The Magnolia State already has one of the country's smallest percentages of illegal aliens residing in the state — fewer than 28,000, amounting to less than 1% of its population.
Still, Republican state Sen. Angela Hill's new immigration law (Senate Bill 2114) went into effect on July 1, authorizing the state Department of Public Safety to compile an ongoing list of unauthorized immigrants residing in the state.
"We're making it a crime for a person to come into Mississippi, not through a proper port of entry, but to come into Mississippi directly from another country," Sen. Hill said when introducing her bill on the Mississippi Senate floor earlier this year.
She noted that it is "rare" for a person to illegally come into the state by boat or plane but said that "we know that it does happen."
"So, if someone comes into Mississippi through the Gulf of America and not through a port of entry, this would create a state crime, a felony for somebody coming into Mississippi and bypassing an illegal port of entry," she explained.
Undocumented immigrants who illegally enter the state could face imprisonment for at least two years.
The Department of Public Safety's list of includes illegal immigrants' names, addresses, country of origin and whether they are an adult or minor, and it notes any criminal history and the date, location and status of deportation proceedings.
Jessica Vaughan, a former foreign service officer with the U.S. State Department who now serves as director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies, believes the database will be a useful tool to help Mississippi "get a handle" on the size of the state's illegal immigrant population.
She says the information could help prevent fraud in public benefits programs and, when appropriate, assist the Department of Homeland Security.
Vaughan says Mississippi is leading the way with this list.
"As far as I know, Mississippi is the first state to do this," she tells AFN. "There are some other states that have talked about collecting information, but not quite on the same scale."
According to the Associated Press, more than 100 immigration-related laws have been enacted this year, with Republican-led states generally advancing measures that align with the Trump administration's immigration agenda and Democratic-led states passing laws limiting cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.
Sen. Hill says states have a right and obligation to assist the U.S. government in discouraging illegal immigration, which she said facilitates crimes such as human and drug trafficking. The goal of her legislation is to align state law with federal law.
