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Beverly Hills, California, United States
Eli Kantor is a labor, employment and immigration law attorney. He has been practicing labor, employment and immigration law for more than 36 years. He has been featured in articles about labor, employment and immigration law in the L.A. Times, Business Week.com and Daily Variety. He is a regular columnist for the Daily Journal. Telephone (310)274-8216; eli@elikantorlaw.com. For more information, visit beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com and and beverlyhillsemploymentlaw.com

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Friday, March 02, 2012

Immigration: Not an Issue Only Harm

Clarion Ledger (MS) Editorial: There are a lot of pressing issues this year facing the Legislature, but clearly illegal immigration is not one of them.

Yet, Gov. Phil Bryant and some Republican lawmakers seem to be intent on forging ahead with a new immigration enforcement law that not only is a waste of time and resources, but could do harm to the state.

Illegal immigration is a legitimate issue - for the federal government. The Congress and a succession of presidents of both parties have failed to address this difficult issue.

Any solution to the problem must involve serious border enforcement, and a logical and fair system of providing a pathway to citizenship for the millions of illegal immigrants who are in the country and want to become citizens. It also must involve strict sanctions on businesses that hire illegal immigrants.

Neither party has been willing to take on the difficult political problems involved in crafting such solutions.

While illegal immigration is a legitimate issue for the federal government, it is not an issue for the states. And while many states might have legitimate problems associated with illegal immigration, Mississippi's problems, if any are nominal at best.

Illegal immigration is simply not a priority for Mississippi.

It is, however, a very politically popular issue with some conservative constituencies, which is driving efforts to pass harsh and punitive legislation.

Arizona and Alabama already have passed strict anti-immigrant laws, which not only have caused court challenges and resulted in negative economic impact on the states, but also have damaged those states' images .

Mississippi's proposed laws are modeled closely along the lines of those states, which shows state officials are not paying attention to the facts.

House Bill 488 says law enforcement officials should check for immigration status when "a reasonable suspicion exists" that a person is in the U.S. illegally. The bill also would require schools to check students' immigration status.

Besides the risk of racial profiling, turning teachers into immigration enforcement agents can only harm schools, teachers and all students, whatever their citizenship status might be.

While supporters say the bill will free up jobs now held by illegal immigrants, a University of Alabama study found that Alabama's law could cost that state $2.3 billion annually and result in the loss of 70,000-140,000 jobs.

Major state religious leaders are speaking out against it for moral reasons; it is aimed at the weak and vulnerable and impacts families.

Illegal immigration is not a serious problem for Mississippi, but legislation aimed at it could make new problems. State officials should know better than to play politics with this divisive issue.

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