Thread: House panel OKs immigration bill - MS

Legislation modeled on neighboring Alabama's controversial crackdown

clarionledger.com
Written by
Jeff Amy
The Associated Press
10:01 PM, Feb. 24, 2012

Efforts to step up enforcement against illegal immigrants moved forward Friday in the Mississippi House with a bill modeled on Alabama's crackdown, though its sponsor says his bill doesn't include the parts that have been tied up in federal court challenges.

The House Judiciary B Committee voted 15-6 to pass House Bill 488. It now goes to the House Education Committee, and if passed, then would go to the full chamber.

The bill's sponsor, Judiciary B Committee Chairman Andy Gipson, R-Braxton, said the Mississippi bill should stand up to legal scrutiny. Alabama's law is considered one of the toughest state laws against illegal immigrants.

Mississippi has a relatively small illegal immigrant population, although it appears to have grown in recent years. The Pew Hispanic Center estimated that in 2010, the state had about 45,000 illegal immigrants out of nearly 3 million total residents.

Gov. Phil Bryant, a Republican who has been campaigning against illegal immigration since his days as state auditor, supports the bill. Proponents say the state spends more money providing services to immigrants than it reaps in taxes, and claim that illegal immigrants, if they leave, will vacate jobs that unemployed citizens can take. They say the bill is about legal compliance and that they welcome legal immigrants.

Earlier this week, Kathy Sykes, an organizer for Mississippi Immigrants Rights Alliance and secretary for the Jackson branch of the NAACP, said she heard a lawmaker say black people should support the law because immigrants are taking jobs that might otherwise go to black residents.

"The only time we had full employment was when we were not getting paid," Sykes said, referring to slavery. "So do not let someone who has never cared about you or your children influence you to go against your brothers and sisters."

Gipson maintains his bill's supporters are "not trying to hurt anyone. We're not trying to starve anyone."

"I believe that every person in Mississippi, whether they are here illegally or not, is a child of God," Gipson said.

Opponents dispute those claims, emphasizing that Mississippi doesn't need to summon any ghosts of its racist past.

"It is still about ethnic cleansing," said Bill Chandler, executive director of the Mississippi Immigrant Rights Alliance. "It is still talking about driving people out of Mississippi."

The new version of the bill removed an attempt to create a crime of failing to carry immigration papers. That provision had led some opponents to nickname the measure the "papers, please" bill. Under the change, a police officer could only check someone's immigration status if the officer had pulled the person over for some other reason.

"The reason it was removed is not because it's a bad idea, necessarily," Gipson said. "The reason it has been removed is it has been enjoined by a federal court in Alabama."

The bill still says law enforcement officials should check for immigration status when "a reasonable suspicion exists" that a person is in the country illegally. The measure bars police from considering race, color or national origin when making that decision, although opponents still fear racial profiling.

The new version also adds an exception if a person is "an international business executive of an international corporation authorized to transact business in the state." In the months after the Alabama law was enacted, police there arrested a Japanese man on assignment at the state's Honda factory and a German man who worked for the state's Mercedes-Benz plant, spurring widespread concern that the law would scare off foreign investors.

Another provision was watered down that allows any Mississippi resident to sue a state agency, city or county that looks the other way on immigration status. The bill now says that an agency or government must adopt a written policy or ordinance to be subject to a lawsuit. The measure is supposed to prohibit "sanctuary cities" that don't enforce immigration laws. Gipson indicated Jackson is a sanctuary city, but it's unclear whether a 2010 ordinance that instructed police officers not to use racial profiling or ask about immigration status goes that far.

Added was a provision that allows churches and charities to meet "immediate basic and human needs" as long as they doesn't charge or use government funds.

Rep. David Baria, D-Bay St. Louis, tried to also exempt government health care facilities and government-owned utilities from provisions that say illegal immigrants can't enter into business transactions with any state agency or local government. Baria said after the committee meeting that he is worried about the public health consequences of illegal immigrants and their children not being vaccinated or being able to connect water and sewer services.

House panel OKs immigration bill | The Clarion-Ledger | clarionledger.com

wlox.com
By Trang Pham-Bui
Updated: Feb 24, 2012 7:16 PM EST

Video at link

PASCAGOULA, MS (WLOX) -

A stricter immigration bill is moving forward in the Mississippi House. On Friday, a House Judiciary committee passed the measure. One provision would require school districts to check their students' immigration status.

Critics say the bill unfairly targets Latinos. One South Mississippi school superintendent has his own concerns about the measure.

About 245 students attend Jackson Elementary School in Pascagoula. More than a quarter of them are Hispanic. The entire district has more than 760 Latino students.

"We have the largest Hispanic population, English Language Learners population in the state of Mississippi, proportionate to any other district in the state of Mississippi," said Pascagoula Schools Superintendent Wayne Rodolfich.

Mississippi's immigration bill would require immigrants to carry documents, showing they're in the U.S. legally. Rodolfich has some concerns about a provision that would force school districts to check on their students' immigration status. For one thing, he said it would mean more bureaucracy.

"I do think it adds another layer for schools to be managing some social issues," said Rodolfich. "I do think there are unintended consequences sometimes with laws that are passed, like the fact that you have a child who may be deprived of an education who's going to be residing in your community."

Right now, for new students entering the Pascagoula School District, their parents have to show two proofs of residency, like a lease or a power bill. They also have to have a birth certificate to show that they are the parents of that child. However, the district does not track the child's immigration status, because of a 1982 U.S. Supreme Court ruling.

"Plyer v. Doe very clearly stated that regardless of immigration status, that children will be educated if they reside within the boundaries of the school district. We're going to provide that fair and equal opportunity for all children based on what the Supreme Court case says," said Rodolfich.

Rodolfich said there are still too many questions about the role schools will play in the immigration arena.

"I just think I need better information about what the law's going to say as it relates to how this impacts children. Because, ultimately, we have to try to protect our children," he said.

The immigration bill now goes to the House Education Committee. Immigration will be one of the key issues at the 2012 Catholic Day at the Capitol. The event takes place next Wednesday in Jackson.

Superintendent raises concerns over tougher immigration bill - WLOX-TV and WLOX.com - The News for South Mississippi

I think its a GREAT idea, these Illegals would NOT be in OUR communities if they werent getting Hand-outs , like Free Education..to which they should NOT be entitled anyhow.

People fail to realize that such Provisions were created to benefit LEGAL Americans, NOT those who decide to disregard Law and waltz in ILLEGALLY..
The children wouldnt suffer, had the parents made Better choices!

Consequenses are a result of Poor choices and Poor behavior.

"We have the largest Hispanic population, English Language Learners population in the state of Mississippi, proportionate to any other district in the state of Mississippi," said Pascagoula Schools Superintendent Wayne Rodolfich.

Why are worried not for the hispanics and NOT the American students? You know the children who pay the highest price by being set back by those ESL kids...

In the SCOTUS ruling on Plyer v. Doe it was specifically mentioned that allowing the IA kids a free education would be a minimal burden on the citizens of the community.

In fact the court case arose because it was planned to make the parents of IA kids pay for there kids to go to school in Texas. At the time there were very few IA kids in the system. Well that is no longer true.

"It is still about ethnic cleansing," said Bill Chandler, executive director of the Mississippi Immigrant Rights Alliance. "It is still talking about driving people out of Mississippi."

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Hey Bill! Mexicans are NOT a race. They are an ethnicity.

Get your facts straight, Bill.

This will fly at the local Rotary Club trying to bring in illegal alien roofing crews after a tornado or farmers not willing to pay Americans a fair wage to plant or harvest crops, but you get NOWHERE trying to sell this pack of lies to anyone else. Especailly those that have been victims of illegal aliens, either directly by losing their jobs or indirectly by a rape, mugging, robbery, or murder.

Originally Posted by Ratbstard

About 245 students attend Jackson Elementary School in Pascagoula. More than a quarter of them are Hispanic. The entire district has more than 760 Latino students.

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This is essentially the infusion of a foreign culture on an unwilling host culture which is historically proven to create dissension, balkanization, and eventually mayhem and ruin to the host culture.

These teachers know their history, but refuse to apply it to their own country. They ignore it at their own peril.