By Jeffrey Lord

Communities large and small know all too well the devastating effects of failed illegal immigration policies from Washington. Many Pennsylvania communities shoulder the burden of this national crisis.

Jeffrey Lord (PennLive file)

More than 180,000 illegal immigrants currently reside in Pennsylvania-- one of the largest illegal immigrant populations in America. That comes with the hefty price tag of around $1.3 billion per year for Pennsylvania taxpayers.

Illegal immigration has had an even more direct effect on small communities in our state. Just take the tragic story of Hazleton, Pa.

The community has been transformed by an influx of illegal immigrants over the past decade. It happened so fast that Hazleton's budget couldn't keep up with the pace. Facing a $900,000 deficit, the mayor was forced to apply for designation from the state as a financially distressed city.

Violent crime in Hazleton increased more than 70 percent from 2001 to 2007, and the town's demographics were completely altered.

That's why the law-abiding citizens of Hazelton turned to Lou Barletta, the GOP nominee for U.S. Senate, and his promise to crack down on illegal immigration.

As Hazleton's mayor, Barletta passed a local ordinance that denied business permits to employers who knowingly hired illegal immigrants and made English the town's official language.

But his efforts to rescue his hometown were thwarted by the left-wing ACLU, leaving the good people of Hazelton defenseless from the threat of illegal immigration.

That's why we need Barletta in the Senate to solve this problem once and for all, for Pennsylvanians and Americans alike.

Small towns can only do so much to protect themselves from the ravages of illegal immigration. It's Congress's job to fix it, and there's no better way to make sure that happens than to send Barletta, a Republican congressman from Pennsylvania's 11th District, to the U.S. Senate.

Whichever way you look at it, illegal immigration is bad for our country.

Illegal immigration decreases wages for American citizens and makes a mockery of the rule of law. Law-abiding citizens have become victims of violent acts committed by illegal immigrants who were supposed to be removed from our country, but were never deported because they were protected by sanctuary cities.

A stunning 89 percent of all illegal immigrants arrested have previous criminal records, and 72 percent of those arrested had criminal convictions.

The state's current senior United States senator, Democrat Bob Casey Jr., has stood idly by as Pennsylvanians have suffered. At times, he has even supported the rights of illegal immigrants over his own constituents.

From the time he voted for the Gang of Eight amnesty, until his recent obstruction of Trump's agenda, he's yet to break from the cadence of the liberal "open borders" marching drum.

Beyond voting with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer 92 percent of the time,Casey blocked a Senate proposal in the Senate in February that would crack down on sanctuary cities;and he voted against "Kate's Law" in 2016.

The bill was named after Kate Steinle, a 32-year-old San Francisco woman shot and killed by an illegal alien who had been deported five different times.

Casey even voted against a bill that would require state and local law enforcement to fully cooperate with the Department of Homeland Security to protect our communities from violent criminals and suspected terrorists.

Casey's Democratic Party is now devoted to open borders, abolishing ICE, and amnesty for illegal immigrants. The Democrats want to make communities all over our country suffer Hazleton's fate -- and be powerless to do anything about it.

Thankfully, Barletta has joined President Donald Trump to fight back against liberal lunacy and modernize our broken immigration system.

Together, they've secured funding for the border wall, supported legislation that speeds up the deportation process, and supported ICE in the removal of violent gang members.

The first bill Barletta introduced in Congress was a measure that would have defunded sanctuary cities. Just imagine what he will be able to do once he's a Senator.

Washington's failed immigration policies is one of the main reasons why he's now running to unseat Casey.

Both Trump and Barletta understand the pain felt by millions of Pennsylvanians who've either seen their cities torn apart or had their wages crushed by the influx of illegal immigration.

Accommodating illegal immigrants is not the role of our federal government.

Lou Barletta gets it, Bob Casey does not.

Jeffrey Lord, of East Pennsboro Twp. is a political commentator and former CNN contributor. His work appears occasionally on PennLive Opinion.