He speaks tougher than Haley on the issue:
Illegal Immigration -
It’s called illegal immigration for a reason – it’s illegal. We created these laws to protect the people of our country, and right now those laws are failing. We must protect our borders.
If the federal government won’t take responsibility to stop illegal immigration, then as Governor I will. I understand why people want to come here because Mississippi is a great state with great people, and as a Christian I don’t blame anyone for wanting to come. But corporations who knowingly hire illegal immigrants ought to be held accountable. It’s not fair for Mississippi taxpayers and workers to spend $25 million a year providing benefits to illegal immigrants, while corporations who hire them get away with not paying minimum wage, not paying social security, and not paying state taxes.
At the Mississippi Press Association’s convention at the Beau Rivage Casino on June 22, 2007, Barbour said, “When I became governor, before Katrina, Mississippi had probably the smallest percentage of illegal or legal immigration by Spanish speakers in the country. We just had very few. Since Katrina there’s been a gigantic influx and… I hate to think where the coast would be if they weren’t here.”
I know where we’d be. We could have record employment instead of the highest unemployment in the South. We could be leading the region in job creation and recovery. We could have built homes for the 70,000 people still living in toxic FEMA trailers.
As Governor I’ll make sure that big companies don’t get away with giving our jobs to illegal immigrants and sticking us with the bill.
http://www.eaves2007.com/index.html
BTW John Eaves is Mississippi’s answer to John Edwards.
Eaves is an idiot, or a liar or both.
If it were not for the "imports" the coast would be months behind. Our unemployment has nothing to do with the coast.
I worked with trying to get laborers trained for the coast from Central and North Central Mississippi.
Guess what, the sorry SOBs were offered 13-22.00 an hour and would not come to free training to get the jobs.
Several contractors would come to Jackson, Vicksburg, and other areas to recruit folks at the labor pick up sites and they did not want to go.
So while there was job growth there was no one interested. Except those "imports"
We will not end up having to carry the coast for the rest of our days because of them. And sad fact is they need more. There are 100s of jobs going for want south of here.
Why is John Arthur Eaves’ so familiar? Was his daddy a politician? I know the name. I love the pictures on his website where he’s at a construction site. heh.
I love Haley! (of course, I don’t get a vote since I’m not back home in Missippi, but I can love him from afar. :) )