Pa. House race mirrors maze of immigration issue

HAZLETON, Pa. -- In a year when veteran House Republicans are rushing for the exits rather than attempt re-election, Lou Barletta represents something of rarity: He's a Republican challenger who has a 24-year Democratic congressman worried. Key to the turf battle: the touchstone issue of illegal immigration.

Barletta, mayor of this northeastern Pennsylvania city, made headlines last year with efforts to drive out illegal immigrants, part of a wave of newcomers who headed to the Poconos after the 9/11 attacks in New York City.

Barletta, 52, spearheaded an ordinance allowing the city to fine landlords who rent to illegal immigrants and yank the business licenses of employers who hire them. He lost a federal court case (now on appeal) but won nationwide publicity and 90% of the vote in his re-election last November.

"I've been a voice for many people," Barletta said.

Now, he's running to unseat Rep. Paul Kanjorski, a 71-year-old Democrat in a solidly Democratic district who is taking nothing for granted. Kanjorski has raised more than $1 million for his re-election bid, compared with $185,000 for Barletta. The race is a case study on how immigration continues to divide and dog both parties.

National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Tom Cole's decision to recruit Barletta underscores the contradiction for Republicans: While the party's presumptive presidential nominee, John McCain, has been a voice of moderation on immigration, other Republicans are playing hardball.

In March, Republican senators introduced 14 immigration-related bills in one day. They included a bill by Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., to make English the official U.S. language and one by Sen. Elizabeth Dole, R-N.C., to ban repeat drunken drivers from becoming citizens.

In the House, Republicans are pushing a petition that would force a vote on a bill to crack down on illegal immigrants and their employers. The bill's author is a freshman Democrat, Rep. Heath Shuler. The former NFL quarterback says his western North Carolina district is plagued with illegal immigrants who also are drug traffickers.