Median household income:  $28,000
Median age:  41
Percent over 65:  19.9
"About 10.4% of families and 14.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 20.4% of those under age 18 and 11.6% of those age 65 or over."

In other words, it's a cheap place to live, with cheap wages, too.  And a very red place.  A vision of 'murca's future, under Bush, Cheney and their successors.

And, like many other towns in formerly-industrial Pennsylvania, it's undergoing rapid demographic change.  Per wikipedia, in the 2000 census, the racial makeup of the city was 94.70% White, 0.82% African American, 0.16% Native American, 0.65% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 2.76% from other races, and 0.89% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.85% of the population (however, some estimates show that this has grown to as high as 30% since the 2000 Census).

Aging, white, poor and Republican.

Funny, though, the portion of the ordinance which was challenged appears to have been "Section 5"  - renting to illegal aliens.  No one appears to have challenged "section 4", dealing with businesses which employ illegal aliens.  It's pretty darn broad (probably broader than the "material support to terrists statute"):

SECTION 4. BUSINESS PERMITS, CONTRACTS OR GRANTS
Any entity or any parent, affiliate, subsidiary or agent of any entity (other than a charity
recognized as exempt from federal income taxation under Sec. 501 of the Internal Revenue Code of the United States and which has obtained and continues to have in force an exemption from federal income taxation), that employs, retains, aids or abets illegal aliens or illegal immigration into the United States, whether directly or by or through any agent, ruse, guise, device or means, no matter how indirect, and even if the agent or entity might otherwise be exempted from this section, or violates any provision of this Ordinance, shall from the date of the violation or its discovery, whichever shall be later, be denied and barred from approval of a business permit, renewal of a business permit, any city contract or grant as follows:

I love that line "no matter how indirect, and even if the agent or entity might otherwise be exempted from this section".  Everyone's at fault with that one.

Moreover, they define "aids and abets" pretty broadly:

A. "Aids or abets" includes, but is not limited to:
(i) hiring or attempted hiring of illegal aliens,
(ii) providing, renting or leasing real or personal property to illegal aliens,
(iii) funding or providing goods and services to illegal aliens, except as provided in Sec. 4 C.,
(iv) funding, providing goods and services to or aiding in the establishment or continuation of any day labor center or other entity providing similar services, unless the entity acts with due diligence to verify the legal work status of all persons whom it employs, provides job assistance for or in any way assists or facilitates in obtaining any employment.

Now, how are they going to square that, with this boast from their Wiki page:

"One of the largest Wal-Mart Supercenters in the US is found along Airport Road."

Will they stop shopping there?  will they revoke their business permit?

Nor has anyone addressed "section 6" of the Ordinance:

SECTION 6. ENGLISH ONLY
A. The City of Hazleton declares that English is the official language of the City.
B. Unless explicitly mandated by the federal government, the state of Pennsylvania or the City of Hazleton, all official city business, forms, documents, signage will be written in English only.

These folks can't even get it through their heads that it's the "Commonwealth of Pennsylvania", not the "State of Pennsylvania".

Duh.

And, they even wrote in the "we're required to do it unless we say we aren't" language.  How quickly the cancer spreads.

But, the Republican mayor went out and hired Ashcroft's former head adviser on immigration law, to argue on their behalf in court, and they're getting lots of winger support - Mountain States Legal Foundation and Federation for American Immigration Reform.  The article's blaming the ACLU and a Puerto Rican group for challenging the ordinance.

As for the business permits, a company would have to have been convicted in some way before their permit could be revoked, no? H. is not trying to act as ICE agents in this case.