A couple of points here:
1. Broadcasting is federally regulated and any local ordinance that attempts to restrict what is broadcast over a licensed station would be pre-empted by federal law. It would also raise constitutional issues.
2. The "English as the official language" part of the Hazleton ordinance does not affect private businesses (including WAZL) at all. It only stops the City of Hazleton from conducting business in any language except English and from distributing forms in any language other than English.
3. Not all Spanish-speaking people are illegal aliens and not all illegal aliens speak Spanish. Puerto Ricans, who constitute a large percentage of the Hispanic population in the Lehigh Valley, are U.S. citizens by birth and Puerto Rico has been part of the United States (although not a state) since 1902. By airing programs in Spanish, WAZL is not necessarily catering to illegal aliens. WAZL may only run afoul of the Hazleton ordinance if it accepted advertising from a business proven to be owned by illegal aliens...but federal pre-emption may kick in here, since broadcasting is regulated by the federal government. A commercial for a bodega or a Mexican restaurant does not mean that WAZL is serving illegal aliens.
4. While the Hazleton ordinance seems to have been triggered by culture shock from the large number of Hispanics who have settled there, as well as the historic prejudice against waves of immigrants arriving en masse from the same part of the world, there is an element of frustration. Whenever the police discover that someone is in this country illegally while checking documents during a traffic stop or some other routine procedure, the federal office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement tells the police to release that person unless he or she is wanted for a very serious crime. The Citizens' Voice recently ran a story about that. Of what use are immigration laws if the government department charged with enforcing them refuses to do so?
5. Other countries, including most Latin American countries, deal very harshly with anyone who violates immigration or customs laws. Try entering Cuba or Mexico without proper documents and see what happens. Likewise, Poland, Russia, Germany, and other European countries. We should either enforce our laws or repeal them.
6. In addition to the security and economic issues related to illegal immigration; e.g., the September 11 hijackers having been illegal aliens because they misused or overstayed student visas and the depression of wages brought about by illegal aliens working under near-slave labor conditions (such as some of the Chinese working in the garment industry in New York City and migrant farmworkers picking crops all over the U.S.), there is also a public health issue. At one time, immigrants were given health screenings at Ellis Island. Those who passed were allowed to enter the United States. Those with certain diseases were sent back to their homeland. Tuberculosis and polio, once eradicated from this country, are making a comeback. These diseases are being brought here by people coming from Third World countries. Both illegal immigration and failure to properly screen legal immigrants contribute to this problem.
7. The Hazleton ordinance does not specify any nationality or ethnic group. It only targets those who are in this country illegally, regardless of nationality or ethnicity. The issue that will be discussed in the courts is whether federal law pre-empts the Hazleton ordinance, since immigration is regulated by ICE (formerly the INS, Immigration and Naturalization Service), a bureau of the federal government now under the Department of Homeland Security.
That said, WAZL is not violating any laws by carrying specialty programs in Spanish. WAZL can broadcast in any language it wants, including Esperanto (remember that one?), as long as it does not air profanity, conduct fraudulent contests, or conduct an illegal lottery on the air. Stations airing brokered foreign language programs should have an employee, preferably in management, who understands the language(s) of those programs and who can monitor their content for any illegal or questionable material.
