Immigration Raids in Jackson, Mississippi, Five Years Later: An Evidence-Based Analysis to Dissuade Mass Deportation Policy and Promote a New Immigration Pathway

DISCLAIMER: This writing was developed and prepared by Christopher Ross, JD in his personal capacity. The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not reflect the view of any organization or entity. The information provided in this writing does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal advice. All information, content, and materials available are for general informational purposes only in pursuit of immigration policy and legal reform.

Executive Summary

Immigration is one of, if not the, top voting priority for 2024 American voters [1]. Both political parties are poised to increase asylum restrictions but to disparate degrees. One policy under serious consideration is mass deportation [2]. It is not a novel American immigration policy concept [3]. But introspection from previous attempts should chill the notion of mass deportation being a viable solution worthy of serious consideration. The costs would be exorbitant. It would leave large swaths of American communities decimated. The local and national economies would take serious hits. Families and loved ones would be separated. Already backlogged immigration courts would be further overwhelmed as a matter of due process. Immigration must be addressed, and the rule of law is to be respected. But solutions must equally be practical. An August 2019 immigration raid in Jackson, Mississippi where 680 immigrants were arrested while working at nearby chicken processing plants provides a window to review how mass immigration enforcement, detention, and deportation affects an American community in the 21st century. This paper provides an analysis of the immigration raid and its effects on the local community, economy, and social services. It will also provide a scaled analysis of major metropolitan areas to show the deleterious effects of mass deportation and dissuade the consideration of mass deportation as viable policy. Finally, it will propose an alternative policy that may prove to be in the best interests of all parties involved.

Key Points

• The August 2019 immigration raids provide an example of why mass detention and deportation is not practical immigration policy.
• Employers offer one of the most critical incentives pulling immigrants to America: opportunity.
• Employers are critical to finding a practical solution to immigration.
• Mass detention and deportations will pose insurmountable challenges to communities.
• Nonprofits will be called on to assist affected communities, but the level of debilitation and trauma will reverberate beyond any community’s capacity.
• Immigration legal services are already desperately needed, and a mass deportation event will exasperate demand well beyond resources for years.
• Even immigration legal law enforcement entities recognize exceptions are necessary: caring for children appears to be one recognized exception to enforcement.
• If a nationwide detention and deportation effort occurs, local and national economies will be devastated.
• All workers, both American citizens and immigrants seeking opportunities must be given a level playing field with employment and fair wage protections.
• Creating a New Legal Immigration Pathway: The Ellis Island Non-Immigrant Visa or some other reform concept is essential to immigration reform.

Jackson, Mississippi

Welcome to Mississippi

Mississippi’s state website discusses migration to the original territory by highlighting “adventurous settlers, anxious to improve their fortunes’ arriving in western territories [4].” “In 1800, there were only two states west of the Appalachians…By 1820, there were eight…[including] Mississippi [.] The population of these eight ‘western’ states had grown from 386,000 persons in 1800 to 2,216,000 in 1820. Mississippi was a product of this Great Migration [5].” The site acknowledges that life in the “west” was difficult and dangerous: “Why would a person choose to leave the comfort and convenience of an established farm in one of the older communities for the perilous uncertainty of life in the Mississippi wilds? The answer to this question, in a word, is — Opportunity [6].”

“[I]mmigrants moved to the Mississippi Territory believing they were taking up residence in a land of unsurpassed opportunity. Hard work and resourcefulness were sure to be rewarded with prosperity, security, and happiness. Mississippi was a land where opportunities for immigrants to achieve economic independence and wealth seemed boundless. For White Americans, though certainly not for those enslaved, Mississippi symbolized the promise of American life [7].”

Immigrants are still finding themselves drawn to Mississippi for the same reason as the original settlers – opportunity. The towns of Morton, Pelahatchie, Forest City, Carthage, and Canton are all located approximately a half hour east of Jackson, Mississippi in Scott, Rankin, Leake, and Madison counties. No town’s population exceeds 11,000 but each includes new immigrants. Regardless of the era – the 19th, 20th, and 21st Mississippi immigrants are all proud of their home.

Economic opportunity remains in Mississippi, but the work can be hard and undesirable by its nature. A key state industry is chicken slaughter and processing, an essential industry for America’s food supply chain, but admittedly challenging and dangerous work. Mississippi is a top five poultry producer in the U.S. and over 30,000 Mississippians are employed across more than 250 food processing facilities [8]. Poultry and meat processing are significant contributors to the Jackson metro area’s local economy [9]. “’The City of Forest is dotted with colorful roosters, each sponsored by a local business…If the poultry industry wasn’t here, we wouldn’t be here,’ said Jim Durham [a third generation poultry businessman]. ‘Pretty much the city of Forest would be a ghost town, because poultry is Scott County, and actually Forest as well [10].” “In 2016, the U.S. Poultry and Egg Association estimated the poultry industry’s total economic impact in Scott County of nearly $2.3 billion dollars [11].”

According to Forbes, “a reasonable unemployment rate is somewhere between 3% and 5% [12]”

June 2019 Unemployment [13]

Scott County: 5.6% [14]
Rankin County 4.7% [15]
Leake County 6.5% [16]
Madison County 5.5% [17]

October 2019 Unemployment

Scott County 4.1% [18]
Rankin County 3.8% [19]
Leake County 4.3% [20]
Madison County 4% [21]

An estimated 8.4% of Mississippi animal slaughter and processing workers are foreign born, although it must be noted that data is to be read with skepticism due to the challenges surrounding undocumented immigrants speaking with government data analysts, such as the Census [22]. “Reluctance to interact with government agencies may be even stronger in states such as Mississippi where the political environment is often hostile toward immigrants, who make up a small minority of the population [23].” The American Community Survey (ACS) “comprises the most complete national data set on the demographics of workers in animal slaughter and processing…however…ethnographic research suggests that the ACS likely significantly undercounts people in undocumented poultry and meatpacking communities, suppressing the numbers of Latinx and other foreign-born and noncitizen workers represented in the data [24].”

Towns Affected by the August 2019 Immigration Raids

Morton, MS [25] SCOTT COUNTY

Population: 3711
Language Other than English at Home: 29.1%

Forest City, MS [26] SCOTT COUNTY

Population: 5,430
Foreign Born: 19.6%
Language Other than English at Home: 25.5%

Pelahatchie, MS [27] RANKIN COUNTY

Population: 1,272
Foreign Born: 0.5%
Language Other than English at Home: 0.6%

Carthage, MS LEAKE COUNTY

Population: 4,901
Foreign Born: 7.78% [28]
Language Other than English at Home: 18.6%

Canton, MS [29] MADISON COUNTY

Population: 10,948
Foreign Born: 2.36% [30]
Language Other than English at Home: 4.1%

Not all chicken processing plant workers are immigrants. One affidavit from a Morton processing plant mentioned 272 of the 1,170 employees there were Hispanic [31]. There is a long procession of workforce history surrounding poultry processing plants that includes immigrants: from white women workers during World War II, to black labor, and eventually, an effort to attract immigrant labor [32]. “[B]eginning in the 1990s, the industry turned its sight to Latin American immigrants, often recruiting them to relocate to one of the top five poultry-producing states: Georgia, Arkansas, North Carolina, Alabama and Mississippi. Some companies launched what they termed the ‘Hispanic Project,’ placing ads in the papers in border towns like El Paso, Texas, promoting poultry plant work in the South as an opportunity for a better life [33].” One plant leveraged country of origin and political instability to its benefit. Leon Fink’s book, “The Maya of Morganton,” described a poultry processing plant’s human resources manager’s logic in finding certain kinds of immigrants: “[In 1989], I didn’t want [Mexicans]…Mexicans will go back home at Christmastime. You’re going to lose them for six weeks. And in the poultry business you can’t afford that. You just can’t do it. But Guatemalans can’t go back home. They’re here as political refugees. If they go back home, they get shot [34].” Though they may not be the only group or poultry processing plant workers, immigrants are sought after and make a significant contribution to the workforce. They also remain committed to the industry. Similarities to the 1989 comment exist in 2024. Returning home is not an option for the majority of today’s immigrants. The American immigration system mandates waiting years for one’s day in court. While awaiting that day, where are immigrants supposed to go? And what jobs – with or without authorization – will they take to survive?

The immigrant families working at poultry processing plants are proud to call Mississippi home [35]. But they fear deportation to a country they and their children would no longer recognize or have even visited. In some instances, families are mixed-status, meaning the household includes U.S. born citizens, individuals with pending immigration claims, or living in the shadows as undocumented immigrants. The ambiguity of today means not much can be planned for tomorrow for these new Mississippians. In August 2019, that uncertainty became a stark and jarring reality for 680 workers and their families.

August 7, 2019: The Raid on Jackson’s Poultry Processing Plants

On August 7, 2019, the largest American immigration raid in at least a decade occurred at seven local poultry processing plants [36]. Immigration enforcement officials arrested 680 workers, mostly Latinos. DHS raid officials emphasized the rule of law to explain the raid’s purpose, stating that the arrests came from a year-long criminal investigation [37]. Acting Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kevin McAleenan focused on the raid as, “a criminal investigation with 14 federal warrants issued by a judge, and [Immigration Customs and Enforcement] ICE had to follow through on that [38].”  400 immigrants possessed someone else’s social security number, often a requirement to obtain employment, and the local U.S. attorney is prosecuting 119 cases for violations including stealing American identities and falsifying immigration documents [39]. “18 juveniles were found working at the plants, according to Jere Miles, special agent in charge for the Department of Homeland Security. Nine were released and not taken for processing…One was 14 years old [40][.]”

During the August immigration raid, law enforcement barricaded access to the processing plants and detained immigrants in the parking lot [41]. That side of the fence focused on the black letter of the law: standard operating procedures, executing warrants, enforcement of the valid concept that rules are rules. There is little room for nuance from this perspective.

Literally on the other side of the fence a community and its families reeled from the raid’s disruptive jolt on daily life. Scott County School Superintendent Dr. Tony McGee began to become aware of the situation as it unfolded on the school year’s second day [42], when children are already anxious because of new surroundings. “There was some activity there with law enforcement that had the parking lot barricaded,’ he recalls. “I actually called one of our assistant superintendents because it’s relatively close to the school [43].” Soon after, Dr. McGee began to receive calls checking students out of school.  Exasperated children [44] and community members began to gather at a local gymnasium and assess what was happening, who was missing and detained, and what immediate needs had to be fulfilled for the community. Dr. McGee compared the day’s confusion to a natural disaster. “We have plans for tornadoes, we have plans for a fire,” McGee said. ‘But you know, ICE raid is not one that is really on the radar [45].” Community members described how upstanding community members with no criminal record [46] lived peacefully, raising their families and working for over 10 years, only to be detained during the raids [47]. Many local leaders were furious at the lack of coordination from federal authorities, leaving locals unprepared, but still responsible, for responding to the chaotic aftermath.

As the dust settled from the raid in the Jackson area that day, the immigration policy debate ensued across the country. From a modern media and political perspective, one side utilized the black letter law lens to observe the August 2019 raid to persuade and form public opinion. While the affected towns have significant immigrant populations, there is a palpable sentiment that, “if you’re here illegally, you shouldn’t be [48].” That sentiment can be found beyond Jackson, indeed throughout the country. The other side of the debate is willing to unpeel the onion of immigration a bit further and acknowledge the nuance and layers involved in America’s utterly broken immigration system. One Jackson area community member said, “I understand the law and how everything works and how everything has a system. But everyone needs to hold the kids first and foremost in their minds [49].” One local mayor acknowledged immigration falls within the purview of the federal government, rendering local communities as the most harmed but also the most helpless: “I recognize that ICE comes under [DHS], and this is an order of the United States. There’s nothing, I don’t think, anybody can do about it…But my main concern is now, what happens to the children [50]?” Regardless of which side one fell on the physical, philosophical, and political fences that day in Mississippi, the situation, the policies – the status quo – still frustrate everyone.

August 8, 2019: Community Recovery

The day after the raid, The U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Mississippi, released a statement entitled, “NUMEROUS PREVIOUSLY DETAINED ALIENS WITH SMALL CHILDREN RELEASED ON HUMANITARIAN GROUNDS [51].” Approximately 30 detained aliens were released the same day of the raid on humanitarian grounds along with 270 detained aliens after they were processed by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). One might ask, why would those detained be released? President Trump remarked on the raids, “I want people to know that if they come into the United States illegally, they’re getting out. They’re going to be brought out. And this [raid] serves as a very good deterrent [52].“ ICE spokesman Bryan Cox stated that detainees with child care issues who were not subject to mandatory detention would be ‘expeditiously processed and returned to the point of apprehension so that they can get to their child or other dependents [53].” Perhaps there is uniform consensus, even in an enforcement-focused Trump Administration, that caring for children is a justifiable consideration to overcome mandatory immigration detention and deportation.

Release from immigration detention does not denote exoneration. In fact, a plethora of new immigration legal proceedings commence and they are not easy to navigate. The University of Mississippi School of Law MacArthur Justice Center Director’s Cliff Johnson began his crash course in immigration law days after the raid. Immigrants needed legal counsel to seek the right to remain in the U.S., primarily through asylum. Mr. Johnson said, “When the raids happened in August of 2019, I was minding my own business up in the law school…and the phone started ringing off the hook [54].” Mr. Johnson possessed 30 years of litigation experience but never handled an immigration case [55]. “You have a state that has a very small immigrant population by percentage, very few immigration lawyers…We just weren’t prepared…it was an unbelievable undertaking; hundreds of people came in from out-of-state, (and) advocates here were working full time…The first immigration hearing I ever saw I was a lawyer in. I literally was reading immigration law for dummies trying to figure it out [56].”

Sadly, the demand for immigration legal representation, particularly for asylum removal proceedings, has only increased nationwide. Legal representation rates have plummeted from 65% down to 30% over the past five years [57] creating additional barriers and roadblocks to benefits such as employment authorization and ultimately the right to remain in the U.S. “The immigration court backlog has gone up to more than 3.5 million from 300,000 cases in 2012, with more than a million new cases added in the last year. Nonprofit legal aid groups and thousands of volunteer lawyers have provided free help, but lawyers say they can only do so much unpaid work — and there are far fewer qualified lawyers than clients [58].”

Despite the demand, the dearth of immigration attorneys persists. The American Immigration Lawyer Association’s (AILA) Amy Grenier said, “There has always been a shortage of immigration lawyers, but the shortage has become more evident in recent years [59].” Even low- and pro bono options cannot meet the demand. The Center for Migration Studies (CMS) found that there were 1,413 undocumented persons in the United States for every charitable legal professional [60]. Immigration court also poses all but insurmountable challenges. One judge described proceedings as “death penalty cases in a traffic court setting [61].” This is the legal scenario asylum seekers face: an arduous and adversarial legal proceeding to remain in the U.S. After the August 2019 raid, 680 immigrants were thrust back into this byzantine adversarial process.

If an immigrant is fortunate enough to find legal representation the likelihood of success increases exponentially. In FY 2022, only 18% of pro se asylum petitioners, an immigrant representing him- or herself, had asylum applications granted, compared to 49% of those with representation, according to Syracuse University’s Transitional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) data [62]. Without counsel, would-be asylum seekers with strong claims struggle to navigate the U.S.’s complex immigration system and may even fail to discern how to file the necessary paperwork to ask for protection in the first place [63].

Some of the migrants detained in the raid did find attorneys and while detention and deportation always loom large in their lives and immigration cases, some received positive outcomes. A few immigrants received work authorization after filing their asylum claim and were permitted to work legally while their case is pending. Asylum claims often take years to be adjudicated due to court backlogs. Without the blessing of work authorization, immigrants are forced to rely on charity, take under the table “off the books” jobs, or, as seen in some of the Jackson cases, other dubious practices to find employment and survive.

Five years after the raids, case adjudications progress in a manner indicative of immigration proceedings: slowly. Discussions regarding outcomes are always sensitive and advocates are leery of providing updates or information. Local advocates offered little information on cases stemming from the August 2019 raids. At least 230 deportations did occur [64]. Some cases received elements of relief such as work authorization. Others had proceedings terminated due to prosecutorial discretion which produced mixed-bag results: avoiding deportation but also accepting an uncertain future with no pending case and revoked work authorization.

In many ways, the legal community feels even less prepared than it did immediately after the raid. No structures are in place in the event another raid takes place tomorrow. There is an acknowledgement that cases are costly, have lengthy timelines, and end with mixed results. Mr. Johnson offered the following on August 7, 2021, the two year anniversary after the raid: “Two years after the largest workplace raid in American history, Mississippi communities still are grappling with trauma and uncertainty…As I reflect on the chaos of that day, the palpable trauma I witnessed in community meetings and legal intake clinics, and the ways in which so many organizations like ours worked frantically to triage devastated communities, one question haunts me – now that time has passed and memories have faded, are we living up to the promises we made when television cameras were rolling and the eyes of the country were fixed on Mississippi?… My fear is that once again, only two years after the raid, too many of us have left our immigrant friends to fend for themselves [65].”

Empirically, pursuing asylum in Mississippi isn’t easy. The raids detainees were sent to three different locations: Pine Prairie ICE Processing Center in Pine Prairie, Louisiana, La Salle Detention Facility in Jena, Louisiana, and Adams County Correctional Center in Natchez, Mississippi [66], the closest being nearly a two-hour drive away. Most court dates occur in New Orleans, Louisiana, nearly a three-hour commute one way for client and attorney alike. TRAC data shows asylum was granted 6.3% – 40% in New Orleans cases from FY2018-2023 [67]. All cases had a less than 60% chance of success and the assigned judge could significantly influence the ratio of success.

Jackson’s Local Economy and Employment Opportunities Post-Raid

One might ask how a raid in which 680 employees lost their jobs might affect the local economy. It stands to reason that such a raid would have a chilling effect on employers hiring immigrants, incentivizing pay raises to invite more citizens to accept the newly opened positions. Statistically, the unemployment rate in the affected counties showed marginal change [68]. There is evidence that Americans did apply for and work at the poultry processing plants, at least at first. “For nonimmigrant workers, the aftermath has forced [Americans] into a personal reckoning with questions of morality and economic self-interest: The raids brought suffering, but they also created job openings [69].” Americans like Juan Grant recognized an opportunity after seeing news of the raid and applied for a position [70]. “[O]nly two years out of high school and still finding his way in the world. He said it felt good to be earning $11.23 an hour, even if the new job entailed cutting off necks and pulling out guts on a seemingly endless conveyor of carcasses. It was about $4 better, he said, than what he used to earn at a Madison County cookie factory [71].” Niah Hill, a manager at a fast food restaurant in Morton said 10 of her workers quit soon after the raid, again for opportunity [72].

Some believe that the undocumented workers had it coming. “If you’re somewhere you ain’t supposed to be, they’re going to come get you,” said a worker named Jamaal, who declined to give his full name[.]…[others like] Devontae Skinner, 21, denounced the raids one recent morning while finishing up his first turn on the night shift. “Everybody needs a job, needs to work. Provide for their families [73].” “Marquese Parks, who works for a staffing agency that helped [one company] find new employees after the raids, said applicants included ‘a lot of African-American, a lot of white, Caucasian. Latinos, not so much’…He said he did not know how long the new non-Hispanic recruits would last on the job. ‘I honestly don’t think they will stay because of the simple fact that the jobs are that hard,’ said Mr. Parks, 28. ‘It’s something they didn’t see themselves doing growing up. Something they don’t want to do [74].’”

“Jeff White, a Morton-based builder and rental property owner, said so many chicken plant jobs became available in the 1980s because American-born residents ‘didn’t want to work, period’…He added that he quickly learned he was not chicken plant material after landing a job at one shortly after high school. ‘I worked there three hours and 20 minutes,’ he said, chuckling. ‘I didn’t even get the check. It’s too hard [75].’” Ultimately, the new opportunity produced by the raid did not work out for Mr. Grant as well [76].

Accountability: Why Immigrants Find Themselves in Places Like Jackson, Mississippi

Employers do seem to want, if not rely on, immigrant labor and have done so for decades. While citizens and immigrants work at the processing plants, immigrants do seem to remain in the positions when others decide to pursue other forms of employment. While immigrants felt the rule of law in their own cases stemming from the August 2019 raids, As of November 2019, no employers or company executives have been criminally charged from the raid. Four managers at two processing plants faced prosecution, though no top executives faced charges [77].

One reason for the mixed results on accountability appears to be who does the hiring. Processing plant companies often outsource hiring to management companies whose company name changes 3-6 months after being created [78]. This creates a “middleman” that makes accountability an elusive objective for everyone except the working immigrants. Locals such as Lorena describe these third party contractor hiring companies as “slick” community members who operate in the shadows of labor practice, hiring workers at lower wages with less accountability [79].

The lack of mutual accountability added some salt to the wounds of immigrant workers affected by the August 2019 raid. In less than a year, immigrants felt the full swing of the public opinion pendulum on their labor in the poultry processing plants. Immediately after the raid their presence was unwelcomed for being illegal. But about six months later as the COVID-19 global pandemic ensued, meat processing workers, including some re-hired immigrants using different names [80], became “essential employees [81],” critical to maintaining the U.S. food supply [82].

Employers, and any third-party contractors they may be using, are critical to an immigrant solution for their essential employees. Employers must serve as an integral part to the conversation on their labor needs and practices, balancing their rights and needs with those of the labor force, regardless of immigration status. There must be a sufficiently level playing field between employer, American worker, and immigrants.

Community Social Services Responding to Community Needs

Immediately after the raid, the shock of having a loved one detained and the disruptions of daily life and family finances occurred. Local nonprofit organizations saw a significant uptick in demand for rent and utility assistance, food pantry needs, and other forms of support. Requests for bilingual case managers, trauma therapists, and mental health professionals began. Communities in Forest and Morton began to organize assistance efforts. The priority of needs seemed to change on a weekly basis, though two constant service requests were immigration legal and emotional care. Volunteers described how immigrants compelled to wear ankle bracelets felt humiliated and treated as criminals with no hope of work, no income, and dealing with children unsure of their family’s future. Local church parishes and religious communities became sources of solace critical to the community’s ability to cope with the raid and its effects. Immigrants walked through their community with timidity, preferring to obtain groceries at churches rather than go to stores themselves. They sheltered in place, petrified of the next raid that could occur at a moment’s notice.

Five years later, the community adjusted as communities do. The needs and services continued with high demand through 2022, but a lack of funding restricted capacity. Local church communities and non-profit organizations worked with grocery stores to buy essential items in bulk and distribute to community members in need. There is still a palpable fear among immigrant community members to be in public – the air of possibility that a raid could happen again. Local community members feel the fear has stifled the economy by staying close to home rather than venturing into town for dinner, ice cream, or other small luxuries. Needs still exist, but the community adjusted to the new norms: another raid could happen, but the focus remains on the day to day. There isn’t much focus on the future.

Scaled Analysis:
National Statistics, Major Metropolitan Comparisons and Potential Economic Effects of Mass Deportation

The numbers surrounding a mass deportation proposal remain staggering. Nearly 5% of U.S. residents would be removed from the U.S. according to the Washington Post [83].

Jackson is not a major metropolitan area in demographics such population, size, economics, etc., compared to other American cities. While the raids had drastic effects on the area’s economy and community, not all community immigrants were detained and potentially deported. Certain policy proposals like mass detention and deportation should raise questions on how American cities would be affected. This section attempts to study those scenarios.

The Center for Migration Studies (CMS) conducted a 2014 study that provided a demographic analysis of the potential impact on U.S. families and children of large-scale deportation of U.S. undocumented residents [84]. The report found:

• 750,000 undocumented residents are self-employed, having created their own jobs and in the process, creating jobs for many others.
• A total of 1.3 million, or 13 percent of the undocumented over age 18, have college degrees.
• Of those with college degrees, two-thirds, or 855,000, have degrees in four fields: engineering, business, communications, and social sciences.
• Six million undocumented residents, or 55 percent of the total, speak English well, very well, or only English.

The study calculated how a massive deportation program was expected to have the following major consequences, among others:

• The nation’s housing market would be jeopardized because a high percentage of the 1.2 million mortgages held by households with undocumented immigrants would be in peril.
• Gross domestic product (GDP) would be reduced by 1.4 percent in the first year, and cumulative GDP would be reduced by $4.7 trillion over 10 years.

The Migration Policy Institute (MPI) conducted a study [85] of the 2019 undocumented population and found high estimates of undocumented immigrants in the following areas:

• Los Angeles County, Calif.: 951,000
• (Houston) Harris County, Tex.: 481,000
• Dallas County, Tex.: 293,000
• (Chicago) Cook County, Ill.: 257,000
• (Los Angeles) Orange County, Calif.: 236,000
• (New York City portion) Queens County, N.Y.: 235,000

“In 2005, the Center for American Progress published a report looking at the cost of implementing a national program aimed at deporting every undocumented U.S. resident. That report estimated that the cost of such a program — targeting 10 million people — would run $41 billion a year for five years, assuming that a fifth of undocumented immigrants left of their own volition. That’s a total cost of about $321 billion in 2023 dollars [86].” Some modern plans call for the daily availability of 100,000 detention beds [87] while the aforementioned 2005 report called for, “’166,647 additional beds would need to be constructed before mass deportations could begin,” the report states [88]. “New prison beds cost a minimum of $14,000 per bed (and are likely substantially more expensive), resulting in a total one-time cost of $2.33 billion to create sufficient bed space…assuming that each bed is used for eight immigrants a year, because, according to their data, it usually took more than 40 days for a deportation to occur [89].”

An April 2024 DHS report entitled, “Estimates of the Unauthorized Immigrant Population Residing in the United States:  January 2018–January 2022 [90],” held that:

• Approximately 80% or 8.7 million of the 11 million unauthorized immigrants arrived in the U.S. before 2010. That means the vast majority of unauthorized immigrants have lived in the United States for more than a decade.
• The unauthorized immigrant population from Mexico has continued to fall—declining from 5.5 million in 2018 to 4.8 million in 2022, about 180,000 annually.
• “After Mexico, the next largest unauthorized immigrant populations were from Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. The numbers of unauthorized immigrants from Guatemala (750,000) and Honduras (560,000) increased from 2018 by 21% and 24%, respectively, mostly between January 2019 and January 2020,” according to the DHS report.
• The unauthorized immigrant population from India declined by 54% and from China by 47% between 2018 and 2022.
• California (2.6 million) and Texas (2.1 million) were the leading states of residence for the unauthorized population in 2022, followed by Florida (590,000), New Jersey (490,000), Illinois (420,000) and New York (410,000).

Economists reviewing mass deportation are skeptical of the policy. Many reject the notion that mass deportation would “free up” jobs for U.S. workers [91]. They point out that this belief is based on the “lump of labor fallacy,” which assumes a fixed number of jobs exist in an economy [92]. Analysts note immigrants increase the number of jobs through consumer spending, entrepreneurship and other means [93].”

“Why do deportations of unauthorized immigrants harm U.S. workers? ‘The answer is that the U.S. labor market is more complex than the cartoon economy in the minds of some politicians, who think that business owners faced with a loss of immigrant workers will simply hire native [U.S.-born] workers to replace them,’ writes Clemens in an analysis for the Peterson Institute for International Economics… ‘Business owners hit by sudden reductions to labor supply invest less in new business formation. They invest their capital in other industries and in technologies that use lower-skill labor less intensively, reducing demand for U.S. workers too…And in a one-two punch, the disappearance of migrant workers also dries up local demand at grocery stores, leasing offices, and other nontraded services.’ According to Clemens, the ‘demand for all workers overwhelms the reduction in the supply of foreign workers’ and most U.S. workers will be worse off [94].”

Joe Brusuelas, the chief economist at multi-national accounting firm network called RSM said, “the problem is that the supply of native-born workers simply cannot meet demand. ‘We need to import workers…If either [political] party oversteps in reducing the flow of workers, it’s likely we would face a serious shortage of workers and a renewed bout of inflation. You would drive the unemployment rate down to 3% and wages would pop. You’d get classic inflation [95].’”

For employers, labor shortages are a top concern [96]. Other fields beyond chicken processing are also desperate for more workers. “There were 413,000 construction job openings in January, near the record 454,000 vacancies in November, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. But the industry needs to bring on more than 700,000 new workers a year because so many people are leaving field, mainly due to retirements, said Robert Dietz, chief economist at the National Association of Home Builders [97].”

“The main visa that construction companies can use to bring in immigrant labor is the H-2B visa, which is for temporary or seasonal workers. But many in the industry say the H-2B program doesn’t work well because of the strict cap on and steep competition for the number of visas available, as well as the year-round operations of many construction firms. For fiscal year 2024, there are about 131,000 H-2B visas available…While they support expanding the number of H-2B visas issued, construction trade groups have also pushed for a new visa for industries that need temporary workers with some skills, but not a college degree. The number of visas issued would vary somewhat with demand from construction firms [98].” Construction companies must “compete with manufacturers and meatpackers for local workers, despite his and his peers’ efforts to increase students’ interest in construction. And a few years ago, he applied to get workers through the H-2B program, which cost him close to $10,000, but he was not selected…The reality is the biggest fix to this is us being able to hire immigrants…We’re getting all this infrastructure money, but I don’t have the people to do it…We’d love to get all this work done as fast as we can, but we just can’t unless we can get more legal immigration…[M]ore immigrant workers are needed since the American-born workforce isn’t filling the gap. The trade groups for the homebuilders and general contractors have been working with schools, colleges and the federal Job Corps program to develop the next generation of American construction workers. But progress has been slow. The industry says many kids are pushed by parents and educators, who don’t view construction as a good career option, to go to college. ‘We’ve done surveys of young adults and asked them about industries that they want to pursue careers in…Construction particularly doesn’t fare very well [99].’”

The data and the demand for more workers makes some points clear: mass deportation would devastate large swaths of the country and hurt the economy. Further, more workers are desperately needed and while the country is relying on immigrant labor in key sectors including food production and construction, existing immigration pathways are insufficient and not meeting the country’s needs.

Expanding Legal Immigration Pathways Allows for Structure, Control, and a Sense of Immigrant Social Justice on Immigration Policy Overall

As evidenced by recent parole [100] programs, if given a viable pathway to arrive in the U.S. immigrant numbers at the border are drastically reduced. The Cato Institute reports, “illegal entries from Venezuelans fell 66 percent from September 2022 to July 2023. From December 2022 to July 2023, illegal entries from Haitians fell 77 percent; from Cubans, 98 percent; and from Nicaraguans, 99 percent. It is worth noting that Haitian illegal entries were already well under control by late 2022 because nearly all were already being paroled in a separate unsponsored parole procedure at southwest land ports of entry. As of July 2023, all [Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan, Venezuelan] CHNV arrests were down 90 percent from their peaks in 2021 and 2022 [101].”

A Forbes article found that, “Policy options exist to control illegal immigration by using incentives. ‘Expanding legal pathways reduces illegal entry more effectively than traditional enforcement-only approaches,’ according to a National Foundation for American Policy study. ‘Border Patrol data show work visas and the Biden administration’s humanitarian parole programs have been far more effective against illegal immigration than the Trump administration’s enforcement-only policies [102].’” This is not to suggest one Administration outperformed the other on immigration since both used similar policies and never resolved immigration reform. But creating new pathways appears to have multiple positive effects, not just at the border. “The reduced supply of foreign-born workers starting in 2017 contributed to inflation and led to lower economic growth in 2022. The latest estimate of the unauthorized immigrant population offers an opportunity to examine the assumptions behind deporting millions of immigrant workers [103].” Such solutions also remove the need for costly national removal processes that would further inhibit economic growth.

An Alternative Policy Proposal:
Establishing a Low-Income Worker Visa
The Ellis Island Non-Immigrant Visa

The August 2019 Mississippi immigration raids require serious discernment from policymakers and the public for immigration reform policies. Multiple detrimental effects occurred because of the raid and while the rule of law is to be respected, the need for nuance, compassion, and humanity was evinced by detention releases by the Trump Administration. The evidence indicates immigrants do not have a viable employment pathway to enter the U.S. They are willing and grateful to accept difficult jobs Americans tend to avoid or outright refuse. Employers are eager to hire them. Today’s low-income immigrants may find opportunity to pursue the American Dream, but only one viable pathway is currently available to pursue it: asylum.

Most immigrants are entering the U.S. in part to better their lives and those of their families. They need an immigration option that allows them to work, prove they can and should become productive members of America, and have an opportunity to become New Americans through naturalization. The current immigration system’s process and review methods are inadequate for these elements to occur, particularly for today’s “tired, poor, huddled masses yearning to breathe free,” the same type of immigrant Emma Lazarus wrote about in her 1883 poem The New Colossus [104].

The immigration system in its current form too often leads to a life of living in the shadows. That life, while perhaps better than the one in one’s home country, leads immigrants to more unsustainable and unhelpful choices. It also adds to the fodder of anti-immigrant sentiment for doing immigration the wrong or “illegal” way.  America seems to be addicted to the status quo system and situation, despite rhetoric to the contrary. Policymakers want the issue of immigration more than a solution, companies have the workforce they need, and the American consumer accepts unnoticed benefits such as lower cost products from less regulated labor – all because the issue of immigration remains unresolved. Rhetoric and layers upon layers of band-aid policies and failing systems led the U.S. to its current desperation for immigration reform. This section proposes a solution but acknowledges that, from a historical and macro-view perspective, one may not actually be desired from the powers that be: policymakers, employers, and consumers. Regardless of whether a solution is truly desired, it is necessary as a matter of human dignity and American fairness to immigrants and American citizens alike.

Low-income immigrants who are escaping intertwined issues of persecution, violence, and a lack of economic opportunity face limited options to apply for a non-immigrant visa within their home country and obtain one that matches their skillsets. With sufficient and adequate legal representation, many could very well win their asylum claims in the U.S. But legal service capacity remains, and seemingly will remain, an issue for immigrants. Immigrants may pursue pro- or low bono services, but legal service provider’s  insufficient resources often deny this option. Often, immigrants are provided with pro se trainings so that they have a modicum of understanding about their immigration proceedings and represent themselves. Beyond these options, immigrants are faced with the conundrum of being barred from legal work with the additional burden of having to find and pay for legal representation by an attorney, often at significant cost.

There must be a more logical path forward. The modern immigration system lacks a viable pathway for immigrants from poor backgrounds who wish to make a better life for themselves and their families in the United States. There are worthy solutions to this lacuna of immigration law, and some concepts have been proposed, such as a Bridge Visa [105]. This paper’s alternative policy proposal entitled, “The Ellis Island Non-Immigrant Visa” (Ellis Island Visa) is intended to benefit employers, immigrants, and the American public in pursuit of immigration reform.

I. The Ellis Island Visa Parameters

The Ellis Island Visa would be a third preference (employment based or “EB-3”) category visa for skilled and unskilled workers and professionals [106]. The visa’s “status” would be valid for a period of five years and may be renewed four times, for a total of 20 years. An employer sponsor or the immigrant him/herself may submit an immigrant visa (green card) application for the foreign national immigrant simultaneously with the non-immigrant visa’s third renewal after 15 years.

The Ellis Island Visa’s non-immigrant period is of considerable length for a few reasons. First, low-income immigrants will not have highly sought after credentials and levels of education valued in other non-immigrant visas and categories. Despite their lack of credentials and education, these immigrants will possess the hard work, grit, and determination to work difficult jobs and be model community membership over the course of 15 years, continuing the American tradition of welcoming all levels of socio-economic immigrants into the country. The desire to establish new lives in a new country is an incentive to conduct themselves as stellar community members. The considerable non-immigrant visa period will become a persuasive piece of evidence for a permanent residency application, should the non-immigrant visa holder decide to pursue a green card [107]. Second, USCIS will have to adequately staff and prepare for a significant increase in non-immigrant and green card applications to be processed and adjudicated. The significant element of time allows for USCIS to prepare accordingly.

After 15 years, USCIS may review and adjudicate both the Ellis Island Visa renewal and the immigrant visa (lawful permanent resident or “green card”) applications simultaneously. The green card application may be reviewed for up to five years. After five years, if no issues or concerns have been raised during this time via Request for Evidence (“RFE”) to justify a denial, the burden of proof shifts to USCIS to justify any further delay in processing. USCIS must either deny the application for cause or the green card is automatically approved at the five-year mark. This is to ensure backlogs do not develop and reduce the burden, if not its use altogether, of the visa bulletin program, a system that has excessive backlogs [108].

Finally, the amount of Ellis Island non-immigrant visas should be considered in conjunction with the American economy’s needs [109]. Similar to America’s refugee resettlement program, the President should determine [110] any desired cap on the Ellis Island non-immigrant visa each year. If the President and his or her Administration wishes to affect the economy by reducing labor opportunities, they do so at their own peril. This cap power removes another pillar of politicization surrounding the immigration debate by injecting economic objectivity to the allotment process. The President’s Ellis Island visa annual cap determination will not affect existing Ellis Island visa holders’ cases.

II. Foreign Nationals Apply In-Country

Global immigrants spend exorbitant amounts of personal savings on their journey to the U.S. border not only through legitimate travel expenses but also extortion from nefarious actors including drug cartels [111]. To avoid these costs and dis-incentivize traveling to the U.S. border, the Ellis Island Visa would offer applicants to apply within their home country through a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) process. The application would include the following requirements and evidence:

1. Form G-28 to identify who is completing the application and the beneficiary.
2. USCIS Form I-129.
3. Documentation proving a legitimate U.S. job offer exists.
4. Documentation from a potential employer indicating their need for employee AND/OR their willingness to sponsor the individual through the employment opportunity (Letter of Support).
5. IRS and state tax documentation confirming an employer’s bonafide standing as an employer with the ability to pay the listed position’s salary.
6. The position’s annual salary may not exceed the average U.S. median salary of a given year [112]: the Ellis Island Visa’s objective is to serve low-income workers.
7. The employer must also provide evidence that attempts have been made to fill the position with U.S. citizens. Due to the lack of applicants or successful candidates, immigrant labor is needed. This element exists in other non-immigrant visa processes [113].
8. Labor Condition Application [114] with the following attestations:
   i. Wages: Employer attests wages will be at or above both the actual wage (what other employees are paid within the company) and the prevailing wage (the position’s wage for the geographic area)
   ii. Working conditions will not be adversely effected by the hiring of non-immigrant employees and non-immigrant visa holders will be provided the same working conditions as their American counterparts.
   iii. Employer must attest that there is no existing work stoppage at the time of the non-immigrant visa application [115].
   iv. Notice: the application has been or will be provided both to workers within the company and posted publicly so that Americans and existing employees may first apply for the position.
9. The immigrant’s curriculum vitae and other relevant documentation highlighting how and why their skillset may be a sufficient match for the employer’s offered position.

If a foreign national’s application is approved by USCIS a visa may be awarded at the U.S. consulate or embassy in the foreign national’s country, a visa stamp is placed in the foreign national’s passport, and appropriate travel arrangements can be made. This is the same process as other non-immigrant visas.

Renewals could occur in the U.S. every five years through a USCIS process like other non-immigrant visa processes. New visa stamps could be issued and immigrants, if in good standing with their immigration case, could travel internationally.

III. Employers as Part of the Solution and Establishing a Grace Period

Employers are critical to any non-immigrant visa’s functionality in modern immigration. The Ellis Island Visa will provide them with a steady workforce that is unaffected by unpredictable border policies that, historically, has allowed employers to rely on immigrant workers.  Since employers will need to sponsor their immigrant workforce in large numbers, their burden may be eased by permitting non-immigrant fee waivers for any company submitting at least 10 petitions in one calendar year. This corporate welfare should incentivize employers to properly file their cases at a reduced cost.

Employees should receive additional protection as well. Employer abuse and immigrant wage theft are recurring concerns to everyone involved in non-immigrant visa systems [116]. To further combat these issues and provide a modicum of leverage to immigrant employees, the Ellis Island Visa would provide a grace period totaling 18 months (no more than a six month grace period between employment at a time) [117] over a 20-year period in which an immigrant could leave their visa sponsor and seek new employment. A newly found employer would be required to become the new sponsor and submit all necessary documentation. The grace period permits employees to leave an untenable employment opportunity without losing their non-immigrant visa, a critical leverage point employers may use for exploitation. 18 months over a 20-year period with a maximum of one six-month unemployment at a given time should inhibit employees abusing the grace period. The time needs to last over the course of 20 years in case of emergencies and it is not easy to find new sponsors. Failure to find new employment within a six-month window will require departure from the U.S., though former Ellis Island Visa holders may continue to apply for new positions from their country of origin. Previous Ellis Island Visa time will be counted towards the totality of Ellis Island Visa time, permitting lawful permanent residency applications to continue at the 15 year mark. Ellis Island Visa holders do not necessarily have to apply for lawful permanent residency at the 15 year mark, but they remain eligible to do so. Five year renewals may continue past the 20 year mark, but the grace periods would not be extended.

IV. Balancing the EI Non-Immigrant Visa and Asylum

The Ellis Island Visa is a new pathway into the U.S. for low-income immigrants that does not currently exist in U.S. immigration law. Without such a pathway, immigrants have no choice but to pursue asylum as the only realistic option to enter the U.S. If a new pathway is offered, it stands to reason that heightened levels of scrutiny for asylum applicants would be permissible to further incentivize the new pathway in lieu of the uncertain and dangerous journey to the U.S. border for asylum seekers.

Asylum is a protected human right under international [118] and U.S. law [119]. While the right to asylum should not be challenged outright, heightened levels of scrutiny could apply to the asylum process that incentivizes other immigration pathways and reduces the current untenable demands on the immigration system. If the Ellis Island Visa existed, a heightened level of scrutiny could be applied to any asylum seeker who 1) previously applied for and/or received an Ellis Island non-immigrant visa AND 2) fails to adequately answer questions by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) related to economic push factors surrounding an asylum applicant’s intent to seek asylum. In other words, the Ellis Island Visa should be encouraged for economic migrants and asylum should not be viewed or used as a “plan B.” An immigrant should receive additional scrutiny for attempting to pursue both an Ellis Island visa and asylum. Economic immigrants should be incentivized to make a sound economic decision and use the new pathway. Asylum and its journey to the U.S. border is costly and dangerous with no guarantees. Bifurcating these two approaches to the U.S. will ease the stress on the U.S. immigration system. It will also expedite asylum cases that fit the elements of asylum [120].

Immigration advocates recognize that under the current U.S. immigration system, there is an insufficient level of capacity to meet the demand for access to justice in asylum proceedings. Migrants constantly stress their eagerness to work and are met with a bureaucratic immigration system that mandates a delay in work authorization while awaiting their day in court to seek asylum. Asylum seekers are expected to locate and pay for immigration legal representation but are not given the ability to work and then pay for such representation. Amidst these delays, there is a fervent demand for labor in the U.S. economy. Obtaining immigration labor through the asylum process is fitting a square peg in a round hole. A new non-immigrant visa opens another door into the U.S. that meets the country’s needs as well as the immigrants themselves.

V. The Current American Undocumented Population: Using the Ellis Island Visa as a Solution and Viable Pathway to Human Dignity

There are an estimated 11 [121] – 22 [122] million undocumented immigrants living in the U.S. Aside from the legal bars [123] many of these immigrants face, there is no viable pathway for the population to change their immigration status and emerge from the shadows of their current American life. They are castigated to the edges of society and cannot leave the U.S., except through deportation. Immigration hawks often view this as the only available solution. But as the Jackson, Mississippi example shows, this would have long-lasting and detrimental effects on the U.S. and is ill-advised. To date, any proffered solution is met by the same immigration hawks as “amnesty.”

If the undocumented population were permitted to apply for the Ellis Island Visa and change their status to a non-immigrant visa holder, they remain guests in the country, like any other non-immigrant visa holder, negating the amnesty argument. These Ellis Island Visa holders could face an additional penalty, such as a tax, for their previous undocumented years. Their application would also not be guaranteed. It would be adjudicated under the same process as other Ellis Island visa applicants, and deportations could occur on a case-by-case basis. Model community member applicants could adjust their status and apply for a green card after 15 years, just like new applicants applying from in their country of origin. Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) applicants would also be eligible for the Ellis Island Visa. However, their previous time in the U.S. should be considered, all salary caps should be waived due to the potential for higher education and skillset levels from this population, and a reduced timeline to apply for lawful permanent residency status should be considered by policymakers.

Upon the Ellis Island Visa’s passage into law, the border itself may be complicated, at least initially. Recent border arrivals will not have had the opportunity to apply for an Ellis Island Visa and may still wish to seek asylum. Further, they are likely to have spent significant portions of their savings to arrive at the U.S. border. Policymakers, and specifically DHS, could begin to apply the heightened scrutiny standard to applicants and inform them of the Ellis Island Visa opportunity upon its passage and recommend that recent arrivals return home and apply for the Ellis Island Visa rather than continue the asylum process at their peril. Those at the border may also be permitted to withdraw any asylum claim and apply for an Ellis Island Visa and wait for adjudication at the border. The U.S. government should impose no penalties for the decision to withdraw an asylum claim in lieu of pursuing an Ellis Island visa or returning to one’s home country and applying for an Ellis Island Visa at a later date.

Conclusion: The Ellis Island Visa and Jackson, Mississippi

Five years after the Jackson immigration raids, very little has changed. Immigrants still live in fear, their labor is still needed by American employers, and red-hot rhetoric continues with little movement on policy. The events in Jackson show how mass detention and deportation would have reverberating effects on American communities with minimal gains. Replicating such an event across multiple cities across the country may cater to certain viewpoints, but there are economic and humanitarian considerations that should accompany those points.

Yet something must be done to resolve America’s immigration debate. The Ellis Island Visa is an offered solution: would it work for the 680 immigrants detained and facing deportation in Jackson, Mississippi? Would it benefit the local community and employers?

Changing one’s immigration status from asylum seeker to an Ellis Island Visa holder would instantly provide a more secure footing to the Jackson immigrants in their “new” communities. While they would inherently remain guests in the U.S. as non-immigrant visa holders, they would be permitted to work legally and be upstanding community members with the objective to eventually obtain lawful permanent residency and perhaps even citizenship through naturalization. If given the opportunity, it stands to reason that most immigrants would accept this option and become Ellis Island Visa holders.

The greater Jackson community would also benefit from the Ellis Island Visa. Opponents of illegal immigration could understand that new arrivals are legally working and, through model community membership, have an incentive to improve the community and be good stewards in pursuit of the American Dream and a better life for their families. Trust could be further developed, taking large swaths of immigrant communities out of the shadows and allowing to them become more involved community members.

Employers also benefit from the Ellis Island Visa pathway. They have a dedicated workforce and can expand or contract as their business demands. Their receipt of fee waivers should be sufficient incentive to be honest about their labor needs and permit them to grow their businesses accordingly. Employees, both visa holders and American citizens willing to take on the challenging jobs are also placed on equal footing with employer-based evidence of fair wages for all. All Americans workers would benefit from a new, and well-regulated, immigrant pathway.

The border itself would benefit from the Ellis Island Visa. Burdens on CBP, border communities, and others directly affected by the current immigration system would be significantly reduced with the proposed policy changes. Immigrants would no longer have to find their way to end destinations, yet another added cost to their already costly journey, if a new viable pathway would be created.

In closing, the immigration policies and policy debate must change for America, a proud nation of immigrants. Mass detention and deportation of recent arrivals does not make sense, nor does the status quo. The Ellis Island Visa is a worthy proposal that would benefit Jackson and all communities who have immigrants.

This writing is an attempt at a logical, pragmatic, solution-based approach to immigration reform by a humble immigration attorney who is exhausted by the seemingly inexhaustible rhetoric with no viable solutions for too many years. The paper’s concepts are malleable and should be used as a starting block. Jackson, Mississippi needs an immigration solution. America, her citizens, and the immigrants themselves need a solution. With hope for American immigration reform and in remembering one of the old country’s sayings, Avanti con coraggio!

[1]  “Immigration Surges to Top of Most Important Problem List,” Jones, Jeffrey M. Gallup News, 27 February 2024. Available at: https://news.gallup.com/poll/611135/immigration-surges-top-important-problem-list.aspx.

[2] “Secure Borders and Reclaim National Sovereignty,” Issues Section, available at: https://www.donaldjtrump.com/issues. See also, “’Seal The Border, Deport All The Illegals’: Stephen Miller Lays Out Trump Immigration Plan,” Forbes Breaking News, available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wSmTsF–64.. See also, “Project 2025, Presidential Transition Project, Department of Homeland Security,” available at:  https://www.project2025.org/policy/. See also, “Trump’s “Unprecedented Immigration Crackdown” Would Have Far-Reaching Implications for Millions,” America’s Voice Press Release, 17 May 2024, available at: https://americasvoice.org/press_releases/trumps-unprecedented-immigration-crackdown-would-have-far-reaching-implications-for-millions/. 

[3] “Mass Deportation May Sound Unlikely, But It’s Happened Before,” Florido, Adrian. NPR Morning Edition, Code Switch, 8 September 2015, 4:35 AM ET, available at: https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2015/09/08/437579834/mass-deportation-may-sound-unlikely-but-its-happened-before. See also: “It Came Up In The Debate: Here Are 3 Things To Know About ‘Operation Wetback,’” Peralta, Eyder. NPR The Two Way, 11 November 2015, 3:54 PM ET, available at: https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/11/11/455613993/it-came-up-in-the-debate-here-are-3-things-to-know-about-operation-wetback.

[4]  “The Great Migration to the Mississippi Territory, 1798-1819,” Lowery, Charles. Mississippi Historical Society, November 2000. Available at: https://www.mshistorynow.mdah.ms.gov/issue/the-great-migration-to-the-mississippi-territory-1798-1819.

[5] IBID, “The Great Migration to the Mississippi Territory, 1798-1819.”

[6] IBID, “The Great Migration to the Mississippi Territory, 1798-1819.”

[7] IBID, “The Great Migration to the Mississippi Territory, 1798-1819.”

[8]  “Mississippi Agriculture, Food & Beverage – Fast Facts, Success Flows Through Mississippi,” available at: https://mississippi.org/doing-business/industries/agriculture-food-beverage/.

[9] “3 On The Road: Scott County poultry industry Is Critical to Local Economy,” Jackson, Courtney Ann. WLBT, Updated 24 September 2018, 11:18 PM EDT. Available at: https://www.wlbt.com/2018/09/25/road-scott-county-poultry-industry-is-critical-local-economy/.

[10] IBID, “3 On The Road: Scott County poultry industry Is Critical to Local Economy.”

[11] IBID, “3 On The Road: Scott County poultry industry Is Critical to Local Economy.”

[12] “Unemployment Rates By City: See Your City’s Rank,” Campisi, Natalie. Forbes Advisor, 25 April 2024, 10:42 AM. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/advisor/personal-finance/unemployment-rates-by-city/.

[13]  The county data shows some annual consistency of reduced unemployment near the end of the summer months to the end of each year. The 2019 data is consistent with that trend. The data suggests that the immigration raids had minimal effect on unemployment rates.

[14]  “Summary of unemployment rates for the years 1990 forward,” Mississippi Department of Employment Security, Scotty County, June 2019. available at: https://mdes.ms.gov/media/8735/urate.pdf

[15] “Summary of unemployment rates for the years 1990 forward,” Mississippi Department of Employment Security, Rankin County, June 2019. available at: https://mdes.ms.gov/media/8735/urate.pdf

[16] “Summary of unemployment rates for the years 1990 forward,” Mississippi Department of Employment Security, Leake County, June 2019. available at: https://mdes.ms.gov/media/8735/urate.pdf

[17] “Summary of unemployment rates for the years 1990 forward,” Mississippi Department of Employment Security, Madison County, June 2019. available at: https://mdes.ms.gov/media/8735/urate.pdf

[18] Supra, “Summary of unemployment rates for the years 1990 forward,” Scott County, October 2019.

[19] Supra, “Summary of unemployment rates for the years 1990 forward,” Rankin County, October 2019.

[20] Supra, “Summary of unemployment rates for the years 1990 forward,” Leake County, October 2019.

[21] Supra, “Summary of unemployment rates for the years 1990 forward,” Madison County, October 2019.

[22] “Who Are America’s Meat and Poultry Workers?,” Stuesse, Angela and Nathan T. Dollar. Economic Policy Institute, Working Economics Blog. 24 September 2020. 10:00 AM. Available at: https://www.epi.org/blog/meat-and-poultry-worker-demographics/

[23]  IBID, “Who Are America’s Meat and Poultry Workers?”

[24]  IBID, “Who Are America’s Meat and Poultry Workers?”

[25] Morton City, Mississippi, U.S. Census Data, available:  https://data.census.gov/profile/Morton_city,_Mississippi?g=160XX00US2849080.

[26] “Total Population in Forest City, Mississippi,” 2020 Census, 9 May 2024. Available at: https://data.census.gov/all?g=160XX00US2825340

[27]  Pelahatchie, Mississippi U.S. Census Data, available: https://data.census.gov/profile/Pelahatchie_town,_Mississippi?g=160XX00US2856200.

[28] Carthage, Mississippi, Data USA available: https://datausa.io/profile/geo/carthage-ms.

[29] Canton City, Mississippi U.S. Census data, available: https://data.census.gov/profile/Canton_city,_Mississippi?g=160XX00US2811100.

[30] Canton, Mississippi, Data USA available: https://datausa.io/profile/geo/canton-ms.

[31] “After ICE Raids, a Reckoning in Mississippi’s Chicken Country,” Fausset, Richard. The New York Times, 28 December 2019. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/28/us/mississippi-ice-raids-poultry-plants.html.

[32]  “Mississippi Rising,” Hinojosa, Maria and Reynaldo Leanos Jr., 15 October 2021. Latino USA, available at: https://www.latinousa.org/2021/10/15/mississippirising/. The podcast and article references the book, “Scratching Out a Living,” by Angela Stuesse, available at: https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520287211/scratching-out-a-living.

[33] “Americans Love Their Chicken, But the Poultry Industry Needs Reform,” The Rockefeller Foundation. 29 April 2021, available at: https://www.rockefellerfoundation.org/insights/grantee-impact-story/americans-love-their-chicken-but-the-poultry-industry-needs-reform/.

[34] “Exploitation and Abuse at the Chicken Plant,” Grabell, Michael. The New Yorker. 2017 May 1, available at: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/05/08/exploitation-and-abuse-at-the-chicken-plant.

[35] “Mississippi Rising,” Hinojosa, Maria and Reynaldo Leanos Jr., 15 October 2021. Latino USA, available at: https://www.latinousa.org/2021/10/15/mississippirising/.

[36] “Largest US immigration Raids in a Decade Net 680 Arrests,” Solis, Rogelio V. and Jeff Amy. Associated Press, 7 August 2019, available at: https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-us-news-ap-top-news-arrests-immigration-bbcef8ddae4e4303983c91880559cf23.

[37] “Call Grows for Government to Protect Workers 3 Years After Mississippi ICE Raid,” Crown, Kayode, Mississippi Free Press. 3 June 2022. Available at: https://www.mississippifreepress.org/24309/call-grows-for-government-to-protect-workers-3-years-after-mississippi-ice-raid.

[38] NBC News Meet the Press, 11 August 2019. Available at: https://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/meet-press-august-11-2019-n1041196. See also, “DHS Chief Regrets ‘Unfortunate’ Timing of ICE Raid of Food Processing Plants in Mississippi,”  https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/08/11/trump-aide-kevin-mcaleenan-unfortunate-timing-ice-raids-mississippi/1981130001/

[39] “Months After Massive ICE Raid, Residents of A Mississippi Town Wait And Worry,” Shapiro, Ari and Gus Contreras and Dave Blanchard. NPR, 17 November 2019. Available at: https://www.npr.org/2019/11/17/778611834/months-after-massive-ice-raid-residents-of-a-mississippi-town-wait-and-worry.

[40] “680 Undocumented Workers Arrested in Record-setting Immigration Sweep on the First Day of School,” Gallagher, Dianne and Catherine E. Shoichet. CNN, 9 August 2019. Available at: https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/08/us/mississippi-immigration-raids-children/index.html.

[41] Supra, “Months After Massive ICE Raid, Residents of A Mississippi Town Wait And Worry.”

[42] IBID, “Months After Massive ICE Raid, Residents of A Mississippi Town Wait And Worry.”

[43] IBID, “Months After Massive ICE Raid, Residents of A Mississippi Town Wait And Worry.”

[44]  “Children of Undocumented Immigrants Arrested in Mississippi Rely on Strangers for Food and Shelter,” WJTV, 7 August 2019, 10:52 PM CT available at: https://www.wjtv.com/news/children-of-undocumented-immigrants-arrested-in-mississippi-rely-on-strangers-for-food-and-shelter/.

[45] Supra, “Months After Massive ICE Raid, Residents of A Mississippi Town Wait And Worry.”

[46]  Immigration violations are civil and not criminal…

[47]  Supra, “Children of Undocumented Immigrants Arrested in Mississippi Rely on Strangers for Food and Shelter.”

[48] Supra, “Months After Massive ICE Raid, Residents of A Mississippi Town Wait And Worry.”

[49] Supra, “680 Undocumented Workers Arrested in Record-setting Immigration Sweep on the First Day of School.”

[50] IBID, “680 Undocumented Workers Arrested in Record-setting Immigration Sweep on the First Day of School.

[51] Numerous Previously Detained Aliens with Small Children Released on Humanitarian Grounds,” U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Mississippi Press Release. 8 August 2019. Available at: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdms/pr/numerous-previously-detained-aliens-small-children-released-humanitarian-grounds

[52]  “The Great Migration to the Mississippi Territory, 1798-1819,” Lowery, Charles. Mississippi Historical Society, November 2000. Available at: https://www.mshistorynow.mdah.ms.gov/issue/the-great-migration-to-the-mississippi-territory-1798-1819.

[53] “Trump praises ICE raids in Mississippi, Calls Them ‘a Very Good Deterrent,’” Bernal, Rafael. The Hill. 9 August 2019, 11:36 AM ET. Available at: https://thehill.com/latino/456857-trump-praises-ice-raids-in-mississippi-calls-them-a-very-good-deterrent/.

[54] Supra, ““Call Grows for Government to Protect Workers 3 Years After Mississippi ICE Raid.”

[55] IBID, “Call Grows for Government to Protect Workers 3 Years After Mississippi ICE Raid.”

[56] IBID, “Call Grows for Government to Protect Workers 3 Years After Mississippi ICE Raid.”

[57] “Too Few Immigration Attorneys: Average Representation Rates Fall from 65% To 30%,” Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), 24 January 2024. Available at: https://trac.syr.edu/reports/736/.

[58]  “A New Challenge for Asylum Seekers: Lawyer Shortages,” Sandoval, Edgar. The New York Times, 19 May 2024. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/19/us/migrants-lawyer-shortages.html.

[59] IBID, “A New Challenge for Asylum Seekers: Lawyer Shortages.”

[60]  “Charitable Legal Immigration Programs and the US Undocumented Population: A Study in Access to Justice in an Era of Political Dysfunction,” Kerwin, Donald and Evin Millet. Journal on Migration and Human Security, Volume 10, Issue 3, September 2022. Available at: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/epub/10.1177/23315024221124924.

[61] “Death Penalty Cases in Traffic Court Setting,” Immigration Law Center of Minnesota, 31 March 2020. Available at: https://www.ilcm.org/latest-news/death-penalty-cases-in-traffic-court-setting/.

[62]  “Explainer: Asylum Backlogs,” National Immigration Forum, 23 January 2024. Available at: https://immigrationforum.org/article/explainer-asylum-backlogs/.

[63] IBID, “Explainer: Asylum Backlogs.”

[64] “Mississippi ICE Raids Two Years Later: Increased Strains and Shrinking Hope, A Report by the Mississippi Center for Justice,” available at: ICE-Raids-2nd-Anniversary-Report-20210806.pdf (mscenterforjustice.org).

[65]  “Two Years After Mississippi ICE Raid: Are We Keeping Our Promises?,” Johnson, Cliff. The Mississippi Clarion Ledger Op-Ed. 7 August 2021, 5:00 AM CT. Available at: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/opinion/2021/08/07/two-years-after-mississippi-ice-raid-promises-opinion-cliff-johnson/5519485001/.

[66] “’Jails in Every Sense’: After ICE Raid, What’s Next for Those Detained?,” Fowler, Sarah. The Mississippi Clarion Ledger. 10 August 2019 5:00 AM CT, Available at: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2019/08/10/detained-by-ice-mississippi-raids-deportation-hearings-immigration-detention-centers-louisiana/1954024001/.

[67] “Judge-by-Judge Asylum Decisions in Immigration Courts FY 2018-2023,” Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC). 19 October 2023, available at: https://trac.syr.edu/immigration/reports/judgereports/.

[68] Supra, “Judge-by-Judge Asylum Decisions in Immigration Courts

FY 2018-2023.

[69] Supra, “After ICE Raids, a Reckoning in Mississippi’s Chicken Country.”

[70] “Who Are America’s Meat and Poultry Workers?,” Stuesse, Angela and Nathan T. Dollar. Economic Policy Institute, Working Economics Blog. 24 September 2020. 10:00 AM. Available at: https://www.epi.org/blog/meat-and-poultry-worker-demographics/

[71] IBID, “After ICE Raids, a Reckoning in Mississippi’s Chicken Country.”

[72] IBID, “After ICE Raids, a Reckoning in Mississippi’s Chicken Country.”

[73] IBID, “After ICE Raids, a Reckoning in Mississippi’s Chicken Country.”

[74] IBID, “After ICE Raids, a Reckoning in Mississippi’s Chicken Country.”

[75] IBID, “After ICE Raids, a Reckoning in Mississippi’s Chicken Country.”

[76] IBID, “After ICE Raids, a Reckoning in Mississippi’s Chicken Country.”

[77] “Mississippi ICE Raids: Feds Announce 4 Managers Charged in Chicken Plant Investigations,” Zhu, Alissa. The Mississippi Clarion Ledger, 6 August 2020, 10:53 AM CT. Available at: https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2020/08/06/mississippi-ice-raids-feds-announce-indictments-chicken-plant-case/3298916001/.

[78] Supra, “Mississippi Rising.”

[79] IBID, “Mississippi Rising.”

[80] IBID, “Mississippi Rising.”

[81] “Essential Workers and Risk for COVID-19: Experiences from the Meat Processing Industry,” Ramos, Dr. Athena. University of Nebraska Omaha, October 2020, available at: https://www.unomaha.edu/college-of-arts-and-sciences/ollas/research/ollas-blog-oct-2020.php.

[82] Supra, “Mississippi Rising.” See also: “Who is ‘Essential’? Food and Farm Workers Left in Limbo in Vaccine Priorities,” Bustillo, Ximena and Ryan McCrimmon. Politico, 17 January 2021 7:00 AM EST, available at:  https://www.politico.com/news/2021/01/17/covid-vaccine-food-farm-workers-459845.

[83] “The Incomprehensible, Unattainable Scale of Trump’s Deportation Plan,” Bump, Philip. The Washington Post, 15 May 2024, 5:20 PM EST. Available at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/05/15/trump-immigration-deportation-plan/

[84] “Mass Deportations Would Impoverish US Families and Create Immense Social Costs,” Warren, Robert and Donald Kerwin. The Center for Migration Studies, Journal on Migration and Human Security, Volume 5 Number 1, 2017. Available at: https://cmsny.org/publications/mass-deportations-impoverish-us-families-create-immense-costs/.

[85] “Unauthorized Immigrant Population Profiles,” Migration Policy Institute, Data Hub, available at: https://www.migrationpolicy.org/programs/us-immigration-policy-program-data-hub/unauthorized-immigrant-population-profiles.

[86]  Supra, “The Incomprehensible, Unattainable Scale of Trump’s Deportation Plan.”

[87] Supra, “Project 2025, Presidential Transition Project, Department of Homeland Security.”

[88] “Deporting the Undocumented: A Cost Assessment,” Goyle, Rajeev and David A. Jaeger, Ph.D., Center for American Progress, July 2005. Available at: https://cdn.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/kf/DEPORTING_THE_UNDOCUMENTED.PDF. See also: Supra, “The Incomprehensible, Unattainable Scale of Trump’s Deportation Plan.”

[89]  IBID, “Deporting the Undocumented: A Cost Assessment.” See also: Supra, “The Incomprehensible, Unattainable Scale of Trump’s Deportation Plan.”

[90] “Estimates of the Unauthorized Immigrant Population Residing in the United States:  January 2018–January 2022,” Baker, Bryan and Robert Warren, Office of Homeland Security Statistics, April 2024, available at: https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/2024-05/2024_0418_ohss_estimates-of-the-unauthorized-immigrant-population-residing-in-the-united-states-january-2018%E2%80%93january-2022.pdf.

[91] Economists Criticize Trump Plan to Deport Longtime Immigrant Workers,” Anderson, Stuart. Forbes, 12 May 2024, 9:44 AM EDT, available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/stuartanderson/2024/05/12/economists-criticize-trump-plan-to-deport-longtime-immigrant-workers/?sh=7f8852115894.

[92] IBID, Economists Criticize Trump Plan to Deport Longtime Immigrant Workers.”

[93] IBID, Economists Criticize Trump Plan to Deport Longtime Immigrant Workers.”

[94] IBID, Economists Criticize Trump Plan to Deport Longtime Immigrant Workers.”

[95] “Trump Has Promised an Immigration Crackdown if Reelected. That Could Backfire on the Economy,” Egan, Matt. CNN Business, 14 May 2024, 6:00 AM EDT, available at: https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2024/05/14/business/immigration-trump-inflation-jobs.

[96] “These Businesses Say They Can’t Keep Up with Consumer Demand without Immigrant Workers. Americans Just Don’t Want the Jobs,” Luhby, Tami, CNN Business, 21 March 2024, 9:38 AM EDT, available at:  https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/21/business/construction-industry-needs-immigrant-workers/index.html.

[97] IBID, “These Businesses Say They Can’t Keep Up with Consumer Demand without Immigrant Workers. Americans Just Don’t Want the Jobs.”

[98] IBID, “These Businesses Say They Can’t Keep Up with Consumer Demand without Immigrant Workers. Americans Just Don’t Want the Jobs.”

[99] IBID, “These Businesses Say They Can’t Keep Up with Consumer Demand without Immigrant Workers. Americans Just Don’t Want the Jobs.”

[100] Parole is a temporary solution, and its temporary authority stems from an executive branch action rather than codified statute. It can disappear just as quickly as it was offered as a temporary solution. The American Immigration Council describes it as follows: “The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) authorizes the Secretary of Homeland Security to exercise discretion to temporarily allow certain noncitizens to physically enter or remain in the United States if they are applying for admission but do not have a legal basis for being admitted. DHS may only grant parole if the agency determines that there are urgent humanitarian or significant public benefit reasons for a person to be in the United States, and that person merits a favorable exercise of discretion. Grants of parole are made for limited periods of time, often to accomplish a discrete purpose, and individuals are typically expected to depart the United States when the authorized period expires unless another form of status or relief is conferred.” Available: https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/use-parole-under-immigration-law

[101] “Parole Sponsorship Is a Revolution in Immigration Policy,” Bier, David J. The Cato Institute, Briefing Paper No. 165, 18 September 2023. Available at: https://www.cato.org/briefing-paper/parole-sponsorship-revolution-immigration-policy#parole-sponsorships-effects-border-migration.

[102] IBID, “Parole Sponsorship Is a Revolution in Immigration Policy.”

[103] Supra, “Economists Criticize Trump Plan to Deport Longtime Immigrant Workers.”

[104]  “The New Colossus,” Lazarus, Emma. 1883. Available at: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46550/the-new-colossus.

[105]  “A New Way Forward for Employment-Based Immigration: The Bridge Visa,” Gelatt, Julia and Muzaffar Chishti. The Migration Policy Institute, February 2024. Available at: https://www.migrationpolicy.org/research/employment-immigration-bridge-visa.

[106] “Employment-Based Immigrant Visas,” U.S. Department of State Bureau of Consular Affairs. Available at: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/employment-based-immigrant-visas.html.

[107] With a 20-year non-immigrant visa period, not every immigrant may wish to remain in the U.S. Some, given the freedom to return to their home country may wish to do so, which is not necessarily an option in today’s immigration system because of the bars imposed by asylum.

[108] “The Visa Bulletin,” U.S. Department of State Bureau of Consular Affairs, available at: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/visa-law0/visa-bulletin.html. According to the Cato Institute, new EB-2 and EB-3 category applicants face a 134 year delay in waiting for a green card due to backlogs, describing it as a “life sentence” where the loss of employment like means departing from the U.S. Available: https://www.cato.org/blog/18-million-employment-based-green-card-backlog. The visa bulletin delays are incentivizing competing nation states such as Canada to create programs that streamline the immigration process to attract highly sought after talent. Available: https://www.forbes.com/sites/stuartanderson/2023/07/19/h-1b-visa-holder-applications-overwhelm-canadas-new-program/?sh=2f7b54522c63.

[109] In the past, pseudo-science such as eugenics or mere political rhetoric has had an excessive amount of influence of immigration policy. Please see “Inventing the Immigration Problem – The Dillingham Commission and Its Legacy,” Benton-Cohen, Katherine. Harvard University Press available at: https://www.hup.harvard.edu/books/9780674976443.

[110] “The Presidential Determination on Refugee Admissions for Fiscal Year 2024,” Press Statement, 29 September 2023. U.S. Department of State, available at: https://www.state.gov/the-presidential-determination-on-refugee-admissions-for-fiscal-year-2024/.

[111] “’Boom of opportunities’: How smugglers, Mexican cartels profit from US border restrictions,” Castaneda Perez, Jose Ignacio. The Arizona Republic. 16 December 2022, 5:00 AM EST. Available at: https://www.azcentral.com/in-depth/news/politics/border-issues/2022/12/16/how-cartels-profit-migrants-desperation-along-u-s-mexico-border/10704315002/.

[112] According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor, the average U.S. annual salary in Q4 of 2023 was $59,384. Available at: https://www.usatoday.com/money/blueprint/business/hr-payroll/average-salary-us/.

[113] See the Department of Labor’s Occupation Profiles: https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_stru.htm

[114] https://flag.dol.gov/programs/LCA See also: https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/20/655.731, These certifications are used in other visas, including the H-1B non-immigrant visa.

[115] Hiring replacement workers for existing employees on strike will not be permitted.

[116] “New Evidence of Widespread Wage Theft in the H-1B Visa Program,” Hira, Ron and Daniel Costa. The Economic Policy Institute, 9 December 2021. Available at: https://www.epi.org/publication/new-evidence-widespread-wage-theft-in-the-h-1b-program/.

[117] While estimates range, an average amount of time to find new employment in the U.S. is 3-5 months according to a LinkedIn article: “How Long Does It Take To Find A Job? 80% Surveyed Say It’s THIS Long,” O’Donnell, J.T., LinkedIn, 29 November 2022. Available at: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-long-does-take-find-job-80-surveyed-say-its-j-t-o-donnell.

[118]  “Who We Protect – Asylum Seekers,” United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), available at: https://www.unhcr.org/us/asylum-seekers.

[119] 8 U.S. Code § 1158, “Asylum,” available at: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/8/1158.

[120] “Model Hearing Program Substantive Law Lecture: Asylum, Withholding of Removal, and Protection Under the U.N. Convention Against Torture,” Department of Justice Executive Office for Immigration Review, October 2021. Available at: https://icor.eoir.justice.gov/substantive_law_lecture_asylum_withholding_cat_accessible.pdf.

[121] “Profile of the Unauthorized Population: United States,” the Migration Policy Institute Data Hub, available at:  https://www.migrationpolicy.org/data/unauthorized-immigrant-population/state/US. See also, supra, ““Estimates of the Unauthorized Immigrant Population Residing in the United States:  January 2018–January 2022.”

[122] “Yale, MIT study: 22 million, not 11 million, undocumented immigrants in US,” Bernal, Rafael. The Hill, 21 September 2018, 4:38 PM ET, available at: https://thehill.com/latino/407848-yale-mit-study-22-million-not-11-million-undocumented-immigrants-in-us/.

[123] “Unlawful Presence and Inadmissibility,” U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, available at: https://www.uscis.gov/laws-and-policy/other-resources/unlawful-presence-and-inadmissibility.

August 6, 2024