he was opposed to illegal immigration? 14 A. Yes. 15 Q. He didn't specifically state that he was against 16 immigration? 17 A. No, sir. 18 Q. Because as we talked about yesterday, the Mayor the 19 entire time that you have known him, up until the point of 20 time of the ordinances, welcomed the immigrants to the City 21 of Hazleton, right? 22 A. Yes, sir. 23 Q. This particular ordinance, which is called the 24 Illegal Immigration Relief Act Ordinance, is targeted towards 25 illegal immigrants, correct? Page 12 15

13 1 A. Yes, but it is perceived in another way by the 2 public. 3 Q. At the council meeting, sir, if you turn to the 4 first volume -- let me get that for you, sir. 5 A. Thank you. 6 Q. If you would turn, sir, to Tab No MR. MAHONEY: It is Volume No. 1, Your Honor. 8 BY MR. MAHONEY: 9 Q. Have you gotten there, Doctor? 10 A. Yes, sir. 11 Q. If you would turn to Page 4, these are the verbatim 12 transcripts of the Hazleton City Council meeting of July 13 13th, 2006, and on Page 4, at Line No. 70, this is the Mayor 14 speaking during the meeting. 15 Let me read to you, sir, what the Mayor said in 16 part, "But I can read hundreds of stories from residents, 17 former residents and people across America who have seen 18 illegal aliens destroy their towns and their quality of life. 19 As the Mayor, I see how illegal aliens are sapping our City 20 resources. Enough is enough." 21 Did I read that correctly, Doctor? 22 A. Yes, sir. 23 Q. And on the next page, 97, towards the bottom of the 24 page, the Mayor said, "Over the past month or so, I have been 25 accused of being racist, intolerant and unfair, but let me 16 1 repeat what I have been saying all along, illegal is illegal. 2 We do not care where they came from. We do not care what 3 language they speak, but an illegal alien is not welcomed in Page 13

14 4 Hazleton. Those who are here illegally continue to drain 5 City resources." 6 Did I read that correctly, Doctor? 7 A. Yes, sir. 8 Q. Would I be correct, Doctor, in characterizing the 9 Mayor's comments throughout his remarks on July 13th, 2006, 10 at the City Council meeting as being directed not against 11 immigrants, but against illegal aliens and illegal 12 immigrants? 13 A. Yes, sir. 14 Q. MR. MAHONEY: Thank you, Doctor. 15 THE COURT: Anything further? 16 MS. ALVAREZ: Very brief redirect. 17 THE COURT: Sure. 18 REDIRECT EXAMINATION 19 BY MS. ALVAREZ: 20 Q. Dr. Lopez, I want to bring your attention to 21 Plaintiffs' Exhibit 186. Can you look at the front of that 22 envelope? 23 A. Yes. 24 Q. It states that it came from Wilkes-Barre, is that 25 correct? 17 1 A. Yes. 2 Q. Where is Wilkes-Barre compared to Hazleton? 3 A. It is 27 miles north of Hazleton. 4 Q. And can you look at the contents of the letter for 5 me one more time? 6 A. Yes, ma'am. 7 Q. In the letter there were several street names? Page 14

15 8 A. Yes. 9 Q. It says Pine, Cedar, North Wyoming, Laurel, Vine. 10 Where are those streets located? 11 A. In Hazleton, PA. 12 MS. ALVAREZ: No further questions. 13 THE COURT: Thank you, Doctor. 14 MR. CHIN: Mr. Jose Molina. 15 JOSE MOLINA, called as a witness, having been duly sworn or 16 affirmed according to law, testified as follows: 17 DIRECT EXAMINATION 18 BY MR. CHIN: 19 Q. Mr. Molina, tell us, where do you live? 20 A. I live in Allentown, Pennsylvania. 21 Q. What is your address there? 22 A West Turner Street. 23 Q. How long have you lived in Allentown? 24 A. About 12 years. 25 Q. How long have you been a resident of Pennsylvania? 18 1 A. About 17 years. 2 Q. Tell me, how old are you now? 3 A , I'm sorry. 4 Q. Now, where were you born, sir? 5 A. I was born in Puerto Rico. 6 Q. When did you come to the mainland, mainland United 7 States? 8 A. In November of Q. Why did you come to the mainland of the United 10 States from the beautiful island of Puerto Rico? 11 A. My first location preparation was in chemical Page 15

16 12 engineering, and I worked for pharmaceuticals in Puerto Rico, 13 which was affected by some of the Internal Revenue 14 regulations, and that is why when I decided to move to the 15 United States to look for better opportunities and jobs. 16 Q. Now, who lives with you in Allentown? 17 A. My family, my wife. 18 Q. Tell me exactly which members of the family live 19 with you. 20 A. With me, my wife. 21 Q. Is she employed herself? 22 A. Yes, she is employed. 23 Q. What is it that you do? What is your current 24 position or job? 25 A. I work for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania with 19 1 the higher education system as a recruiting manager at 2 Kutztown University. 3 Q. What does a recruitment manager for the university 4 do? 5 A. Basically I'm recruiting staff members for the 6 university. 7 Q. How long have you been there? 8 A. About six years now. 9 Q. How long have you been an employee of the State of 10 Pennsylvania, more or less? 11 A. Close to 15 years; 14, 15 years. 12 Q. You said that your wife works? 13 A. She works. 14 Q. Can you tell me what her occupation is? 15 A. She works as a customer service representative for Page 16

17 16 the Bank of Wachovia. 17 Q. Now, do you have children? 18 A. I do. 19 Q. How many children do you have? 20 A. I have four children of my own and a stepdaughter. 21 I have four children of my own and a stepdaughter. 22 Q. And how many sons, do you have? 23 A. I have three sons, all adults now. 24 Q. I understand your three sons have had some military 25 service in Iraq, is that correct? 20 1 A. Yes. There are two marines and one Army reservist. 2 Q. Where are they exactly now? 3 A. I still have my younger son serving in Iraq, one, 4 and I also have a veteran from the conflict in Iraq, my 5 second son, both Marines. 6 Q. Where were your sons born? 7 A. They were all born in Puerto Rico. 8 Q. What do they do, just generally, your children? 9 A. Well, one is active in duty. Jose, the older one, 10 he works for Hispanic American Organization as a computer 11 expert in technology, and Emmano, my second son, the veteran 12 Marine, he is finishing his degree in business administration 13 at Kutztown University. My daughter is still in high school. 14 Q. She is in high school. 15 Now, you're here today as the designated 16 representative of Pennsylvania Statewide Latino Coalition. 17 I'm going to refer to it as PSLC or the Latino Coalition for 18 purposes of brevity. 19 What is the PSLC? What is the Pennsylvania Page 17

18 20 Statewide Latino Coalition? Just tell us. Describe it. 21 A. Well, the Pennsylvania Statewide Latino Coalition 22 is a nonprofit organization that promotes social, financial, 23 political and cultural development of the Latino community in 24 the State of Pennsylvania. 25 Q. Tell me what you mean by the social, political, 21 1 financial, cultural development. Expand on that for me a 2 little. 3 A. This is an organization that is basically percent founded by volunteers, Latinos living all across the 5 State of Pennsylvania who have an interest in the betterment 6 of the community. 7 We have people like the actual secretary of state 8 who used to be part of the organization, Mr. Colon, that is 9 active commissioner for the Commission on Latino Affairs for 10 the governor of Pennsylvania. 11 Basically all of the leaders that are in 12 ^ someway ^ some way connected to the political arena in the 13 State have some type, some connection with the organization. 14 The idea is to have a network of Latinos dealing with all the 15 issues that come up on the Latino communities across the 16 State. 17 Q. I will have you express what some of those issues 18 are in a moment. 19 First of all, what is your involvement in the PSLC? 20 What is your position? 21 A. Well, as a basic explanation, what PSLC did was Q. No, I'm sorry. If I may, what is your position? 23 A. Oh, my position. Page 18

19 24 Q. How are you involved in PSLC? 25 A. I'm the regional director for the northeast section 22 1 of the State of Pennsylvania. 2 Q. What are your duties as the regional director? 3 What are some of your duties? 4 A. The idea of having me as a director of that region 5 is to look into all the issues that may happen or come across 6 on that particular region in the State, to meet with all the 7 different organizations, leaders and individuals who may have 8 concerns, who will be dealing with problems or have some 9 ideas in our development leadership, all the different 10 aspects that we are trying to improve in the community to be 11 successful. 12 Q. Tell me, do you get paid for this work? 13 A. No. Like I said, it is all volunteer. 14 Q. What is the mission and purpose of the PSLC? 15 A. Like I said, the mission is to develop leadership, 16 to be able to improve the life for Latinos and to make it 17 fair and to get or become a better part of this society as 18 part of the United States, and to even help all the community 19 at large to understand our culture and to understand that we 20 have more in common than differences. 21 Q. How many members approximately do you have in the 22 PSLC? 23 A. All across the state we have about 6,000 members. 24 Q. You mentioned earlier political rights -- I'm 25 sorry -- the social, political, financial development. What 23 Page 19

20 1 kind of activities does PSLC engage in to further those 2 purposes that you described? 3 A. I will say that some of the most important 4 accomplishments that we have in the past is some litigations 5 we have and lawsuits that we brought up like, for example, 6 against the City of Reading for the disparity in the hiring 7 process they have for the department of the police, the same 8 type of litigation we have with the City of Allentown in the 9 hiring process for the teachers, and also the opportunity to 10 elect people for the school boards. 11 We have conversation and sat on hearings with the 12 legislature of the State in working for the certification of 13 nurses from Puerto Rico. Also certification from teachers 14 from Puerto Rico and having some reciprocal licensing for 15 those professionals. 16 We have been involved in looking for the assurance 17 of the voter registration process in guaranteeing that there 18 is no disinfringement of the registered voters. Just to 19 mention some, those are issues we have been very active in, 20 in the State. 21 Q. Besides litigation, besides the lawsuit that you 22 just mentioned now, the Civil Rights lawsuits, what else does 23 PSLC engage in, what other activities? 24 A. Well, we know that, for example, education is one 25 of the biggest issues that we work with. Developing our 24 1 youth, developing the literature from our youth, we have some 2 chapters that we are developing with college students as to 3 recognize that is the way to change the future of our Page 20

21 4 communities. 5 Q. Do you have a regular annual activity that the 6 organization is involved with as well? 7 A. Yes. We have an annual conference usually in 8 October where we continue to have that as a way of networking 9 with all Q. What are the issues and topics that come up at your 11 annual conference? 12 A. Usually the topics are in general, but it reflects 13 the particular reasons that are affecting the communities 14 those particular years and moments. 15 Q. Before you engage in deciding, or let's say before 16 you decide to be involved with litigation, what does the PSLC 17 membership or officials do? As an example, what do they do 18 before that decision is arrived at? 19 A. Well, before we get into any litigation, what we do 20 is we start the communication with the communities. We sit 21 down with residents and people that are affected. We listen 22 to what they are telling us. Most times, they are the ones 23 that initiate that type of communication by calling us or 24 ing us or in some way connecting with us and asking for 25 us to intervene or to have some type of advice Q. Tell me also, sir, after litigation is initiated, 2 for example, does the PLC continue to work on that individual 3 issue? 4 A. Usually that is the way that the community gets 5 more involved with the organization. Also, they become 6 members. They participate with our activities. They become 7 more intertwined with the organization in developing and Page 21

22 8 having more connection to the leadership to work on any other 9 issues that may come for the community. 10 Q. How did you first become involved -- or how did 11 PSLC become involved with Hazleton? 12 A. We learned from Hazleton by a lot of the media that 13 was coming around, but also in communication with some of the 14 leaders that were already active in there. 15 Like we mentioned before, the governor advisor of 16 commission of Latino affairs and others were already directly 17 involved with some of the people. Then we started getting 18 s and phone calls asking for us to get involved, to see 19 if they could get some advice from our legal counselors and 20 how to work with these threats that they fear. 21 Q. Do you remember who contacted you or contacted PSLC 22 from Hazleton? 23 A. From residents from the area, we got the contact 24 from Dr. Agapito, Anna Arias, and then other leaders that 25 were in contact with them Q. When you were contacted and spoke to them, what did 2 the organization decide to do from that point on? 3 A. We started the process of organizing a meeting and 4 inviting the community at large to come and express or let us 5 know what was the problem. 6 Q. Was there a meeting that took place with these 7 Hazleton residents? 8 A. We did have a meeting with the residents. 9 Q. And exactly when was that meeting? 10 A. It was the end of July, the 30th of July. 11 Q. Where did that meeting take place? Page 22

23 12 A. Where? 13 Q. Where. 14 A. It was in a basement of a church in Hazleton. 15 Q. Now, tell me what happened in the meeting in the 16 basement of this church in Hazleton. Were you speaking? 17 A. It was a meeting with some of the leaders in the 18 area. Like I said, Dr. Agapito and some of the other leaders 19 were there. We facilitated the discussion. 20 Q. What was the subject of the conversation at that 21 meeting? 22 A. At the start, it was basically fact finding and us 23 people were bringing all their concerns and fears. They were telling 24 about what was going on. 25 MS. MARESCA: Your Honor, objection as to hearsay 27 1 as to what statements were made by people present at the 2 meeting that are not present in the courtroom. 3 MR. CHIN: I will rephrase my question. 4 Your Honor, the statement is not being offered for 5 the truth, but I will ask my client to speak about it. 6 BY MR. CHIN: 7 Q. What were some of the discussions? What were some 8 of things that you heard mentioned at this meeting? What did 9 you hear? 10 MS. MARESCA: Your Honor, this does go to the truth 11 of the matter. It goes to the concerns that they are 12 alleging they have as a result of these ordinances. So it is 13 hearsay. 14 MR. CHIN: Your Honor, it goes to the concerns of 15 the community and the fears and the attitudes and the mood Page 23

24 16 that THE COURT: Overrule the objection. 18 BY MR. CHIN: 19 Q. You may answer that. 20 A. Well, the hall was half full. 21 Q. How many people? 22 A. Between 50 and 60 people. I was impressed, because 23 we had college students. We had mothers, fathers. We had 24 even representatives from the church. We had homeowners. We 25 had businessowners. We had landlords. So that was a very 28 1 good start of the conversation with the community. 2 From the start, these Latino students jump and said 3 her experience with her family and having issues with some of 4 the services that they were not getting from the City just 5 because these people were trying to show that there is a 6 Latino living in that house; not collecting the trash, just 7 to show that trash is in front of a Latino house. 8 They had people that were in fear because the 9 police were stopping them on the sidewalks or stopping them 10 on the driveway and asking for documentation just because of 11 their looks. 12 We have businessowners saying, we have bricks 13 through our glasses, and we can't identify who he was, but 14 obviously it was because of the environment where we are 15 living where people think that it is okay to show that 16 Latinos are not welcome here. 17 There was all kind of fear, and what is going to 18 happen with our sons. Should we still send them to school? 19 What is going to happen to our church? Should we still go to Page 24

25 20 church? 21 At that moment, it used to be that we come to 22 church on our bilingual services and they were full, and at 23 this moment people are fearing from going to church because 24 of this. 25 So it was something that I knew it will affect not 29 1 only this region, it will affect even my family from as far 2 as Allentown. It will affect all the people in the State of 3 Pennsylvania. 4 From there we started to think of what is happening 5 at this point, where are we, and what do we have to do to 6 change this, to support these families that are suffering 7 from ignorance, from people that are developing notions of it 8 is okay to be aggressive. It is okay to commit crimes 9 against these people because we are going to get away with 10 it, and at that point, who is going to help us if this is 11 coming and this is encouraged by the authorities, the local 12 authorities. 13 Q. And the sense of the group explaining all of these 14 worries and concerns to you, what was the sense of the mood 15 of that group of members there? What did you see in this 16 group? 17 A. They wanted action. They said either we get 18 someone to help us now or we have to leave, because we are 19 not going to expose our families and our children to this 20 type of abuse. 21 If we can hear from you that we can get -- it was 22 like you are the last option we have. Your organization, 23 which is the only one organized at the State level, if you Page 25

26 24 can do anything, let us know right now, because then we are 25 going to move out Q. Do you remember some of the individuals who were at 2 that meeting who spoke, just whether they were 3 businessowners, whether they were tenants? 4 Do you happen to remember some of the individual 5 Hazleton members that were there? 6 A. Yes. Yes. 7 Q. Can you tell me a few names. 8 A. Some of the names there, like the Lechugas were 9 there, Dr. Agapito, Anna Arias, Rubio families. There was 10 some other members or people that decided to join and become 11 members right away in the thinking that this is something 12 that may help us, because we want to stay in this community. 13 We want to be part of the community and be part of the 14 progressive side of the community, but we need help. 15 Q. Now, the meeting occurred on July 30th. Would that 16 have been after the passage of the ordinances in Hazleton? 17 A. Yes. 18 Q. And so were the discussions about these issues also 19 about relating it to the ordinances after they passed? 20 A. Right. 21 Q. And what did the PSLC do after that meeting was 22 concluded? 23 A. After that meeting, and starting from that meeting, 24 we started the discussion and working on showing additional 25 support to the community by maybe developing a rally or 31 Page 26

27 1 somewhat of a movement that shows you're not alone, and at 2 the same time, we started with the consultation with our 3 legal counsel to see in which way we can help to stop these 4 threats and harassment to the community. 5 Q. When you say you spoke to your legal counsel about 6 what ways could be followed to address these issues, what do 7 you mean by legal counsel? 8 A. We have some attorneys, a few different firms that 9 usually work for us pro bono, and we were not sure how to 10 work with this, because we have already a notion that ACLU 11 and the Puerto Rican Legal Defense were already working on 12 some of these issues. So we were not sure if by us getting 13 into this it would be wise to do it on our own and filing our 14 own lawsuit or how to go from here on. 15 Q. Now, after the meeting in Hazleton took place, was 16 there anything that specifically occurred right after that 17 meeting that you were involved with and PSLC officials were 18 involved with? 19 A. Yes. On that same day, we moved to a restaurant in 20 the area to continue the conversation, but at the same time 21 to look and see on our own what they were talking about. 22 Q. What were they talking about at that restaurant? 23 You haven't really explained that to us. What happened that 24 brought you to that restaurant? 25 A. This restaurant was the one that actually got -- or 32 1 they throw the brick through the glass, and there was all 2 kind of fear. We fixed the glass, because we had to do it 3 right away. Page 27

28 4 Q. Well, you didn't fix the glass. 5 A. No, no, meaning what the owner tell us that day, 6 but then, again, the issue that people don't want to get in 7 here now, even though we fix it and everything, but now we 8 don't have the clients. 9 Q. What happened at the restaurant when you spoke to 10 the owner that's what I want to get a little bit of a feeling 11 for? 12 A. He expressed the concern. 13 MS. MARESCA: Objection, Your Honor. This is again 14 a hearsay statement. 15 MR. CHIN: He was expressing something, Your Honor. 16 THE COURT: Sustain the objection. Can you 17 rephrase the question? 18 MR. CHIN: Yes, Your Honor. 19 BY MR. CHIN: 20 Q. What did you learn about the circumstances about 21 the brick thrown into the window of that restaurant from that 22 meeting? 23 A. I learned that the Latinos were not now 24 participating or were fearful of even being close to those 25 type of businesses that are Latino owned because of the fear 33 1 that they will be targeted. 2 Q. What did you learn from the owner of the 3 restaurant? 4 MS. MARESCA: Objection, Your Honor, still hearsay. 5 THE COURT: Overruled. 6 BY MR. CHIN: 7 Q. Again I ask you, when you went to the restaurant, Page 28

29 8 how many of you went to the restaurant to meet with the 9 owner? 10 A. I would say it was a group of about 20 people. 11 Q. You were in that group? 12 A. Yes. 13 Q. Who else was in the group? 14 A. Mr. Angel Medina. 15 Q. Who is he? 16 A. He is the executive director of the Pennsylvania 17 Statewide Latino Coalition, some other members of the 18 executive board of the Pennsylvania Statewide Latino 19 Coalition, and actually other representatives from Latino 20 organizations from the State. 21 Q. Who did you meet with? Who is the name of the 22 owner, if you remember? 23 A. I don't remember the owner's name. I know the 24 business was the Kiskayla (phonetic) Restaurant. 25 Q. And that was located where? What city? 34 1 A. My impression was it was in Hazleton. So learning 2 from what I hear yesterday that just two streets from there 3 you may be out of place. I don't know. 4 Q. How long did this meeting go on for? 5 A. We were there for over an hour. 6 Q. And was it clear from that meeting in your mind 7 that there were some serious or genuine concerns expressed? 8 A. Definitely. Again, a lot of people moved from the 9 prior meeting to the restaurant, and they continued to 10 expressed their fears and the anguish. 11 Q. Did the owner ever have a brick thrown into his Page 29

30 12 window previous to that incident that was reported? 13 A. Never before. 14 Q. As far as he stated, the incident took place before 15 or after the passage of the ordinance? 16 A. After. 17 Q. Did he report it to the police, as far as you know? 18 A. I can't say one way or the other. 19 Q. Was it your impression -- or did you find that he 20 was very upset, or did he seem to express some state of mood 21 or emotion to you? 22 A. He was very upset, very upset. 23 Q. Do you know how long he had had that restaurant 24 there? 25 A. No Q. Now, after the meeting with him, what did PSLC next 2 decide to do? 3 A. That is when we started meeting with other 4 organizations. 5 Q. Tell me what organizations. 6 A. I'm sorry? 7 Q. Which organizations are you talking about? 8 A. For example, the Concealio in Philadelphia. We 9 also met with some of the college students in the area, the 10 teachers from the school district, councilmen from Allentown, 11 Bethlehem. There was at least six other organizations from 12 Philadelphia that got involved with us. 13 Q. What was so important about what was happening in 14 Hazleton following the passage of these ordinances that made 15 you or your other executive members or PSLC decide it was Page 30

31 16 important enough to follow up? 17 A. By then we already had received the threat also 18 across the State that this is going to become a copycat move 19 to duplicate this same ordinance in other cities, even in 20 cities that didn't have Latino population. That was the 21 funny part, but in cities like where I live, in Allentown, 22 they also started with the notion that it is good to look 23 into this, even though it is not a problem. 24 Q. In Allentown, what did they do with respect to a 25 similar piece of legislation, the anti-illegal immigrant 36 1 ordinance that passed in Hazleton, what did they do after 2 that was passed in Hazleton? 3 A. They tried to come up with something similar and 4 got into the discussion and actually to the point that in 5 some way polarized the community, but finally they just voted 6 it down. 7 Q. Well, did they introduce a bill in Allentown? 8 A. No. They tried to do that, but at the end, just 9 about a week or so ago, they voted down the proposal. 10 Q. When did Allentown first begin to think about 11 putting in or introducing a similar bill, do you recall what 12 month? 13 THE COURT: What do you mean a bill, an ordinance? 14 MR. CHIN: A bill similar to the ordinance passed 15 in Hazleton. 16 THE COURT: Thank you. 17 THE WITNESS: I would say a couple months after the 18 passing of the ordinance in Hazleton. 19 BY MR. CHIN: Page 31

32 20 Q. How did you know that other similar bills were 21 being discussed or initiated in other parts of Pennsylvania? 22 A. Because like, again, this organization is connected 23 to all the Latino communities. Those that are affected have 24 been calling on and letting us know that this happened, but 25 it is now a national issue Q. Now, sir, after going back to the efforts and the 2 actions taken by the organization on the issue of the 3 Hazleton ordinances, what other things did the organization 4 do after that meeting that took place on July 30th or other 5 actions, decisions made? 6 A. Well, on the legal side? 7 Q. On any side. What did you do? 8 A. Well, like I said, we got into consultation and 9 continued our conversations. We kept basically the line of 10 communication open with the residents, and on the side of the 11 legal side, we started the conversation with the Puerto Rican 12 legal defense and the group that was working on the lawsuit 13 from PSL and the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and decided that 14 it was going to be put out together, and we became part of 15 the same litigation. 16 Q. And that is how the organization became part of 17 this lawsuit? 18 A. Exactly. 19 Q. In terms of helping the members and residents who 20 joined your organization, the ones that were in Hazleton, 21 what specific plan of action did the organization decide to 22 take with helping? 23 A. That is when the plan of creating a rally started. Page 32

33 24 At the same moment there was some movement in Philadelphia 25 similar to the one day without a Latino, one day without an 38 1 immigrant, and we had a similar idea, but in Hazleton, where 2 the issues started, and we mobilized some of the leadership 3 in the State and some of the community and we came up to 4 Hazleton with a rally. 5 Q. Tell me, when was the rally? 6 A. September the 3rd, I think it was. 7 Q. Was it on a weekend or a weekday? 8 A. On a weekend. 9 Q. Where did this rally take place? 10 A. It was in a park in Hazleton, in the City of 11 Hazleton. 12 Q. And as far as you can tell, how many attended this 13 rally, more or less? 14 A. I will say about 300 people. 15 Q. And were there other PSLC officers and members that 16 were from outside of Hazleton that attended? 17 A. Yes. We had people from all across the State. 18 Q. Now, the rally, what was the thought, what was the 19 idea that this rally would accomplish? What was your 20 thinking or the strategy behind it? 21 A. Again, and this is making echo from Dr. Agapito's 22 expression that Latinos do have a sense of family, and this 23 is like we have to show support to the Latino family. We 24 have to show that, for example, I'm from Puerto Rico. My 25 parents are from Puerto Rico and they are living close to us 39 Page 33

34 1 in Allentown. They are already 60 some. They don't speak 2 English, but it is hard to understand that a citizen by 3 birth, like any Puerto Rican, they don't speak English, but 4 that is the way the Federal Government has allowed this to 5 happen. 6 It is hard to understand now that they chose to 7 drive through Hazleton and they are stopped. Who is going to 8 protect them? Because they are going to be stopped just 9 because of their look, and they can't even have a 10 conversation with the police without even committing any 11 crime, how they are going to feel. 12 It is definitely -- in their mind, it is like they 13 are being portrayed as a criminal without even violating any 14 law. 15 Q. Just to be clear, you said your parents are in 16 their 60's, and they don't speak English. Is that what 17 you're saying? 18 A. They don't speak English. 19 Q. And you're concerned that if they happen to be 20 driving through Pennsylvania and happen to go through the 21 City of Hazleton, they would somehow be stopped by the 22 police? 23 A. Exactly. 24 Q. Do you have any information or complaint from 25 members or anyone else about the nature of Hazleton Police 40 1 stopping people who are driving through? 2 A. Yes. 3 MS. MARESCA: Objection, Your Honor, hearsay. 4 MR. CHIN: Your Honor, I was asking -- Page 34

35 5 THE COURT: That question is all right. Let's 6 listen to the next question. 7 Please don't elicit hearsay. Counsel is going to 8 object to it, unless you have an exception to hearsay. 9 MR. CHIN: Thank you, Your Honor. I wanted to go 10 back to the rally. 11 Once again, Your Honor, I think the exception to 12 the hearsay rule is that we're eliciting the information not 13 for the truth of it, but for the fact that it created a 14 sensation, a response. It is not presented for the truth of 15 the matter asserted, but simply for what its effects were on 16 the listener. 17 THE COURT: All right. 18 MR. CHIN: Thank you, sir. 19 BY MR. CHIN: 20 Q. About the rally, you were at the rally. How did it 21 go? 22 A. I think it was well attended. Obviously, we wanted 23 more participation of the residents, but it was also 24 understandable that there was a lot of fear. Actually, I 25 have some of the residents that came at the end of the 41 1 activity and say thank you for coming, but we won't be here 2 if we didn't see that it was a big number of people showing. 3 But for me it was very significant. For me, it was 4 very significant, because my younger son, who was active in 5 Iraq, came for leave on the day before the rally, and on that 6 same day, I told him, you don't have to come with me, but I 7 have to go to Hazleton, because I want to show support to 8 these people, and I will understand if you want to stay home, Page 35

36 9 because he just came down from the airplane. 10 He said, no, I have to be there. You have to 11 remember that this is what I'm fighting for, and he was 12 actually the one with me carrying the banner of PSLC, because 13 you said you have to remember when I live in Allentown, just 14 because I have a car and I work for my car, they look at me 15 and see that I'm different, and there was a note in front of 16 my windshield saying go back to your country. 17 Q. So your son described an incident that occurred to 18 him where he found some sort of sign or note on his car? 19 A. Yes. 20 Q. What did the sign say, just to be clear? 21 A. Go back to your country. 22 Q. And when did that incident take place? What month, 23 do you recall? 24 A. I can't recall. 25 Q. Was it after or before A. It was before he went to the exercises for Iraq. 2 Q. Before what? 3 A. Before he started his exercises to go to Iraq. 4 Q. Was it before or after the rally? 5 A. It was before the rally. 6 Q. Was it, as far as you remember, after your meeting 7 with the Hazleton members? 8 A. It was before then. 9 Q. Was it then before the passage or after the passage 10 of the Hazleton ordinances, if you can recall? 11 A. I can't recall. 12 Q. But this occurred not in Hazleton, correct? Page 36

37 13 A. No. This is in Allentown, but he's mentioning to 14 me that I have to be part of this because it is not in 15 Hazleton only. This is going to affect everybody who looks 16 like you and me. 17 Q. Now, in Hazleton, going back to the rally itself, 18 did anything extraordinary or unusual occur there as far as 19 you experienced? 20 A. Well, we were grateful for the police to be there 21 in big numbers, surprised, but grateful, because we did want 22 to have it peaceful. It was actually a religious type of 23 demonstration. We had prayer. We had representations from 24 all these different denominations of churches, but something 25 that struck me was that they had all these video cameras in 43 1 full uniforms. 2 Q. Who is this? 3 A. The police in uniform. They have video cameras, 4 and, again, if that is part of the system they would like to 5 have, that is fine, but they were right in front of your 6 face, at least my face, and like scanning you up and down. 7 I was serving as part of the security group that we 8 had prepared for the event, and they did that -- I notice 9 they did that to other Latinos who were speaking, but then 10 around the area we have non-latino residents standing and 11 just looking at what was happening. None of them had that 12 same type of policing scanning on them. 13 Then you have -- see some of these articles that 14 have come through the media and the Mayor saying that the 15 administration wants to create a database of all possible 16 immigrants. How are they going to accomplish that, by having Page 37

38 17 some kind of profile of the people that look like Latinos? 18 Q. Well, the fact that you were video cameraed by a 19 policeman, you just said they -- you were grateful for them 20 to be there. What do you mean by them -- I mean, are you 21 saying you were unhappy with that? 22 A. It actually reminded me of the struggles of the 23 Civil Rights from the past, where there you have the police 24 now trying to show a threat, you're not welcome, we are here 25 right looking at you, watch what we do, because we're 44 1 catching you from top to bottom and we're ready to take 2 action. 3 Again, that perception that wants to be given 4 across, criminals, Latinos and undocumented immigrants are 5 one in the same word and it is not. 6 Q. And you noticed the same treatment that the police 7 of Hazleton afforded to the other Latinos in this rally? 8 A. Mostly to some of those who were speaking at the 9 event. 10 Q. Who were some of the speakers at this rally? 11 A. We have some leaders from the church, but at the 12 same time, we have leaders, like political leaders, we had 13 councilmen from other cities that came. 14 Q. So you're telling me that church leaders and 15 political leaders and you and other speakers were all video 16 cammed in the same fashion? 17 A. Not all, but I saw some of them being targeted with 18 the same thing. 19 Q. And these are all Latinos? 20 A. Yes. Page 38

39 21 Q. One point I didn't get clarified, and that is PSLC 22 has members. You said 6,000 or so members, I believe? 23 A. That's correct. 24 Q. Are these all Latinos? 25 A. No Q. You can be a non-latino and be a member? 2 A. That's correct. 3 MR. CHIN: Your Honor, I think I have just a few 4 more questions. 5 BY MR. CHIN: 6 Q. When you as an organization decided to become more 7 engaged and provide services and assistance to the Hazleton 8 members, how would you describe that activity in terms of 9 your amount of time and resources spent volunteering for 10 helping Hazleton deal with the ordinances? 11 How would you describe that in terms of increase, a 12 decrease? 13 A. It took a lot of time. The problem that I had 14 again of having a full-time job and family and all of that, 15 implying that we had a lot of hours invested on this. We had 16 resources from the organization that we have to take from 17 other regions probably to dedicate it to this particular 18 region. 19 Q. Well, let me ask you about that, about those 20 resources. For example, just the time alone that you used in 21 terms of the Hazleton matter and the ordinances and members' 22 concerns. 23 In that month before the rally, do you happen to 24 recall how many hours you would have put into this issue Page 39