I was wondering what to make of Immigration Patriots Divided Over Lamar Smith E-Verify Bill which Washington Watcher published here on Monday, when a friend told me of a powerful denunciation of the bill by Congressman Lou Barletta in a radio interview with Lou Dobbs. It is on the Dobbs site behind a subscription barrier.

But I discovered Barletta gave a conclusive interview on the subject to his local newspaper on Tuesday: Barletta knocks immigrant status bill Jonathan Riskind The Times Leader June 21

...the proposal could negate state and local powers, even as the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling upholding an Arizona law penalizing employers for knowingly hiring illegal immigrants could lead to a similar Hazleton ordinance being allowed to go into effect, Barletta says... The federal government won’t do a good job enforcing a mandatory nationwide E-Verify system, while Smith’s bill pre-empts the ability of states and cities like Hazleton to enforce their own regulations, Barletta said.

It certainly will not enforce effectively, under Obama!

“The reason we got in this mess with illegal immigration is because the federal government didn’t enforce the laws we already had,” Barletta said in a phone interview Monday…. Barletta charged that pro-immigration rights groups “want to take away tough state and local laws” and that many business groups want to shield employers from facing tough sanctions if they hire illegal immigrants.

(VDARE.com emphasis) In other words, this bill could be a surreptitious Slave Power protection measure.

It boils down to whom does one trust, Lou Barletta, than whom no more proven champion of effective enforcement exists, or Lamar Smith? Yes, yes, I know - Smith has a Numbers USA grade this Congress of B+ (a decline from his 12 year career grade of A+) – but where exactly was he in the Bush Amnesty Wars? Iowa’s Steve King, who was in the front line, was rewarded by being passed over for the chairmanship of the House immigration subcommittee. But the obviously wobbly House leadership let Smith be Judiciary Chairman.

If Barletta doesn’t like this bill, I don’t like the bill. The Hill webzine has a useful interview with Barletta this week: Barletta makes pitch on immigration By Ramsey Cox 06/20/11

As mayor of Hazleton, in northeastern Pennsylvania, Barletta said that in 2005 he was the first mayor to propose illegal immigration legislation…an ordinance that took business licenses away from employers of illegal immigrants and landlord licenses away from those who harbored illegal immigrants. Barletta said he saw first-hand as mayor how illegal immigration negatively affected the quality of life in a small community. “Our population grew by 50 percent. However, our taxes remained the same. In a city that is barely getting by with its small budget, something like illegal immigration can be the difference from being able to provide the level of public service that people expect,” Barletta said.

He also saw first hand the attitude of the Federal bureaucracy:

In 2005, Barletta came to Washington, D.C., and met with the Justice Department about the illegal immigration problem in his town. “I was so excited and encouraged. They brought all the experts in to sit with me and hear me out. At the end of that meeting, I got this nice coffee mug, a lapel pin and a pat on the back and a push out the door and a ‘Good luck,’” Barletta said. “I realized that Washington and the federal government wasn’t going to help me.

But Lou Barletta is helping his country.