The Mississippi Senate passed a bill modeled after Arizona's anti-immigrant law SB 1070 today, despite protests by some Democrats that the measure was rife with errors carried over from the other state's law.
Sen. Joey Fillingane, R-Sumrall, introduced Senate Bill 2179 on the Senate floor this morning and immediately followed with a series of amendments aimed at changing language to better reflect Mississippi.
Fillingane's bill prohibits state or local officials from restricting local sheriffs' and police departments' enforcement of federal immigration law. It also requires local law enforcement, when making a "lawful stop," to ask for proof of legal residency when they have "reasonable suspicion" that someone is not a legal resident of the country.
The bill allows citizens to bring a civil suit against local governments for limiting the enforcement of federal immigration laws. In its original form, Fillingane's proposal called for any fees assessed in those civil suits to a newly created "Gang and Immigration Intelligence Team Enforcement Mission Fund."
This morning, however, Fillingane said that the gang task force was an artifact of Arizona's law, which he had copied in composing his bill. Noting that Mississippi does not have Arizona's gang issues, he asked senators to change that provision so that fees would go to reimburse local law enforcement for their increased workload.
Another section of Fillingane's original bill prohibited the governor from pardoning any nonresident sentenced to jail for failing to carry documentation. At Fillingane's request, senators voted to delete the restriction, which infringed on the governor's constitutional authority to grant pardons.
Democrats made multiple attempts to postpone consideration of the bill or send it back to committee, arguing that the committee members needed to iron out further technical problems in the bill before bringing it for a floor vote.
"We just noticed that it restricts the governor's constitutional authority to give pardons," Sen. David Blount, D-Jackson said. "We're rushing through this process, and we're not being deliberate. This is supposed to be a deliberative body."
Fillingane argued that Democrats were stalling.
"I don't buy this whole line of argument about needing more time," he said. "You all know you're going to vote."
A number of African American senators raised concerns that the bill could lead to racial profiling because officers would be forced to guess whether someone looks like an "immigrant" based on their appearance.
Sen. John Horhn, D-Jackson, referred to young African American constituents who have complained to him of being stopped by police officers for no apparent reason. "We've seen where people have used this pretext, a stretch of reasonable suspicion, to stop folks," Horhn said.
Fillingane argued that the bill specifically prohibits law enforcement from considering "race, color or national origin."
Horhn also offered a failed amendment to strengthen the bill's penalties on employers who hire undocumented immigrants. In its original form, the bill would punish employers of undocumented immigrants with a tiered system of probationary periods and suspended licenses. Horhn proposed eliminating the second chances and revoking all permits and licenses from a business after its first violation of hiring practices.
"If we say we're serious about this, then let's be really serious about this," Horhn said. "Let's make the consequences so severe that someone wouldn't dream of (crossing the line)."
Horhn's proposal failed by a 10-29 margin.
Follow the Jackson Free Press for updates
Also see: "On the Anchor Baby Trail."
Previous Commentsshow
What's this?More like this story
More stories by this author
Support our reporting -- Follow the MFP.
Comments
Use the comment form below to begin a discussion about this content.