Mississippi Governor Pushes Arizona-Style Immigration Law for State

“To me, this seems so simple. So very, very clear and so that’s why I am supporting this law.”
– Governor Phil Bryant (R-MS)

Mississippi joins the growing number of states fed up with the Federal failure to enforce immigration laws – and is doing something about it. Last week, State Rep. Becky Currie (R) introduced House Bill 488 (PDF) – the Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act of 2012 – a sweeping piece of legislation which would incorporate the best of previous state bills to come before it.

The bill would allow law enforcement officers to inquire about a person’s immigration status after any “lawful stop, detention or arrest”.

The bill also makes the “willful failure to carry an alien registration documents” a state crime. This is similar to the Arizona and Alabama statutes. And 488 also makes it a felony for an illegal alien to enter into a business transaction with any state entity. This is critical to make it as hard as possible for illegals to establish secure economic foothold in the state – a crucial  deterrent.

H.B. 488 would also adopt a statute similar to Alabama’s H.B. 56, requiring proof of proper documentation before a student may enroll in school, to determine whether the child is a foreign national in the U.S. illegally. That portion of the Alabama law was blocked by a Federal appeals court after being upheld by a lower court judge last summer.

Finally, the bill would make E-Verify verification for employment mandatory statewide, with the usual staged implementation schedule for large and later small businesses to comply. And 488 also makes it illegal to dimiss a legal alien or U.S. citizen worker while retaining an illegal one, when it can be proven that the employer knew this to be so.

Gov. Bryant no doubt saw reports such as ours, showing a spectacular decline in Alabama’s unemployment rate vs. neighboring states, after adoption of H.B. 56 – after which tends of thousands of illegal aliens fled the state.

Meanwhile, lawyers with the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), a far-left pro-amnesty activist group, says if the bill passes, they will sue the state. Governor Bryant is unmoved, and says illegal immigrants are breaking the law.

“(They’ve) violated a federal law. That’s something the poverty center seems to ignore. We just simply ought to have the right, responsibility as a state to identify people who have violated federal laws. If we’re going to ignore this federal law, what other federal laws should we begin to ignore?” Gov. Bryant said.

Stand With Arizona calls on its 260,000+ activists to immediately mobilize to ensure the passage of H.B. 488, so that Mississippi can join the growing ranks of states demanding that the laws on the books be enforced.

If you are a Mississippi resident, immediately contact your state Reps. (LINK HERE) and demand they co-sponsor or otherwise support H.B. 488′s passage. SWA will be mobilizing further channels of support for members from ALL states in the coming days, so stay tuned.

Mississippi, like Arizona before them, knows that the Obama cabal is doing everything it can to enable lawbreakers to evade capture, arrest and deportation. They are doing their patriotic duty for this nation, as well as what is economically vital for the state’s citizens. We stand with Mississippi!

Video report of Gov. Bryant’s statement below: