Immigration

Well if you read the Clarion Ledger or watch WLBT, you may have seen that I have been in the news. This week was the Mississippi Muncipal League, Mid Winter Conference. Being on the Executive Committe I was there.

We held a press conference at the Capitol on Wednesday. The main thing we talked about was asking that the state not pass any unfunded mandates onto the cities, towns and counties. In case you don't know what an unfunded mandate is, that is where the federal or state government passes a law or puts into place new regulations we must abide by or be severely fined if we don't follow them. However, they do not provide the funds to implement the law or regulations they demand for us to follow.

When we concluded the press conference the first question we were asked was do we support the Immigration bill that had been passed by the Senate. After our President (Charley Dumas, Mayor of Prentiss) answered the question they then interviewed other Mayors and Aldermen who were in attendance, with me being one of them.

So with all that said, let me clarify my position. First, let me say that I am not against Legal Immigration. I am against Illegal Immigration. Second, why are we at the state level telling those at the local level that we must be the enforcers of Illegal Immigration laws, especially when this is a federal problem to begin with. Third, this bill that passed the Senate put about 90 to 95 percent of the cost of enforcing the bill on the local cities and counties. Yes that is an unfunded mandate. Fourth, there is a provision in the bill that if a citizen thought that we at the local level were not doing enough to enforce the bill that we could be sued both in our capacity as an elected offical and personally. Basically the state was saying that John Q.Citizen could sue us at will for not doing what the federal government should be doing.

So again I say we need to get a grip on our borders. We have a legal way for people to enter our country and I respect that and applaud it. However, when we do discover an Illeglal person in our country they should be sent back to their country immediately.

Now let me ask you this. Do you really believe that Illegal Immigration is the biggest problem facing Mississippi? I don't. What about education, clean water, better roads, making Mississippi more job friendly? I think we would be better off putting a little more effort into this and encourage the federal government to take care of a problem that is theirs to begin with.

And always remember "Monticello it just feels like Home."