Barletta resigns

We could probably have seen this one coming.

The Associated Press reports Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta, whose get-tough policies on illegal immigrants attracted national attention, has resigned after 11 years in office.

Barletta was elected to Congress last month, defeating a 26-year Democratic incumbent on his third try. He left the mayor’s office at noon today.

Barletta says he’s proud of his effort to drive illegal immigrants from the city of about 30,000. Four years ago, he championed an ordinance that penalized landlords for renting to illegal immigrants and businesses that employed them. Cities around the country followed suit.

A federal judge struck down Hazleton’s law as unconstitutional in 2007, and it has never been enforced. The city appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court last week.