MFIRE/Eagle Forum May 31, 2007 Protest
At Senator Trent Lott's Jackson Office -
Summary and Photos

The MFIRE/Eagle Forum protest from 11:00 a.m. to noon at Senator Trent Lott's downtown Jackson office was a huge success! Approximately 70 people participated, and many persons driving past on Capitol Street honked their horns and gave a thumbs up. Several people spontaneously joined the protest when they saw it taking place.

MFIRE President Rodney Hunt and WJNT News Talk 1180 AM radio personality Kim Wade were interviewed by the press (television and newspapers).

Following are articles from the Sun Herald (Biloxi) and The Clarion-Ledger (Jackson) regarding our protest. Our photos follow the articles:

Sun Herald (Biloxi, Mississippi)

"Lott takes heat on 'amnesty'"

He hasn't even committed to voting for it. But Lott, along with many of his Republican colleagues, is coming under fire for his role in the bill's progress.

Several dozen people attended a protest outside of Lott's Jackson office Thursday to "voice our frustration, disappointment and not understanding of why Sen. Trent Lott is pushing the Kennedy-Kyl bill," said rally organizer Rodney Hunt, president of the Mississippi Federation for Immigration Reform and Enforcement.

Hunt said he feels Lott has "flip-flopped" from opposing amnesty for illegal immigrants to using his position as Republican whip in the Senate to advance a bill that amounts to amnesty.

Lott and his aides strenuously deny the senator has changed his tune on amnesty. In his column this week, Lott rejects amnesty for illegal immigrants.

"(W)e should not give them amnesty nor let them off the hook for breaking our laws. They shouldn't get automatic citizenship, and they shouldn't get benefits they don't pay for," Lott said. "They should have to pay a fine, undergo background checks, be constantly employed and pay taxes, and go to the back of the line for citizenship papers - all required in this bill. And if I can make these provisions even stronger, I will."

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff made a similar point last week in a briefing with reporters, saying the immigration bill sets out punishments for illegal immigration that are similar to other misdemeanors - paying a fine and probation.

"You don't treat trespassing like you treat murder," Chertoff said. "I think this is a fair way to have people pay their debt to society and still be lenient enough to induce the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants already in America to come forward."

Lott and Chertoff both argue something needs to be done now to address illegal immigration.

"The Senate has two choices on immigration reform: Do something now to curtail illegal immigration. Or do nothing, accept the status quo and hope it doesn't get worse," Lott wrote. "I'm for doing something, but I won't vote for an unbalanced, flawed bill."

Lott also considers his work to advance the debate on the immigration bill to be a very different case than supporting it.

"As a Senate leader, I'm tasked with moving legislation that actually will become law. This bill is our last hope to deal with the problem of illegal immigration," Lott said. "It's not everything I'd like to do, but it's a good start."

The bill "commands the Department of Homeland Security to certify that our border is secure, before anything else in the bill can be implemented," Lott said.

The argument that Lott is doing his job as the second-ranking Republican in the Senate is no excuse to Hunt.

"If he sees legislation that harms the United States, it's his duty to kill it," Hunt said, adding Congress and recent presidents have a poor record of providing the money needed for stricter immigration requirements. "We do not have a guarantee that we'll ever have any enforcement."

"I told the President frankly that anything close to amnesty - where illegal immigrants would be absolved of their crime of illegally coming to America - would not get through Congress."

"If Mexican nationals want to work in the U.S., we should set up a temporary worker program where they perform a specific job, in a specific location and require them to return home at the end of that work. This would be a better alternative to a guest worker program where these workers would receive amnesty and free passage to citizenship."

"The bill requires employers to verify eligibility based on a new, tamper-resistant, encrypted identification system, which would tie each worker to a specific job. Employers would pay harsh penalties for not complying. The temporary worker program is truly temporary. After two years, workers must go home and re-register. No more coming here and staying forever."

About 50 protesters assembled outside Sen. Trent Lott's Jackson office Thursday morning to protest a bill that would grant amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants and downsize the proposed guest-worker program.

Lee Youngblood, Lott's press secretary, said the protest was not the first to take place at the office of Mississippi's longtime congressman.

Youngblood said the bill is a "work in progress" in the Senate. Immigration is a national issue that should not be ignored by elected officials, he said.

"Is it a perfect bill? No," he said. "But it is something, and it's a good start."

The Mississippi Federation for Immigration Reform and Enforcement, or MFIRE, and the Eagle Forum of Mississippi organized Thursday's protest.

"We're here because we want to voice our frustration with Sen. Lott's position on the bill which will be going before the Senate next week and will extend amnesty to 12 (million) to 20 million people that are here illegally," said Rodney Hunt, MFIRE president.

Hunt said illegal immigration is a national and local problem that needs to be addressed.

"There are, in the United States right now, 630,000 people who have been ordered to deport by federal immigration judges that have faded into the woodwork, and our government doesn't know where they're at," he said.

Hunt said Lott does not believe illegal immigration affects Mississippi to any large extent.

"I think Sen. Lott really must not know what's going on in Mississippi," he said, citing what State Auditor Phil Bryant said during an interview with WLBT-Channel 3 several weeks ago regarding the number of immigrants and their cost to taxpayers each year.

Bryant's office released a report in 2006 saying that illegal immigrants cost Mississippi taxpayers $25 million annually for health care, education and prison costs. It is estimated that more than 100,000 illegal immigrants are in the state.

Dot Ward, Madison resident and Eagle Forum member, said she participated in the protest because she felt "there's a disconnect with Congress and the White House and the average citizen."

Ward said she supported Lott until he backed the immigration bill. She said his actions compelled her to speak out.

David Bianchi, also a Madison resident, said he drove past the protest and decided to participate.

"I'm against Mexicans coming here and taking what we worked so hard for," he said. "I'm against anyone coming here to harm this country."

Ward said the government should enforce the immigration laws already in place. He said the latest proposal would place a hardship on education, crime prevention and social services in Mississippi.

MFIRE/Eagle Forum Protest at Senator Trent Lott's Jackson Office
Thursday, May 31st, 2007

Below: The first few people arrive and begin protesting
before the official start time of 11:00 a.m.

Below: the number of protesters rapidly begins to increase

Below: MFIRE President Dr. Rodney Hunt (in tie)
is interviewed by the media

Below: Dr. Hunt (center)

Below: Kim Wade of WJNT News Talk 1180AM
with MFIRE member Jennive Ramsey

Below: Kim Wade of WJNT News Talk 1180 AM
is interviewed by the media

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MFIRE-Sponsored July 6th, 2006 Luncheon Featuring
Minuteman Founder Chris Simcox -
Summary And Photos

Chris Simcox's July 6th , 2006 visit to Mississippi has energized the immigration reform efforts in our state and should be a wake up call for our politicians. Mr. Simcox is founder of The Minuteman Civil Defense Corps and is the person most responsible for exposing the lawlessness and chaos on our southern and northern borders.

The day began with a one-hour dynamic interview with Mr. Simcox on Larry Nesbit's News Talk radio program on WJNT 1180 AM. The highlight of the day was Mr. Simcox's keynote address at a luncheon at the Capital Club in downtown Jackson that was hosted by the Mississippi Leadership Forum.

MFIRE was honored to sponsor the luncheon and participate in the program. MFIRE Board member Mark Mayfield, Esq. spoke about our organizational goals and purpose, legislative agenda, and our petition that will be submitted to the Mississippi Legislature at the beginning of its 2007 session. President Rodney Hunt had the privilege to introduce Mr. Simcox to the 120 plus business and political leaders in attendance, including members of the Mississippi Senate and House of Representatives. Yvonne Brown, mayor of Tchula, Mississippi and a candidate for Mississippi's 2nd Congressional District, gave the invocation.

The Minuteman Civil Defense Corps now has 500,000 supporters nationwide with 8,000 of their volunteers watching and patrolling our borders. These 8,000 patriots have been carefully screened and through their vigilance, turned over 13,000 illegal aliens to the Border Patrol without one incident of violence.

Mr. Simcox stated that the U.S. Border Patrol detained 1.2 million illegal aliens from 89 countries this past year. Also, 45,000 of these illegal aliens were from countries that the State Department has indicated are sponsors of terrorism. Since the Border Patrol intercepts only one in three to five attempts to violate our borders, the vast scope of the chaos on our borders should be alarming to our elected leaders, as it clearly has become a major issue with voters. Mr. Simcox also emphasized the depravation and breadth of drug and human trafficking and the decrease in wages and jobs for Americans, directly attributed to the invasion of illegal aliens across our porous borders.

Mr. Simcox believes that greedy big business interests and our political leaders, including President Bush, some in Congress, and disconnected local and state officials are responsible for our broken borders. He stated that it is time to stand up and demand , not ask, that our elected representatives protect citizens inside our borders and crack down on illegal immigration.

From left: MFIRE Board Member Mark Mayfield, Esq., Chris Simcox,
Dr. Alan Peeples, and MFIRE President Dr. Rodney Hunt

MFIRE Board members Rodney Hunt, Alan Peeples, and Dow Yoder met with Senator Thad Cochran's staff at the Senator's office in Jackson. Representing Senator Cochran were Ms. Barbara Rooks-Jackson (Office Manager and Liaison for Constituent Issues), and Ms. Rooks-Jackson's staff assistant, Ms. Avery Forbes. MFIRE requested the meeting to discuss immigration legislation being considered in Congress and the lack of federal enforcement of current immigration law.

The Board members stated that any immigration policy or laws must protect the wages and standard of living of American workers . We stressed that MFIRE supports the Sensenbrenner/King bill (H.R. 4437), the Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005 , which was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives on December 16, 2005. This bill would improve our border security and internal enforcement of our immigration laws. It is imperative that similarly worded legislation is passed by the Senate when it considers immigration reform in February, and once the Senate and House bills are reconciled into one bill, signed into law by President Bush.

Although the Sensenbrenner/King bill does not address the approximately 363,000 �anchor babies� born in the United States to illegal aliens each year, and it allows employers six years to comply with required verification of the legal status of their employees, MFIRE believes this bill is a good start.

We stated that we oppose any guest worker amnesty program, and that we want Senator Cochran to join us in opposition to any such proposal. Amnesty failed to end illegal immigration when the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) was passed by Congress in 1986. Indeed, illegal immigration has quadrupled since this failed attempt to solve our immigration problem.

Ms. Rooks-Jackson and Ms. Forbes were very attentive and assured us that Senator Cochran would receive our concerns. They did not indicate the Senator's position on these issues, but did encourage us in our efforts.

Click to read:

Meeting With Staff Of Senator Thad Cochran

Sun Herald (Biloxi, Mississippi)

"Lott takes heat on 'amnesty'"