Immigration Politics - Mississippi: Gov. Barbour May Follow in Brewer's Footsteps on Controversial Immigration Policy

Immigration politics at the state level starts to get tied to the 2012 presidential campaign.

Barbour May Follow in Brewer's Footsteps on Controversial Immigration Policy | The Rundown News Blog | PBS NewsHour | PBS: "Mississippi governor and potential Republican presidential contender Haley Barbour addressed a Chamber of Commerce audience in Chicago Monday, where he spent most of his time on criticizing President Obama's handling of the economy.

He will likely continue to do the same in Iowa and California this week as he continues to test the presidential waters. But back in Mississippi, a quieter fight over a pending immigration bill is brewing, one which would undoubtedly play role in the upcoming battle for the GOP nomination.Modeled closely after the contentious law enacted by Arizona governor Jan Brewer last April, the proposed measure in Mississippi would allow law enforcement officers to ask people they suspect of being illegal immigrants for proof that they are in the country legally. Failure to produce proper documentation could result in jail time or deportation. ...

Where does Gov. Barbour come down on the bill? While he has said in the past he thinks it's reasonable for law enforcement officers to ask for documentation from suspected illegal immigrants, the governor's office declined to comment on the specific bill while it was still making its way through the legislature. "However," said a spokesman, "Gov. Barbour supports strong, enforceable immigration laws."

Despite that support, Barbour's record on immigration could be a cause of concern for his party's base. It came to light in February that his former lobbying firm, Griffith & Rogers, worked with the Embassy of Mexico in 2001 on legislation to provide a path to citizenship for Mexicans living illegally in the U.S. And in an interview with the Hoover Institution last September, Barbour praised the efforts of people he believed to be illegal immigrants in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, saying, "I don't know where we would have been in Mississippi after Katrina if it hadn't been for the Spanish speakers that came in to help rebuild, and there's no doubt in my mind that some of them weren't here legally."

It may prove difficult for Gov. Barbour to have it both ways. "Elected leaders are caught between a rock and hard place," the National Immigration Forum's Noorani explained. "They want to cater to their extreme base, who would like to demagogue immigrants. But they also see the contributions of immigrants, documented or not, in their communities. In order to win at the statewide or national level, Republican politicians need to be very cognizant." "