JFP Person of the Day: Bill Chandler

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MIRA Executive Director Bill Chandler is the recipient of a Purpose Prize fellowship.

by Kelly Brignac
November 5, 2009

Bill Chandler, executive director and founder of Jackson-based Mississippi Immigrants Rights Alliance, does not let being 68 stop him from doing good. He is an advocate for immigrant rights throughout the state of Mississippi. For this work, he was named a 2009 Purpose Prize Fellow, an award for entrepreneurs over 60 who use their experience to tackle society's biggest challenges in second careers started in the second half of life.

Civic Ventures, a non-profit organization that focuses on engaging baby boomers for meaningful work in the social arena, awards the Purpose Prize and fellowships through its networking Web site, Encore.org.

Chandler started MIRA in 2000 after noticing abuse of Latino and Asian immigrants through his work as a union organizer in Mississippi and throughout the South. He particularly noticed abuses against farm, hospitality and construction workers, especially after Katrina. Some construction workers were, and continue to be, ripped off by wage theft, where contractors hire immigrants and disappear after the job is done without paying the workers. MIRA has regained over $1 million for immigrants in wage theft cases after tracking down these contractors.

The Purpose Prize Fellow award will "raise MIRA's image in the nation," Chandler told the Jackson Free Press. "We are well-known across the country and in many other countries because of the work we have been doing, and this will provide more visibility for MIRA."

Racist laws in the U.S. have targeted immigrants throughout history, Chandler says, beginning with the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which suspended immigration from China for a decade. He added that all the restrictive immigration laws that have been passed have focused on immigrants of color. Until 1965, it was almost impossible for immigrants of color to obtain visas to come to the U.S.

He also says that implementing the North American Free Trade Agreement has had a devastating effect on the agricultural economy in Mexico. Many farmers became destitute and began coming to the U.S. to support their families, settling in the Deep South. As a result, they need protection. "Once these people are here, they have basic human needs, like you and me. And once they are here, we try to protect and expand the rights they have," he says.

Chandler remains busy at work, despite his age. He stresses that working for MIRA can include a seven-day workweek because some immigrants are only available to talk on Saturdays or Sundays. MIRA representatives, therefore, make themselves available on weekends. Chandler oversees all of MIRA's daily activities, which can include time in the field, phone conversations and meetings.

MIRA also works in the Legislature to pass bills to protect immigrants' rights and block bills that hinder these rights. Since opening, the organization has overseen passage of six bills and blocked over 200 from being passed.

Chandler is a prime example of why retirement from one job does not mean the end of a career. "I retired from one organization one day, and the next day I was at work organizing MIRA," he said in a release.