Video: Immigration Debate Continues, Gov. Bryant Weighs In

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STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) — As immigration protests continue around the country, congress has yet to act on the issue. Now state leaders are weighing in on the debate.

Immigration continues to be a hot-button issue that remains unsolved as congress prepares for summer break. Protesters in California blocked a bus load of undocumented women and children headed to a local shelter last month, sparking a nationwide immigration debate. The sudden increase in those illegally crossing the US border can be attributed to extreme conditions in Central America.

“There’s the fear of gangs. There’s a lot of gang violence certainly in Central America. Also in Mexico and in Central America, you have narcotics traffickers. You have those folks, there’s a lot violence and danger,” says Joe Shumate, a former US Department of State Public Relations employee who worked in Mexico.

President Obama recently met with the leaders from Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador. Since October, nearly 60,000 undocumented children from those countries have entered the United States illegally.

“We have to deter a continuing influx of children putting themselves at great risk and families putting themselves at great risk,” President Obama said last week during the meeting.

Carol Armstrong has been an immigration attorney in Starkville and Tuscaloosa for nearly two decades. She got involved with immigration by helping companies bring over employees. Armstrong says the well-being of American children should always be a priority, however the United States has a history of helping others in need.

“While we are American and we do need to take care of our own, the problem I have with that philosophy that some folks are advocating, we have always been a country that it is open to those, bring me your tired, your hungry, your poor, those who’ve been mistreated. I don’t understand now why that same protection should not also be afforded to some of these children. Now all of them won’t qualify,” says Armstrong.

Last week, Governor Phil Bryant wrote a letter to the president, stating he would not allow immigrant children in Mississippi due to potential costs.

Mississippi doesn’t have an immigration court but has received 179 undocumented children since January. Now the White House is saying Obama may act alone to resolve the immigration issue if Congress fails to act.

In 2012, Governor Bryant signed an executive order prohibiting public benefits for those living illegally in Mississippi. Last week, Bryant reiterated that he’ll take immediate action against any state official that violates the order.