Troy, Missouri, a town of 10,500 inhabitants located northwest of St. Louis off of CR 658, has been chosen as the location of the second meeting of the Special Committee on Immigration Reform scheduled for 1 p.m., June 22, 2006. The meeting will be held at the Lincoln County Courthouse.

Chaired by Rep. Ed Emery (R-Lamar), the committee first met in Jefferson City where they spoke with State Department officials and claimed to have understood better the size and scope of the illegal immigration problem in Missouri.

"The feedback we got from the various state departments and committee members has been very positive,” Emery said. “Every tax payer dollar that is spent in support of individuals who are here illegally is a concern, but the good news from the past committee hearing was that the financial impact seems to be lower than I thought it would be.”

According to Emery, before the Troy meeting committee members will have had an opportunity to tour various facilities that deal with illegal immigration and the issues surrounding it on a daily basis. He was not clear as to what facilities these might be.

The three largest industries in Troy are Bodine Aluminum (800 employees), Wal-Mart (600 employees) and the Lincoln County R-111 School District (557 employees). No CAFOs and/or chicken processing plants were found in the Troy Chamber of Commerce membership list.

"This next meeting [in Troy] will be a chance for members of the committee to go out and 'kick some tires' to gain a more personal perspective on immigration issues," Emery concluded.

The meeting at the Lincoln County Courthouse is open to the public. Anyone wanting to testify in front of the committee should phone Emery's office at (573) 751-2615 for details.

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