Hazleton, an Eastern Pennsylvania city built by blue-collar Slavs and Italians, will go on trial Monday for trying to impose laws to evict illegal immigrants.

Some 60 U.S. cities have conceived or approved their own immigration ordinances, but Hazleton, in Luzerne County, will be the first one to have the constitutionality of its laws tested in federal court.

The Hazleton ordinances, enacted but not yet enforced, would punish landlords who rent to illegal immigrants and business owners who hire them.

The trial is expected to last two weeks and will be held in Scranton before U.S. District Judge James M. Munley. His ruling in the Hazleton case could essentially end local attempts to influence immigration policy or open the way for more cities to try to force newcomers to register at city hall, so their backgrounds could be checked by the locals.

Opponents of Hazleton's ordinances include groups as diverse as the American Civil Liberties Union and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

The ACLU says immigration law is complex, and Hazleton's government lacks the expertise and resources to determine who is in the country legally.

The chamber says immigration must be handled by the federal government to prevent a messy patchwork of laws that differ from one town to the next. Chamber members also say the Hazleton ordinances are written so badly that businesses suspected of hiring illegal workers could be stripped of their licenses without any hearing.

Hazleton Mayor Louis Barletta, a Republican, pushed through the immigration laws. He complained that the federal government had done little to stem the tide of illegal immigrants in his city, which is about 80 miles northeast of Harrisburg.

The need for local laws, Mr. Barletta said, was demonstrated by the murder of a Hazleton man last May. Both suspects are illegal immigrants from the Dominican Republic.

In a news conference yesterday, opponents of the Hazleton immigration laws said Mr. Barletta had exaggerated the problems caused by illegal immigrants and hurt innocent people with his crusade.

Vic Walczak, legal director of the ACLU of Pennsylvania, said those challenging Hazleton's laws would call Mr. Barletta as a hostile witness in hopes of pinning him down on various crime statistics. Mr. Walczak said the trial will prove that almost all serious crimes in Hazleton have been committed by U.S. citizens.

In an interview yesterday, Mr. Barletta said he looks forward to taking the stand and shedding light on how life in Hazleton, population 22,000, has deteriorated because of illegal immigrants.

"I'm more than happy to testify first, in the middle of the trial and last," Mr. Barletta said. "Illegal is illegal. That doesn't change."

The mayor, though, said he fears his city is entering the case "with one hand tied behind our back."

Some of the individuals challenging Hazleton's law are illegal immigrants, yet their identities might be concealed at trial. Judge Munley is still weighing whether these witnesses should be compelled to appear in court or whether their anonymous testimony in depositions can simply be entered into the trial record.

"I thought in America you had the right to know who your accusers are," Mr. Barletta said.

Legal immigrants also will be part of the case against Hazleton.

Rudy Espinal, president of the Hazleton Hispanic Business Association, said the immigration ordinances have hurt the city's economy, even though an injunction by Judge Munley stopped them from being enforced at least until the trial concludes.

Mr. Espinal is a native of the Dominican Republic and his wife is from Colombia. He said the mayor has created a climate of fear among Latinos, even those in the country legally.

"In Hazleton, many Hispanic and immigrant businesses operate along and adjacent to Wyoming Street, a major commercial street. Compared to the bustle that existed before Hazleton started passing ordinances targeting immigrants, often it feels like a ghost town," Mr. Espinal said.

Mr. Walczak said two legal immigrants from the Dominican Republic will testify that police stood watch over their market and restaurant after the immigration laws were approved by the city council. The couple's base of customers soon dried up, so they moved their businesses to Arkansas, Mr. Walczak said.

Mr. Barletta, who is running for a third term as mayor, said he plans to attend every day of the trial. National organizations, such as the Federation for American Immigration Reform, are helping him defend Hazleton's laws.

Still, Mr. Barletta remains the public face of Hazleton's campaign. His notoriety has soared since the first of the laws was approved in July. Flaws in the ordinances forced the city to rewrite them in September and again in December, but Mr. Barletta nonetheless went from small-town mayor to national figure.

The immigration issue turned him into a fixture on the cable talk show circuit, and the CBS news program "60 Minutes" featured Mr. Barletta in a segment called "Welcome to Hazleton."

Mr. Barletta said he is pessimistic about the trial being fair, given the possibility that illegal immigrants could be shielded from cross-examination. But, he said, he will keep fighting to implement the Hazleton laws, even if he has to appeal.

"I believe what we're doing is right," he said. "All I want is a level playing field to prove it."