8:01 PM, Mar. 29, 2011/ Legislation targeting illegal immigrants in Mississippi died quietly at the Capitol this week along with a slew of related measures that failed to make it out by deadline.

The bill that drew the most buzz - modeled after an Arizona law that gives law enforcement the authority to check the immigration status of people they suspect are in the country illegally - never made it out of a negotiating committee.
Mississippi immigration advocates are cheering the outcome, but the battle may not be over.
Those who support the anti-illegal immigration legislation have vowed to make it an election issue.
"We want to make people aware of why these bills are not getting through," said Dr. Rodney Hunt, president of the Mississippi Federation for Immigration Enforcement. "The citizens of this state support increased enforcement."
More than 30 bills aimed at immigrants - some mimicking the Arizona legislation and some that would create other restrictions, such as requiring people to speak English before they can receive state licenses - died.
"Over the years, there has been a tremendous number of these types of bills," said Bill Chandler, executive director of the Mississippi Immigrants Rights Alliance. "But this year, I do think we had an inordinate amount rooted in bigotry."
Supporters of the legislation denied cries of racism since before the session began.
"Look at the unemployment rate," Hunt said. "A lot of those jobs are taken by people who are here illegally."
Throughout the session, lawmakers held hearings and advocates held rallies - either in support of or against the legislation, particularly the Arizona-style bill.
Separate versions of that legislation, Senate Bill 2179, passed overwhelmingly in the House and Senate, but negotiators for each side could not reach an agreement.
Senate Judiciary A Committee Chairman Joey Fillingane, a Republican from Sumrall who was the chief sponsor of the bill, said they never met.
Their disagreement centered on the House version's attempt to place fines on businesses that hire illegal immigrants.
"We were going to make the employers accountable," said House Judiciary A Committee Chairman Ed Blackmon Jr., a Democrat from Canton who was one of the negotiators. "Since so many are coming here for jobs, we wanted to cut off the source."

Fillingane said he believes the provision to be unconstitutional.
"The House insisted on having an illegal fine," he said. "The purpose of the bill was to help the federal government enforce the law, not have the state break the law."
Hunt said he suspects the House was playing politics in passing a stricter version of the Arizona bill.
"(They) clearly wrote a bill that would not stand up if challenged in federal court," he said.
Blackmon said there is no way to know whether it would be considered illegal.
"The Supreme Court has not rendered an opinion on it," he said.
Blackmon said he did not personally support the legislation targeting immigrants.
"In Mississippi, it's nowhere near the issue it is in the border states," he said.
Other bills would have required all state documents to be produced only in English, denied any public benefits to people in the country illegally and imposed an additional fee on out-of-country wire transfers to go to a "border fence fund." .
"They're a continuation of the kinds of things that really hold Mississippi back," Chandler said, noting that many illegal immigrants pay taxes. "This is another step in defeating xenophobic legislation."
But Fillingane said he thinks those who stopped the bills will have to "answer to voters" in the fall.
"It's not going away," Fillingane said. "It clearly had a tremendous amount of support."
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