http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs. ... /608200383

August 20, 2006

Chasing their dream

Debate rages over growing Miss. illegal immigrant population

By Billy Watkins
bwatkins@clarionledger.com
And Laura Hipp
lhipp@clarionledger.com
And Ana Radelat
aradelat@gns.gannett.com

Whether from across a human-drawn territorial line or halfway around the world, the United States looks the same to many outsiders.

"Like heaven," said Daniel Sarpong, director of the Heart Study Coordination Center at Jackson State University who came to America from the West African country of Ghana in 1984 and became a U.S. citizen in 2000. "Everybody I knew growing up wanted to come here."

People flock to America by the thousands every year, chasing the dream of a better life for themselves, their families.

But many enter the country illegally, meaning the government has no record of them. An estimated 12 million illegal immigrants live in the United States. Between 20,000 and 30,000 illegal immigrants reside in Mississippi, according to a Pew Hispanic Center report released in March 2005.

For the first time in 10 years, Congress this year attempted to tackle the problem, but the House and Senate have not reached a compromise.

The immigration debate also rages in state capitols, including Mississippi's.

State Rep. Mike Lott unveiled a list of bills this year to stop illegal immigrants' access to social programs.

A few legislators teased him with the nickname "Miguel," and the legislation languished in committees.

But the Petal Republican may be the one laughing during the 2007 session.

"I think it will be taken more seriously than last year," Lott said of immigration. "It's an election year."

Lott said he will introduce a "comprehensive bill" in January that includes many of his previous proposals.

"I have nothing against anybody who came into the country to make a better life," he said. "But there's a legal way to do it and an illegal way."

State Auditor Phil Bryant, who may seek the lieutenant governor's post, released a report estimating 49,000 illegal immigrants cost the state $25 million in education, health care and other services. Some called the report racist and inaccurate.

Lott wants employers penalized for hiring illegal immigrants.

Some companies pay illegal immigrants lower wages that most Mississippians would not take, he said.

"They're doing what most men should or would do to take care of their family," Lott said of immigrants.

The largest recent immigrant population in Mississippi is Hispanic, according to Charles Reagan Wilson, director of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture in Oxford.

Many immigrants have moved to the Mississippi Gulf Coast, seeking Katrina-related jobs and opening their own businesses. The need for their labor to help rebuild the storm-ravaged Coast has tempered anti-immigrant sentiment.

But the Rev. Sally Bevill, seashore district coordinator for Hispanic/ Latino Ministries of the Mississippi Conference of the United Methodist Church, worries authorities will be zealous in hunting down illegal immigrants on the Coast.

"It's a scary thought because this population is so vulnerable, it's just awful, and they live in constant fear of when they're going to maybe be caught," she said.

In Washington, D.C., U.S. Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., introduced The Border Protection, Antiterrorism and Illegal Immigration Control Act last year, co-sponsored by 3rd District U.S. Rep. Chip Pickering, a fellow Republican.

The bill, which passed the House in December, would require, among other things, up to 700 miles of fence along the U.S.-Mexican border.

The Senate approved its version in May that contained a guest-worker program, allowing immigrants to temporarily work in the United States.

If a compromise is reached, it's likely to be voted on during a lame duck session of Congress after November's elections.

"One thing our politicians conveniently ignore is we have one of the longest land borders in the world," said David Ware, an attorney specializing in immigration law. "When you have one of the poorest countries in the world on one side - Mexico - and one of the richest on the other - the United States - you can put up an electrified fence 10 feet high and 10 feet deep in the ground and people are still going to figure out how to get here because their baby needs food, their mom needs a toilet in her house.

"If you've ever been to a little Mexican village, ... you see the houses that are built of concrete and have running water - those are the ones where the man of the family is in the United States sending money back to them," Ware said. "The ones with the dirt floor and a straw roof ... they don't have anybody here. That's the difference America can make in their lives."

For years, immigrants have worked on farms, in poultry plants and have increasingly become a part of the work force in the service and construction industries.

"Frankly, Americans are not going to get out there and dig a foundation for a commercial building in the mud and heat all day, every day," Ware said.

"So, when you look at it in that sense, segments of our economy have become totally dependent on undocumented labor."

Ware said the biggest misconception people have about illegal immigrants is they have it easy and get a free ride. "They're not eligible for food stamps and welfare," he said.

If they stay, they must decide whether to assimilate, preserve their culture or strike a balance.

But a majority of immigrants do not come here with the idea of becoming citizens, Ware said. "People come here looking for work to provide for their families."

Some lawmakers want to provide a way for undocumented workers to work legally and earn permanent residency and, if they desire, citizenship.

"I think everybody should be given a pathway to citizenship," said 2nd District U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, a Democrat.

Most members of Mississippi's congressional delegation favor tougher immigration laws. Pickering and Republican 1st District U.S. Rep. Roger Wicker belong to the Congressional Immigration Reform Caucus, a group of House Republican hardliners.

"9-11 changed everything," Wicker said. "Border security and immigration policy has become a homeland security issue."

President Bush proposes a guest-worker program and to allow most undocumented workers to apply for temporary legal status if they pay fees and fines and have no criminal record. The state's congressional delegation, minus Thompson, said it would reward illegal behavior. The House and Senate must negotiate the differences between their bills, a task some say is impossible.