Lawmakers in Mississippi passed an immigration bill through the state House taking them one step closer to enacting the controversial law.
Mississippi now joins other states that have passed immigration laws, which have elicited the ire of immigration lawyers and civil rights activists. The new law passed with a 70 to 47 vote and now goes on to the Senate where it is expected to pass.
The provisions of the law are similar to the ones passed by their neighboring state Alabama. The new law will allow police to check the immigration status of the people, who are arrested, but unlike Alabama’s law it does not require police to check the legal status of anyone they detain.
Mississippi lawmakers initially included the section that has been nicknamed by critics and immigration lawyers as the “Papers Please” provision, but decided to drop it so that it did not violate federal immigration laws.
The Mississippi law would also prohibit anyone from conducting business transactions with illegal immigrants such as obtaining driver’s license and bars courts from enforcing contracts that involve illegal immigrants.
Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant (R) said the law was necessary because he believes too little has been done to crackdown on illegal immigration.
Several states have passed their own immigration laws many of which are being challenged by the Obama administration. Undocumented immigrants will increasingly face deportation unless they enlist an immigration attorney to help them attain legal residency.
