Mississippi is poised to implement a new law that could lead to a registry of sorts that would list all the illegal immigrants living in the state.
Set to go into effect on Wednesday, the new law says the state Department of Public Safety “may use all reasonable lawful investigative means available” in determining the identities and number of all “illegal aliens” in Mississippi. Their names, addresses, and country of origin would also be included in the list, as well as whether they are an adult or a minor.
“The department is directed to share information on those suspected of violating laws with state and local authorities. The measure neither requires nor prohibits the database from being shared with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement,” CNN reported.
The bill was sponsored by Republican state Senators Angela Burks Hill, Michael McLendon, Chad McMahan, and Joseph M. Seymour.
Hill said the new law “seems like commonsense to me.”
“In order to address the problems caused by illegal immigration, we need to understand the magnitude of the problem. Identifying the number and identity of illegal aliens in Mississippi is a concrete way to better understand the problem,” she said, according to Fox News.
🚨 Mississippi is DONE waiting on the feds!
A new state law taking effect this week lets the Department of Public Safety build its own list of illegal immigrants — names, addresses, country of origin, criminal history, and deportation status — without needing ICE approval.… pic.twitter.com/sObUg1zmJ3
— 🇺🇸JB MAGA 🇺🇸 (@JBMAGA03) June 29, 2026
Immigrant advocates, however, expressed concerns over the law.
“You can be undocumented today, and then have status tomorrow, and then lose it again next month, and then regain it three months from now,” Efrén Olivares, vice president of litigation and legal strategy at the National Immigration Law Center, told The Associated Press. “It’s practically unworkable, but it’s also very worrisome, because it’s eerily reminiscent of other countries that have created lists of certain groups of people.”
State officials have to create “a credible and fairly foolproof way of correctly determining someone’s immigration status,” contended Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies.
Vaughan reasoned that the law “makes a lot of sense,” and that it “raises the likelihood that someone’s illegal presence is going to come to the attention of federal authorities.”
But Victoria Francis, deputy director of state and local initiatives for the American Immigration Council, warned that “A mandate like this invites profiling and turning entire communities into targets.”
And Lydia Grizzell, the policy and advocacy manager at the American Civil Liberties Union of Mississippi, argued that it “increases the likelihood of individuals not reaching out to law enforcement when it’s needed – and that is the opposite of the mission.”
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Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida. Powers also contributes to BizPac Review.
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