Immigrants Displaced In MS: Alabama Mississippi Network For Peace And Justice

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Immigrants Displaced In MS

Posted on Oct 06, 2008 by Hattiesburg Universalist Unitarian Fellowship - MS

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Message*	On August 25, ICE agents (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) conducted one of the largest immigration raids in the country at Howard Industries just outside of Laurel, MS. Across South Mississippi, a community of immigrant workers has flourished since Hurricane Katrina three years ago, including both people working under H2B visas and those lacking proper legal documentation to live and/or work in the United States. In response to this, a violent nativist campaign has also made itself known, with anti-immigrant rhetoric propagated via local and state-wide radio stations. One of the main tactics used by this movement is legislative pressure, and throughout 2008, nearly 40 House Bills and Senate Bills were proposed in Mississippi to target all elements of life within the undocumented community. At the center of this crisis, however, are the lives being disrupted by an enforcement centered immigration policy which criminalizes the workforce on which the local economies depend. Within one school district, almost 200 children had no parent or guardian to come home to or to pick them up from school. Some of those, mainly women, with family needs have been released with electronic tracking devices, which serve as a constant physical reinforcement of stigma, criminalization and fear for those directly affected and the entire community. The few bonds which have been set for those detained have been around $5,000, far outside the economic means of most working class families. Families are also left with no economic lifeline, and the strains of caring for basic needs is pressing directly on those facing the aftermath of this police action. In order to help the immigrant community financially we are accepting donations. Email janetswebb@yahoo.com for more information.
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On August 25, ICE agents (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) conducted one of the largest immigration raids in the country at Howard Industries just outside of Laurel, MS. Across South Mississippi, a community of immigrant workers has flourished since Hurricane Katrina three years ago, including both people working under H2B visas and those lacking proper legal documentation to live and/or work in the United States. In response to this, a violent nativist campaign has also made itself known, with anti-immigrant rhetoric propagated via local and state-wide radio stations. One of the main tactics used by this movement is legislative pressure, and throughout 2008, nearly 40 House Bills and Senate Bills were proposed in Mississippi to target all elements of life within the undocumented community. At the center of this crisis, however, are the lives being disrupted by an enforcement centered immigration policy which criminalizes the workforce on which the local economies depend. Within one school district, almost 200 children had no parent or guardian to come home to or to pick them up from school. Some of those, mainly women, with family needs have been released with electronic tracking devices, which serve as a constant physical reinforcement of stigma, criminalization and fear for those directly affected and the entire community. The few bonds which have been set for those detained have been around $5,000, far outside the economic means of most working class families. Families are also left with no economic lifeline, and the strains of caring for basic needs is pressing directly on those facing the aftermath of this police action.

In order to help the immigrant community financially we are accepting donations. Email janetswebb@yahoo.com for more information.

Tags: Immigration/Refugees

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