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August 29, 2005
States should end the flow of illegal workers

By Rodney Hunt
Special to The Clarion-Ledger

There are now 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States. An average of 8,000 illegally cross our southern border successfully each day.

Current estimates of the illegal population in Mississippi range from 60,000 to 90,000.

If our culture is to survive, we must have a will to secure our borders and institute comprehensive internal enforcement of our immigration laws.

The rank-and-file federal immigration agents are pro-enforcement, dedicated, but overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of illegals in the U.S. There are only 2,000 enforcement agents in the entire United States.

False documents available

Although there are illegals in Mississippi and the U.S. from all over the world, the greatest violators of our sovereignty are Mexican nationals. This massive influx is largely uneducated since less than 50 percent have a high school education.

Many citizens naively think that these illegal immigrants will readily embrace our western civilization and culture.

Mississippi is not a border state, but our numbers of illegals are rapidly increasing since we are a corridor between the southern border and the eastern U.S.

Also, our public officials are turning a blind eye to the problem.

A disproportionate 80 percent of the Hispanic immigrants to the U.S. are here illegally. Illegal identity documents including fake Social Security cards and driver's licenses are readily available.

The Treasury Department under President Bush no longer notifies employers if Social Security numbers do not match.

Therefore, if an employer wanted to hire only legal workers, it is impossible for that employer to verify legal status. Legal status should be verified through the state using the national registry.

The unemployment rate among Mississippi citizens in May 2005 was 7.3 percent in spite of an unprecedented boom in construction.