SB 2988

SB 2988, a bill imposing felony consequences on employers hiring undocumented* workers and on the workers themselves, recently passed the Mississippi State Legislature. The bill takes effect on July 1st, at which time all entities employing over a certain number of workers will be subject to complaint-based checks on the legal status of their workers. If found to be in violation of the law, employers and employees alike could serve jail time, in addition to the current federal penalties imposing fines and deportation. The bill was written by freshman state representative Brandon Jones, Democrat of neighboring Pascagoula, a town which was significantly damaged by Hurricane Katrina and which has benefited enormously from immigrant workers' (both documented and undocumented) rebuilding efforts. The state manufacturers' association and Governor Haley Barbour both expressed strong reservations about the bill; however, Rep. Jones was able to push the legislation through on a wave of virulent anti-immigrant sentiment. Below, my co-worker's letter to the editor published in the Jackson, MS Clarion-Ledger in response to the new law.


Anti-immigrant bill may hurt our state's economy

The Mississippi Legislature has passed the Mississippi Employment Protection Act, a very costly and ill-advised anti-immigrant bill that makes it a felony to work undocumented, punishable by one to five years imprisonment.

There was a worker shortage after Katrina because of a severe lack of housing and other services. Immigrant workers slept in pup tents, in their cars and on the open ground. Conditions were harsh but the immigrant work force endured them and played a vital role in cleanup and recovery.

Today, in spite of the influx of foreign workers, Mississippi's unemployment rate (5.9 percent) is the lowest it has been in seven years. Whose employment needs protection?

Imprisoning violators will cost the state about $17,000 per inmate per year. If only 100 workers are convicted, that will cost $1.7 million a year. Add the cost of law enforcement and prosecution, and the cost goes higher.

Many immigrants send money home, but they still spend a large part of their earnings on rent, clothes, food, tools, cars, gasoline and utilities. That creates jobs and pours a lot of money into the Coast's economy.

Other cities and states have found that driving out the immigrant community damaged their local economy. A Sept. 25, 2007, article in the New York Times ("Town rethinks laws against illegal immigrants") details how the town of Riverside, NJ., suffered economically from its anti-immigrant ordinance, leading to its repeal two years later.

A May 6, 2007, Associated Press report in the Washington Post ("Attempts to curb illegal immigration prove costly") shows that many cities now face the mounting legal costs of defending anti-immigrant laws against constitutional and other legal challenges.

Finally, there is the damage to Mississippi's reputation, once again showing ourselves to be anything but "The Hospitality State." Perhaps that will be the highest cost of all.

MARY TOWNSEND
Hispanic/Latino Ministries of the United Methodist Church, Gulf Coast Mississippi

*As human beings can neither be "illegal" or "alien," "undocumented" is the most accurate term to describe immigrants who do not have permission to live or work in the United States.