In the early hours of August, federal immigration agents raided seven chicken processing facilities, taking nearly 700 people across central Mississippi into custody. Tate Reeves thanked agents for their efforts. “I am glad to see that ICE works hard to enforce our immigration laws. Today, 680 immigrants were detained in Mississippi. For the safety of all Americans, we must enforce our laws. He tweeted “Well done” and tagged both U.S. attorney Mike Hurst as well as President Donald Trump. Gov. Gov. The 2012 session was the first year Republicans controlled the Legislature, and the Governor’s Mansion. It passed legislation that required local law enforcement agencies to request authorization documents from any person suspected of illegally being present in the country. The bill, called the Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act and written by Rep. Becky Currie (R-Brookhaven), was intended to be a significant deterrent for undocumented immigrant families locating Mississippi. It was also known as a “papers please” law. Similar measures were also enacted in Arizona and Georgia. As the Senate was about to vote on the bill, there was strong opposition from the business community and especially from agriculture groups. Reeves was the Senate’s presiding officer. Rodney Hunt, the then-president and chief executive of the Mississippi Federation for Immigration Reform and Enforcement stated in 2012 that “we actually gave the lieutenant Governor an ‘F’ regarding illegal immigration.” Reeves was criticized by Hunt’s groups for sending the bill on to a committee headed by Democratic Senator Hob Bryan, which would have meant certain death. “Lt. Gov. Reeves believes that we must do something to rid our country of illegal immigrants. However, he recognizes that the chairman listened (to concerns expressed by) groups opposing the bill,” Laura Hipp, Reeves’ spokesperson at the time, stated. Bryan stated that he couldn’t recall specific details of the bill, but he acknowledged that concerns remain about the Mississippi presence of undocumented migrants. Bryan stated that it is not a good idea to have large numbers in the U.S. that aren’t citizens. This creates an opportunity to exploit them. According to the Pew Research Center, there were approximately 20,000 illegal immigrants in Mississippi in 2017, a state that has a population just under 3,000,000. This was without authorization in 2017. Bryan stated, “You have to create a situation in which everybody is here as citizens. And I don’t know what to do to get there.” “None are the solutions that are pure enough to the pure.” Bryant was the lieutenant governor of the Senate in the year Bryant tried to pass the papers-please bill. Democrats controlled the House. Similar bills passed both chambers, but the Senate and House couldn’t agree on differences before lawmakers adjourned. Each of the bills was met with strong opposition by the well-funded and powerful poultry industry. Mississippi is the fifth-largest chicken producer state in the country. It produces approximately 750 million broiler birds each year. According to a Mississippi State University publication the state’s poultry industry employs 25,000 people and generates more than $18 million in economic activity. This is the largest share of Mississippi’s agricultural economy. In exchange for promising new jobs, the state has invested in plants that were targeted by immigration agents. Peco Foods Inc. and Koch Foods were two of five poultry processing businesses raided by immigration agents. Since 2009, Mississippi Development Authority has awarded nearly $4 million in grants. Koch (pronounced “cook”) is a food processing company. It has no connection to Charles Koch and David Koch, politically powerful Koch brothers. Many trade organizations and groups, including the Mississippi Economic Council and Mississippi Farm Bureau Federation, as well as several law enforcement agencies, have voiced opposition to anti-immigrant legislation. “Some groups wanted Alabama to be the model and allow local law enforcement officers in their jurisdiction to enforce federal immigration laws. But Alabama is stuck in
Federal lawsuits and suffered an economy black eye,” said Mark Leggett (president of the state poultry association) in a 2012 newsletter lauding the defeat of “papers-please” as one of his legislative achievements. Since 2012, virtually all immigration legislation has been blocked in the Legislature. Rep. Currie introduced identical “papers please” bills in 2017 and 2018. The summary even left out “2012”. They were killed in a committee headed by Andy Gipson (R-Braxton), now the state’s agricultural commissioner. Advocates of tighter immigration enforcement won a victory in 2017, when the Legislature passed legislation banning so-called sanctuary towns. Even supporters of the legislation stated that Mississippi was not officially designated as a sanctuary city at the time. Mississippi is one 20 state that requires some employers to use E Verify. This web-based application confirms a worker’s eligibility for work in the U.S. However, most E-Verify states only require public employers to use the application. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, Mississippi and five other states — Alabama (North Carolina), South Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee) — apply the requirement to all employers. Bryant was present when Mississippi passed the law. This came at a time that many states were cracking down on immigrants working in their states. Rep. David Baria (D-Bay St. Louis), said that the law was politically motivated from the beginning. He criticized the leadership for failing to focus on harsher penalties for employers who hire workers not authorized to work in the country. Despite its role in defeating the state immigration bills, the poultry association is still an influential presence on High Street. According to Montana-based FollowTheMoney.org which tracks state campaign finance filings, the state poultry organization has donated $235,000. This includes lobbying activities like paying for some travel expenses for legislators. The association has given the most donations in the past 20 years, 70 total. This was in 2011, the election year, and Currie’s first year in the House. Currie’s “papers please” law died in committee. Leggett, president and lobbyist of the poultry association, didn’t return calls regarding this story. FollowTheMoney reports that Koch and Peco food corporations and their executives have donated very little directly to local politicians — only $4,950 to five candidates between 1999 and 2015. In 2015, Reeves was elected to his second term. Peco Foods donated $500. Since 1990, $3.5 million has been donated by the National Chicken Council’s political action committee. This is the national trade association representing chicken producers and broiler chicken farmers. According to the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Responsive Politics which tracks national campaign finance reports, 88 percent of the donations to the council went to Republicans since 2010. Since 1980, the council has donated $226,000. The council donated $10,000 for U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde Smith, former state agriculture commissioner, in her 2018 campaign to replace Sen. Thad Cobbran. It has also donated $6,500 to date in 2019. The council also donated $34,500, $30,500, and $26,000 to U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith during her 2018 run to replace late Sen. Thad Cochran. It has also donated $4,500 so far in 2019. Following the Mississippi raids, the chicken council sent a letter to Donald Trump. It called for improvements in the E-Verify system. Chief financial officer at Sanderson Farms in Laurel, Mike Cockrell said that the company supports meaningful immigration reforms. He also opposed aggressive enforcement measures like “papers please” laws. Cockrell stated that the raids “showed a light once more for the dire need to reform.” Although Mississippi has rejected reforms at the state level, some legislators like Rep. Joel Bomgar (Republican from Madison) agree with Cockrell. Bomgar stated that “there are many people who want to come to Mississippi for work, to pay taxes and to be productive, law-abiding employees and our immigration system and our laws are so broken that they can’t do that.” “Regardless of how many people apply to the openings created by raids, even though those organizations will have extremely understaffed because most Mississippians don’t want to do that job,” Bomgar said. Just days before agents raided Pearl River Foods in Carthage and detained employees, the company had posted 200 jobs for meat cutters at $7.25 an hour. Bomgar stated that laws must be amended to ensure that migrants who arrive in Mississippi to work temporarily do not feel the need to stay there indefinitely in order to find work in the future. Bomgar stated that many workers are afraid to return to Mexico because they fear they won’t be able to go back to work when needed. Bomgar stated that the U.S. has a long history with laws, ranging from slavery to banning African Americans from voting, that are unfair, unjust and do not work. He said that if the laws don’t produce the desired results, then we shouldn’t advocate for their enforcement. Instead, we should advocate for changes to the laws that will give us the outcomes we desire. Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that Mississippi produces approximately 750 million broiler chickens each year. This number is about 750 million. Bobby Harrison contributed to the report.