Unoccupied Mississippi Casino May Serve as Migrant Lodging
A 22-acre property that once housed Mississippi's Harrah's Casino Tunica could potentially accommodate up to 2,000 young migrants from other countries. The facility would be designed for individuals aged 17 and below, with their parents residing elsewhere as part of a controversial plan, reports local TV station WREG.
The current property owners are allegedly discussing a potential purchase with representatives from an unidentified organization. Most of the former casino complex was demolished after its closure in 2014.
The proposal has yet to gain support from the Tunica County Board of Supervisors, and it may face backlash due to the polarizing nature of immigration debates, particularly along the border with Mexico.
"Obviously, anything that deals with immigration is a hot button issue," said county board attorney John Keith Perry to WREG. "The board, like any other board of supervisors, speaks through its minutes, speaks through its resolutions. There has not been any formal action from the board of supervisors."
Perry asserts that there would be stringent rules governing the children living in the facility. "You don't have children that would be out and about for their safety reasons," Perry explained to WREG.
State Representative Cedric Burnett (D-9 District), who is also a mortician, opposes the idea of using the property for accommodating migrants. "I think if they located immigrants at that location, it would not benefit Tunica, it would not benefit the casinos, it would not benefit the State of Mississippi," Burnett said in an interview with WREG.
Burnett prefers the former casino complex to be used for tourism purposes, which was the area's original focus. "I think that location should be used to complement the gaming industry," he suggested.
Tunica County Sheriff Calvin "K.C." Hamp expressed concerns about the lack of medical resources in the area. "We do not have the adequate resources to support or accommodate the Immigrants Initiative," Hamp stated. "When it comes to public safety, public healthcare, along with child protective services, Tunica County does not have a local hospital in the event of an emergency. We have to transport our patients to hospitals in DeSoto County, Tate County, Clarksdale, and Memphis, Tennessee."
In 2021, Mississippi joined 20 other states in filing a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's plan for a citizenship pathway for hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants across the country. As per a recent report by the U.S. Congress, there have been over 8 million "migrant encounters" in the country during the Biden administration, with over 6.7 million occurring at the southwest border. The document also estimates that approximately 1.7 million undocumented immigrants have managed to evade border patrol officials and are currently residing in the United States.
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Source: www.casino.org
