(Washington, D.C.) -- Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes corruption, today announced the release of a special report, “Local Governments and Illegal Immigration.” Judicial Watch’s report includes an analysis of an educational panel held at the National Press Club earlier this year that focused on the impact of the illegal immigration crisis in local communities. Panel members included Starletta Hairston, former member of the Beaufort, South Carolina, City Council; Jackson Miller, a member of the Virginia House of Delegates; Louis Barletta, Mayor of Hazleton, Pennsylvania; and Tom Fitton, Judicial Watch President.

According to the report’s introduction, “Communities across America are wrestling with the local consequences of the illegal alien crisis. Drugs, violent crime, over-crowded schools and an over-burdened health care system are just a few of the social problems caused by rampant illegal immigration. As the federal government continues to fail in one of its most basic functions, to protect our borders, local officials are increasingly being left to clean up the mess.”

Among the highlights of Judicial Watch’s special report:

• Hazleton, Pennsylvania Mayor Louis Barletta instituted local ordinances to punish businesses that hire illegal aliens and landlords who rent to them in response to a string of violent crimes perpetrated by illegals in his community. “I could no longer wait for the federal government to do anything,” he explained. “Illegal immigration is not a federal problem. It is a local issue. We deal with it every single day.”

• Starletta Hairston commented on the effect illegal immigration has on community resources. “Illegal immigration has placed an unfair burden on the resources of the government…When the system attempts to absorb the influx of numbers, it produces a strain caused by too little going in and too much going out. This is unfair to legal American citizens and citizens that play by the rules and come to this country following the rules that we have in place for citizenship.”

• Jackson Miller discussed the strength and effectiveness of illegal immigration lobby groups. “The fight to win this issue is going to be a difficult one. The pro-illegal immigration lobby is very well organized and very well funded, and the advocates for enforcing our laws are certainly the majority of our country and our communities, but their organizations are small, they are under-funded and they are very loosely organized…”

All of the panelists agreed that the best solution to the illegal immigration crisis is law enforcement.

“If we are to deal with the devastating impact of illegal immigration, local communities need to join the fight.” said Tom Fitton, Judicial Watch President. “Judicial Watch will continue to confront the problem by supporting communities who respect the rule of law, and by pursuing legal action against communities that implement sanctuary policies for illegal aliens.”

###

Click here to read a copy of Judicial Watch's new Special Report!