The Mississippi legislature has had enough of universities that proclaim themselves “sanctuary campuses” to shield illegals from the law, Campus Reform reports.
State representatives are preparing legislation that would effectively ban the practice by preventing universities from hiding a student’s immigration status.
Senate Bill 2710 is designed to stop any state agency, which would include public colleges and universities, from prohibiting the federal agencies from investigating or enforcing the law. These agencies would not be able to “adopt, or implement a policy, order, or ordinance that limits or prohibits any person from communicating or cooperating with federal agencies or officials to verify or report the immigration status of any person.”
Moreover, the bill clearly indicates that a state agency that “grants to any person the right to lawful presence or status within the state, a county, or municipality, or the campus of a university, college, community college, or junior college” would be breaking state or federal law.
It’s a direct response to a student at the University of Mississippi who demanded the administration declare facility a “sanctuary campus.” Allen Coon’s agitation was exposed when a draft of his resolution became public and angry conservatives demanded a stop to the proposed action.
SB 2710 has already cleared the Mississippi Senate and received approval from the state House on Wednesday. The next stop is the desk of Republican Gov. Phil Bryant, who says he has every intention of signing the bill into law.
“We are going to pass a law that says you can’t have sanctuary cities in Mississippi, so that you can’t hide these individuals from immigration and customs,” Bryant told Fox News.
Republican state Rep. Steve Hopkins says the legislation couldn’t be stated with greater clarity or fulfill more common sense, describing the bill as one that “would require that all state-funded agencies, municipalities, and colleges and universities abide by State and Federal immigration laws and that they can not make policies that would be contrary to those laws.”
Rep. Rob Roberson agreed, noting that “the bill is simply reflecting federal law and reiterates it in state law” making it a “policy statement from the legislative government office.”
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