One man helps mount Mississippi's anti-illegal-immigrant movement

Reporting from Flowood, Miss.—Rodney Hunt, fresh off work in a starched, buttoned-down shirt, joined the crowd that was streaming into a meeting of the Central Mississippi Tea Party.

It was just after the state primaries, and Hunt, 65, a reserved man by nature, had emerged as something of a Mississippi kingmaker.

Hunt's organization, the Mississippi Federation for Immigration Reform and Enforcement, or MFIRE, had endorsed Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant, who had just crushed his opponent in the GOP primary and appeared destined to become governor, partly because he was promising voters he'd push for a tough anti-illegal-immigration law — the group's signature issue.

As the tea party members gathered at Flowood City Hall, other conservative candidates made sure to pay their respects to Hunt, an oral surgeon who came out of obscurity to become the citizen leader of this Deep South state's movement against illegal immigration.  Read Full

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