A new Mississippi law set to take effect this week will allow the state’s top law enforcement agency to compile a list of all illegal immigrants living in the state, alarming immigrant advocates who fear it could be a new tool to target immigrants as part of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation plan.
The law, which will go into effect on Wednesday, states that the state Department of Public Safety “may use all reasonable lawful investigative means available” to determine the number of illegal immigrants residing in Mississippi and their identities, including by collecting their names, addresses, country of origin and whether they are an adult or child.
The department may also list any criminal history and the date, location and status of deportation proceedings.
The agency is instructed to share information on immigrants suspected of violating laws with state and local authorities.
The law does not expressly require or prohibit sharing the database with federal immigration authorities, though other provisions of SB 2114 require the Department of Public Safety and county detention agencies to attempt cooperation agreements with ICE under Section 287(g).
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The Mississippi law authorizes an ongoing effort to keep track of immigrants illegally in the state for the next two years, which could include people who overstay visas.
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Mississippi has one of the country’s smallest percentages of illegal immigrants with fewer than 28,000 people, which amounts to less than 1% of its population, according to the American Immigration Council, citing 2023 Census Bureau data.
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More than 100 immigration-related laws have been adopted in states across the country this year.
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Mississippi’s new law appears to be similar to a 2021 executive order by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis that directed the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to “use all lawful investigative means available” to determine the number and identities of all “illegal aliens” who had been transported from the nation’s southwest border to Florida during the border crisis under the Biden administration.
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The post Mississippi Law Could Create Statewide Registry of Undocumented Immigrants appeared first on American Renaissance.
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