Our federal government has failed for years to control our borders properly and detain and deport illegal aliens. And, with Obama’s Administrative Amnesty, it’s getting worse. That’s why states have to fight back with legislation designed to combat the illegal alien invasion as passed in Arizona, Alabama and other states.
Of course, these laws are resisted at every turn, and frequently their effectiveness is reduced by legislating liberal judges. (Breaking news! Obamacare has convinced liberals it’s OK to impeach federal judges—just like VDARE.com Editor Peter Brimelow has always said!)
But the laws are having an effect and hopefully, with more pressure, more states will adopt them. If nothing else, they are a way of educating the public.
The latest scene of such a battle: the state of Mississippi. Mississippi has a growing problem with illegal immigration. Mississippi’s auditor’s office estimates the illegal population in the state to be 90,000. That’s relatively low compared to some other states. But if not stopped, it’s likely to keep growing. And it’s altering the state’s demographics. It’s now the South, not the Southwest, which has the country’s fastest-growing Hispanic population.
Some Mississippi lawmakers decided to take action. As reported CNN:
Mississippi's Republican-dominated House of Representatives voted 70-47 Thursday to pass the "Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhood Act."…., H.B. 488. The Mississippi bill includes measures like requiring police to check the immigration status of people who are arrested. It would also prohibit any "business transactions," including renewing a driver's license and getting a business license.
Mississippi lawmakers pass controversial immigration bill, by Joe Sutton, CNN, March 16, 2012
This sounds great to me. A big advantage: the state’s governor, Republican Phil Bryant, a former deputy sheriff, totally supported HB 488 and in fact had run for governor on a get-tough-with-illegal- immigration platform.
The National Council of La Raza, needless to say, announced its opposition to HB 488, and in a propagandistic cheap shot, tried to link it with Mississippi’s segregated past:
“…like Alabama, Mississippi’s attempt to pass anti-Latino legislation signals to the rest of the country and the world that the state is all-too willing to return to its dark past with civil rights, where racial profiling and discrimination was the law of the land. This is not a part Mississippi’s history worth repeating.”
Will Mississippi Choose the Higher Road or Follow Down a Misguided Path? By Ellen Lacayo, Immigration Field Coordinator , NCLR, NCLR, March 29, 2012
How many times have we heard this before? Any time Southerners attempt to resist the illegal alien invasion, the Jim Crow/segregation past is brought out yet again.
In Mississippi, HB 488 was opposed by the usual suspects: business leaders and agribusiness—what VDARE.com calls “The Slave Power”— and even some elements of law enforcement. I’d say if lawmen don’t want to enforce the law, then they’re in the wrong profession.
Of course, the state’s chamber of commerce, called the Mississippi Economic Council, opposed the bill. Said the group’s president Blake Wilson:
“In a recent meeting, our Board reaffirmed MEC’s long-standing position of advocating the importance of maintaining a workforce of individuals who are legally employable. MEC also supports following federally adopted laws and regulations as the best and most workable means to assuring a legal workforce in Mississippi.”
What a smoke screen! We already have “federally adopted laws and regulations”—it’s just that the federal government won’t follow its own laws.
But Mississippi´s Governor Bryant stood firm, stating that "Illegal immigration is a real issue with real consequences, and ignoring the rule of law is irresponsible."
As for cost complaints from certain law enforcement officials, Bryant had this to say: "The cost associated with doing nothing far exceeds the cost of enforcing laws. Employers who abide by existing immigration laws should have no reason to fear adverse impacts from this proposed legislation."[Bryant Not Budging on Immigration, by Cassandra Mickens, ClarionLedger.com, March 29, 2012]
Mississippi´s HB 488 was expected to pass the Senate and then be signed by the governor. After all, the two chambers are controlled by Republicans for the first time since Reconstruction. How hard could it be?
But on April 3, HB 488’s progress was ignominiously halted in the Mississippi Senate. The measure was not voted down after a stirring debate. It was simply allowed to die without even being voted on, in a committee with a Democratic chairman.
There is some evidence that the Republican lieutenant governor Tate Reeves had something to do with it. Reeves´s spokeswoman stated that
"Lt. Gov. Reeves believes we need to do something to rid our state of illegal immigrants, but he respects the fact that the chairman listened to concerns expressed by the Mississippi Economic Council, Farm Bureau, the Mississippi Poultry Assn., and local cities, counties, police chiefs and sheriffs, about the potential impact of this bill on taxpayers,"
Tough anti-illegal-immigration law dies in Mississippi By Richard Fausset, LA Times, April 3, 2012
So that’s it for Mississippi’s HB 488. Though elements of it may be placed into other bills, the total package is stopped for now.
There are several lessons that can be drawn from this.
They are two different topics. Remember Mike Huckabee’s shameful comments delivered while governor of Arkansas:
“For decades, we treated our state’s African-American population poorly. The Hispanic influx gives us a second chance to prove what kind of people we really are.” [Huckabee’s “Second Chance” Doctrine]
This is an outrage, and Southerners and other Americans should not stand for it. Southerners have a right to protect their states from the illegal alien invasion. Things that happened forty and fifty years ago are simply not relevant.
They are such a contrast to the GOP leadership at the national level and—may I say it—the typical candidates who run for president.
In case we continue holding elections in this country, wouldn't the GOP be better served by choosing candidates like Phil Bryant?
I'd like to see what a candidate like that could do on the national level.
American citizen Allan Wall (email him) moved back to the U.S.A. after many years residing in Mexico. In 2005, Allan served a tour of duty in Iraq with the Texas Army National Guard. His VDARE.COM articles are archived here; his Mexidata.info articles are archived here; his News With Views columns are archived here; and his website is here.
