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The Death Of Mississippi House Bill 488: Latinos In America, Mary Faye Stanton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In March 2012, the Mississippi House of Representatives passed House Bill 488, an immigration bill similar to those passed in Arizona and Alabama that allowed, among other provisions, law enforcement officers to check the legal status of an individual after a legal stop. This thesis sets out to show how three key factors: the opposition of industry and agricultural representatives, the outcry against the racial aspects of the bill, and an alliance between Democrats, the Black Caucus, and Latino rights activists -- prevented the bill from becoming a law in a state with a Republican governor and Republican majority in …