State candidates seize on immigration issue

By SHELIA BYRD
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS


-- Mississippi candidates have made illegal immigration a top campaign issue with no shortage of angles this election cycle.
State Auditor Phil Bryant, the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor, has vowed to crack down on the illegal immigrant population. His Democratic opponent, state Rep. Jamie Franks, wants to penalize Mississippi employers who hire illegal immigrants.

Delbert Hosemann, the Republican nominee for secretary of state, said he'll keep illegal immigrants from voting in state elections. It seems to be a hollow campaign promise since there's no proof that an illegal immigrant has cast a ballot in state elections.

It's hard to say whether illegal immigration is an issue that resonates with voters, although it is a centerpiece on conservative talk radio. The topic has become a lightning rod over the last few years as Congress wrangled over legislation that would tighten federal policies on immigration and border security.

In Mississippi, some political experts say the issue has more to do with race than anything else, something akin to the race-baiting done by politicians when segregation was being threatened.

"You go back and look at some of the old editions of newspapers in the '50s and '60s and you've got all this language relating to 'our Southern way of life.' Now, we have the new millennium version of that in 'Hispanics coming looking for jobs,' " said Marty Wiseman, director of the Stennis Institute of Government at Mississippi State University.

Politicians make points that illegal immigrants have broken the law to enter the country, and they are taking jobs away from legal residents. Bryant, in his role as auditor, released a report last month that linked illegal immigrants with crime.

Wiseman said it's ironic that the immigrant population that some vilify could possibly be a factor in the state's political power. He said their presence in Mississippi could contribute to the state maintaining, or possibly increasing, its representation in Congress.

Wiseman's comments are based on a political brief the Stennis Institute published in July.

States' representation in Congress is based on population. The more populous a state, the more members it can send to the U.S. House.

After the 2000 Census, Mississippi lost a House seat because the population didn't grow as rapidly as others around the country.

Wiseman said the Census requires everyone to be counted, including illegal immigrants. That means a large illegal immigrant community can boost the overall population, as was the case in places like Texas and California.

Mississippi's immigrant population has grown, especially in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, when many Hispanics converged on the Gulf Coast for jobs related to the region's recovery.

Bill Chandler, who heads the Mississippi Immigrants Rights Alliance, estimated there are about 200,000 undocumented residents in the state.

The way he sees it, that population already is providing a service by doing the jobs no one else wants to do.

Chandler said many are employed in poultry plants, where they are work in environments surrounded by raw meat. He said others work in the forestry industry, stooping all day to plant trees. On the coast, they're clearing debris or working as maids at hotels, he said.

"Most of the immigrant workers that are here are working in jobs that are very hard and very dirty," Chandler said.


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