Thread: KS: Immigration dominates two races

Immigration dominates two races
By Tim Carpenter
Created July 24, 2010 at 4:43pm

Updated July 24, 2010 at 11:07pm

Immigration policy is consuming most of the oxygen in two statewide primary campaigns while the issue remains a low-decibel issue in other contested races in Kansas.

The electorate might assume Kansas was in the midst of a savage border war — picture ongoing violence in Mexico near Texas, Arizona and California or "Bloody Kansas" slavery fights of the 1850s — by listening to rhetoric from GOP Senate candidates Todd Tiahrt and Jerry Moran as well as Kris Kobach's campaign for secretary of state.

Kobach views infiltration of illegal immigrants into American society as the "civil rights issue of our time."

"People want to know who's going to stand their ground," Tiahrt said.

Moran said economic costs of providing education, health care and welfare benefits to undocumented aliens in Kansas produced "genuine interest in the issue."

Other candidates consider immigration a vexing policy challenge, but theorize concentrated attention to the topic in Kansas was driven by a desire to generate explosive campaign sound bites. Whip partisan loyalists into a frenzy, the theory goes, and more might be motivated to vote in the Aug. 3 primary.

"That could happen. Fear is a very, very strong emotion," said Secretary of State Chris Biggs, a Democratic candidate for his party's nomination.

In the four U.S. House races and the 125 Kansas House campaigns, there is sporadic discussion about resolving status of millions of illegal immigrants. There are expressions of anxiety about border security. Debate about the role of local, state and federal officials exists.

"It does come up occasionally," said David Ray, spokesman for state Sen. Tim Huelskamp, a candidate in the six-person U.S. House campaign in the 1st District.

Calling the sheriff

Kobach, the former state GOP chairman and an attorney specializing in immigration, pulled an estimated 2,000 people to an Overland Park fundraiser. They didn't attend "Illegal is Illegal" to hear a recitation by Kobach of a secretary of state's clerical duties regarding elections and corporate filings. The magnet was Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio. This Arizona lawman, who makes inmates wear pink underwear, is a hero of people perplexed with government response to undocumented immigration to the United States.

Kobach helped draft the new Arizona law relied upon by Arpaio to extend local law enforcement's power to detain illegals. It is being challenged in court. He understands why some candidates prefer not to emphasize immigration on the stump. He said some campaigns might not talk about the issue due to lack of division among Republicans for need of a forceful approach.

"It depends on the individual running and what their main message is," he said. "If there's not a distinction, there's not a lot of daylight for it to come up."

Kobach believes Kansans should be required to present proof of citizenship when registering to vote and show a photo identification card when casting a ballot.

"Most Kansans would agree we need to enforce our immigration laws more vigorously," he said. "The issue is a salient one in the primary or general election."


Tug of war

Central players in the Republican campaign for U.S. Senate — Moran and Tiahrt — are engaged in a multimillion-dollar showdown expected to turn on who best defines himself as a conservative. Immigration is fertile ground to make such an appeal.

The veteran U.S. House members demand improvement in security on the southern border and a campaign to flush illegals out of the country.

Moran, of the 1st District, has embraced fence construction and assignment of National Guard troops to slow illicit entry.

"Not just one fence, but two fences, with a road in between," said Tiahrt, who serves the 4th District center in Wichita.

Both objected to the U.S. Department of Justice's lawsuit challenging Arizona's new immigration law.

"There is a war raging on our border that needs immediate attention for our national and economic security. More attorneys is not the answer," Tiahrt said.

Moran said the litigation demonstrated President Obama's administration "does not respect local efforts to enforce immigration laws."

The division emerges when their congressional voting records are peeled apart by campaign staff looking for cracks.

Tiahrt said he faulted Moran for voting last year to extend taxpayer-financed health benefits to illegal immigrant children and in 2007 against a $125 million increase in border patrol spending. Tiahrt said Moran supported, in 2003, "sanctuary cities providing amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants."

Moran points to Tiahrt's votes in 2002 and 2003 for the Dream Act, which would have guaranteed in-state college tuition benefits to illegal immigrants. Tiahrt urged issuance of driver's licenses to undocumented workers in 2002, Moran said. Tiahrt wrote in a 2006 newspaper column that "illegal immigrants working here are critical to the continued expansion of the economy."

Not a big deal

Lisa Johnston, a college administrator from Overland Park seeking the Democratic nomination for Senate, said the most prevalent questions from Kansans at political events don't revolve around immigration. The most pressing issue for voters, she said, was the task of climbing out of a recession that stripped the workforce of jobs.

"It's not necessarily the No. 1 priority on the minds of Kansas voters," she said.

Johnston said the subject had been raised in the context of undocumented immigrants taking jobs that might have been filled by citizens.

State Senate President Steve Morris, a Hugoton Republican, said the issue of illegal immigration didn't take precedence over other issues in southwest Kansas. And there are pockets in that region with a majority Hispanic population, he said.

"If any place in the state it's an issue, it's out west," Morris said. "It's not. We're not Arizona."

Biggs said he didn't accept Kobach's assertion illegal immigrants were a pervasive influence on Kansas elections.

"There is no suggestion in the evidence that we have a major voter fraud problem and certainly not one connected to illegal immigration," Biggs said.

http://cjonline.com

How is it that in common sense Kansas, they have a Democrat running who thinks jobs are important but that illegal immigration that rsobs Americans of job isn't? How is it Republicans have a candidate who voted for the Dream Act for illegal aliens and another one who supports sanctuary cities for them?

At least the Republicans appear to have seen the light and one can at least hope with the light came some enlightenment. At least they understand the significance of the issue .. now .... better late than never .... while the Democrat is still chirping about jobs but ignoring the illegal aliens who stole them.

Good luck Kansas voters in making your choices. I hope you choose one of the Republicans who at least are listening and trying to outdo each other on which one has listened the most and is now offering the toughest deal on illegal immigration.

[b]U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC)

“As he’s proven in Congress, Jerry Moran will not buckle to the pressures of Washington, D.C., but instead stand up and fight against wasteful bailouts, reckless spending, and illegal immigration. I fully trust that Jerry will stand with me against the irresponsible policies that endanger our great nation’s freedom.â€

its good that even in in a heartland state like kansas, illegal immigration is becoming an important factor. Dodge City and the southwest Kansas area has alot of illegals