Mississippi law taking effect this week authorizes state agency to compile data on immigrants without legal status
The Facts
- A Mississippi law scheduled to take effect Wednesday authorizes the state's top public safety agency to compile information on immigrants living in the state without legal status.
- The law says the Mississippi Department of Public Safety may use reasonable lawful investigative means to determine the number and identities of those immigrants.
- The information the law allows the state to collect includes names, addresses, country of origin, and whether a person is an adult or a minor.
- The law also allows the state to record criminal history and details related to deportation proceedings, including date, location and status.
- Multiple reports say the law does not clearly specify what will be done with the compiled information after it is collected.
- Immigrant advocates have raised concerns that the database could be used to help target undocumented immigrants as part of broader deportation efforts.
- The question of whether and how the information could be shared with federal immigration authorities remains unresolved in the reporting on the law.
How left and right are reading this
- Both agree
- Sensitive state collection of immigrants’ personal and legal information demands clarity about what happens to that data after it is gathered.
- They split on
- Whether the story is about a state building a tool that could aid deportation efforts, or about government needing clear rules for handling sensitive immigration data.
Context
What information could Mississippi collect under the law?
Reports say the Department of Public Safety may collect names, addresses, country of origin, whether a person is an adult or minor, and may also note criminal history and the date, location and status of deportation proceedings Fox News,U.S. News & World R….
What does the law say about how the list will be used?
The reporting says the law leaves the use of the information open-ended and does not clearly define what will be done with the database after it is created Daily Journal,CNN.
Why are advocates concerned about the measure?
Advocates told reporters they fear the list could become a tool for targeting undocumented immigrants and could support broader deportation efforts if shared or used for enforcement purposes Daily Journal,Fox News.
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