Immigrant communities in South MS are bracing for Trump’s new policies. ‘They are scared’
The phones at Dalaney Mecham’s law office are ringing all day.
Callers are asking what to do if federal immigration agents pull them over or march up their doorstep. Construction companies are wondering if workers will get detained. Soccer coaches are reporting some players are not coming to practice. Mecham said a high school senior he knows has been stopped twice by Immigration and Customs Enforcement on the way to school.
President Donald Trump’s vow to deport millions of undocumented immigrants is alarming some on the Mississippi Coast.
“It’s already causing panic,” Mecham, an immigration attorney in Gulfport, said.
Trump is taking aggressive steps to end illegal immigration by making it easier to detain migrants, allowing ICE to enter schools, hospitals and churches, and sending some immigrants charged with crimes to Guantanamo Bay.
It is unclear how many immigrants are being deported from Mississippi. But Lorena Quiroz, executive director of the Immigrant Alliance for Justice and Equity, said ICE has picked up about 100 people across the state. Immigration attorneys say federal agents have stopped people at gas stations, on streets in Gulfport and on Interstate 10. Some undocumented immigrants are also being held in local jails.
The office of the state auditor estimated last summer that 22,000 undocumented people live in Mississippi.
Cory Custer, Gov. Tate Reeves’ chief of staff, said the state is “proud to support President Trump’s efforts to end illegal immigration because it will help keep Mississippians safe.”
“It’s simply the right thing to do,” he said in a statement. “We’ll continue doing whatever we can to support the president and his immigration policies.”
Immigration enforcement in South MS
On the Coast, the crackdown is stirring new worries and changing habits.
Laura Santamaria owns Las Americas, a Pascagoula grocery store that sells products from across Mexico and Central America. She said some customers have called to ask if ICE is at the business before they visit. Others have started carrying proof of citizenship in case they get stopped.
“They are scared to go out,” Santamaria said. “They don’t feel secure.”
Her brother, Flavio Ortiz, said his 11-year-old daughter recently asked the difference between legal and illegal. He assured her that she and her family are U.S. citizens.
“It opened my eyes,” he said. “I didn’t think she would ask that type of question at that age.”
Immigration attorneys say ICE appears to be targeting individuals in South Mississippi and not pursuing widespread raids. Officers may target one person who they believe is undocumented, but also detain anyone they find with them, including spouses, attorneys said.
Logan Luquette, an immigration attorney whose firm works in Gulfport, Jackson and New Orleans, said some engaged couples are avoiding courthouses for fear that ICE is there. He said many of his clients on the Coast work in manual labor and are reporting that some days, only a few people on construction crews show up for jobs.
The number of illegal immigrants held in Hancock County is also rising.
Sheriff Ricky Adam said the county’s jail holds migrants for a few days if ICE cannot immediately bring them to detention centers in Louisiana. The agency has an office in Gulfport, and immigration agents sometimes visit the jail to interview people who cannot prove legal status after arrests on local charges.
Adam said the jail has held around 20 undocumented immigrants at a time since Trump’s inauguration.
The numbers have increased in recent weeks: Adam said the jail usually held two to five undocumented people at any given time in the last few years.
In Harrison County, Sheriff Matt Haley said the county’s jail holds anywhere from eight to 10 undocumented immigrants per day, but he said that isn’t something new.
“We are not actively going out looking for illegal immigrants,” he said. “If we have somebody come in and it is obvious they are here illegally, the Border Patrol or ICE are immediately notified, and it is up to them at that point what action they want to take.”
Several people arrested on misdemeanor violations, for example, have been picked up in Hancock or Harrison County on charges such as drunk driving or credit card fraud, and are now in federal custody for illegal reentry into the United States, records show. Those cases are pending.
Jackson County Sheriff John Ledbetter said local authorities occasionally call ICE if deputies arrest someone who turns out to be undocumented. But he said the county has seen no increase in those cases and had not been contacted by federal agencies about any new operations.
Crackdown leads to confusion
Mississippi’s Republican leaders have long supported Trump’s efforts. One reason, according to the State Auditor’s report, is that spending on education, health care and incarceration for undocumented immigrants costs state taxpayers over $100 million a year.
Panic over the new federal policies is also fueling misinformation.
Some residents are mistaking a local security company’s cars for ICE and Customs and Border Protection. The company, Drex Executive Protection, drives cars with a green and gold stripe. Border Patrol cars usually have a green stripe. ICE cars have a blue one. But the company’s owner, William “Drex” Drechsel, said some residents have begun spreading videos of his vehicles, staff and home on social media.
The cases of mistaken identity soared so much after Trump’s inauguration that Drechsel said some businesses his company protects are now asking Drex staff to park in the back to avoid scaring customers.
“They’re afraid of losing the money,” Drechsel said. But “look at our vehicles. Look at the markings. Anybody should know it’s not Border Patrol.”
Quiroz said misinformation has become rampant across social media in part because Mississippi has no daily Spanish-language newspaper. The result, she said, is “chaos, chaos, chaos.”
Adam said he expects the number of immigrants held in the Hancock County jail could rise further.
Mecham said he is seeing more clients who are in the process of becoming legal permanent residents get stopped by immigration.
“They have to live in a state of this insecurity,” Mecham said. “Who can they trust? And who is going to turn them in?”
This story was originally published February 7, 2025 at 9:32 AM.
