Thread: Kan. plan roils debate in immigration guru's state

wdtimes.com
Associated Press
Updated: 5:05 am, Wed Feb 1, 2012.

An architect of state and local laws cracking down on illegal immigration is a leading Republican officeholder in Kansas, but business groups in his home state are asking legislators to move in the opposite direction by starting an unusual program designed to give illegal immigrants hard-to-fill jobs.

Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, a former law professor who helped draft tough laws against illegal immigration in Alabama and Arizona, criticized the new Kansas proposal Tuesday as "amnesty" for people who've come to the U.S. illegally. A spokeswoman said Gov. Sam Brownback, a fellow Republican, isn't supporting the measure.

But Brownback's agriculture secretary has acknowledged having several conversations with federal homeland security officials about potential labor shortages. The coalition pushing the new program includes agriculture groups with memberships that traditionally lean toward the GOP, as well as the Kansas Chamber of Commerce, another stalwart supporter of conservative Republicans.

Utah has a guest worker program, but it isn't set to start until January 2013, and its enactment was part of a legislative package that included initiatives in line with Kobach's thinking on immigration. States with large populations of illegal immigrants _ including California, Florida and Texas _ don't have their own programs.

The Kansas proposal was described as "unprecedented" by Wendy Sefsaf, spokeswoman for the Washington-based Immigration Policy Council. She said she is skeptical that the federal government would allow such a program, though she's sympathetic toward its goals.

"Maybe it's a good thing to have a counterbalance to Kris Kobach," she said.

The new proposal complicates the debate over immigration in Kansas where, ironically, Kobach and his allies in the GOP-controlled Legislature haven't been able to pass the same tough measures enacted in other states. It also could split Republican majorities enough that nothing of either stripe passes in an election year.

Kobach said he doesn't see the business groups' proposals as a poke at him but rather as confirmation that some employers want to keep hiring illegal immigrants to suppress wages. He also said they're out of touch with legislators and Kansas voters.

"Their bill is a legal impossibility and a political fantasy," he said. "I don't take it personally at all."

The new program proposed by the groups would create a pool of immigrant workers that businesses could tap after the state certifies a labor shortage in their industries. The state would support requests from individual workers for the federal government to authorize them to continue working in the U.S., despite not being able to document that they are in the country legally.

Representatives of the groups pushing the plan provided a draft of legislation to The Associated Press ahead of its formal introduction in the House and Senate. The program would apply to illegal immigrants in the U.S. at least five years, if they've committed no felonies and not more than one misdemeanor, and if they agree to work at becoming proficient in English. Businesses hiring the immigrants would have to follow federal labor laws.

The Washington-based Pew Hispanic Center estimates that Kansas had 45,000 illegal immigrant workers in 2010, accounting for about 3 percent of its workforce. State officials and supporters of the business groups' plan don't yet have hard numbers on how many jobs are in danger of going unfilled, but unemployment rates in the western half of the state were mostly less than 4 percent in December, well below the statewide figure of 5.9 percent.

Backers of the proposal believe their new program would be helpful to commercial dairies and feedlots in western Kansas, as well as landscaping, roofing and some construction businesses.

"The key is, these are people that are in Kansas," said Allie Devine, a Topeka attorney and former state agriculture secretary who lobbies for business owners on immigration policy. "We're asking to keep those people here, let them remain and let them work."

Utah legislators created their state's guest-worker program last year, and Georgia legislators directed their state to study the idea. There were two unsuccessful proposals last year in Texas, and lawmakers are pursuing the idea in California, New Mexico and Oklahoma.

Sefsaf predicted the federal government will block such efforts, just as it has tried to block laws like Alabama's and Arizona's, as encroaching on its power to set national immigration policy. Kobach agreed.

Meanwhile, some signals from Brownback's administration on immigration issues have been mixed _ perhaps reflecting the split among key groups of supporters.

A new policy imposed Oct. 1 by the state Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services reduced or denied food stamps benefits to hundreds of U.S.-born children of illegal immigrants.

But last week, state Agriculture Secretary Dale Rodman publicly discussed the possibility of getting a waiver from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to allow agriculture businesses to hire illegal immigrants in jobs they're having trouble filling.

Department of Agriculture spokeswoman Chelsea Good said Tuesday that while Rodman has spoken several times with federal officials about labor problems in agriculture, the agency hasn't submitted a formal waiver request. The coalition's representatives said their proposal would make a waiver unnecessary.

Brownback spokeswoman Sherriene Jones-Sontag said the business groups' plan is not on the governor's legislative agenda, but it's still expected to get a hearing from legislators _ alongside proposals pursued by Kobach's allies.

____

Kansas Legislature: Welcome | Kansas State Legislature

Kan. plan roils debate in immigration guru's state - Watertown Daily Times Online : National:

Kan. plan: Allow illegal immigrants to stay, work

Published January 31, 2012

| Associated Press


TOPEKA, Kan. – A coalition of business groups will propose Kansas start a new program to help some illegal immigrants remain in the state so they can hold down jobs in agriculture and other industries with labor shortages, coalition representatives disclosed Tuesday.

A spokeswoman for the Washington-based Immigration Policy Council called the proposal "unprecedented" and questioned whether the federal government would allow such a program, though she was sympathetic toward supporters' goals. Utah has set up a guest-worker program, but it doesn't take effect until 2013 and was part of a broader package of initiatives on immigration.

The Kansas proposal also is notable because it complicates the debate over immigration issues in the home state of Kris Kobach, a former law professor who helped draft tough laws against illegal immigration in Alabama and Arizona. Kobach, known nationally for advising state and local officials across the nation on immigration issues, is secretary of state, the chief elections official in Kansas.

The proposal is likely to stir controversy in the Kansas Legislature and divide the Republican majority, some of whose members are pursuing proposals to crack down on illegal immigration. Representatives of the business coalition, which includes agriculture groups and the Kansas Chamber of Commerce, provided a draft copy of their proposed legislation to The Associated Press ahead of its formal introduction in the House and Senate.

Supporters of the proposal acknowledge they're trying to protect industries heavily reliant on laborers, particularly agriculture. But state officials and backers don't have any hard numbers for how many jobs are in danger of going unfilled. Kansas has an estimated 45,000 illegal-immigrant workers.

"What it says about the debate is that states are tired of waiting," said Wendy Sefsaf, the Immigration Policy Council's spokeswoman. "There's immigration legislation moving all the time, everywhere."

The coalition spelled out details of its proposals only days after state Agriculture Secretary Dale Rodman publicly discussed the possibility of getting a waiver from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to allow agriculture businesses to hire illegal immigrants in jobs they're having trouble filling.

The coalition's representatives said their proposal would make a waiver unnecessary. And Department of Agriculture spokeswoman Chelsea Good said Tuesday that while Rodman has spoken several times with federal officials about labor problems in agriculture, the agency hasn't submitted a formal waiver request.

Backers of the proposal believe their new program would be helpful to commercial dairies and feedlots in western Kansas, as well as landscaping, roofing and some construction businesses. In December, unemployment rates in most of the western half of the state were less than 4 percent, well below the state figure of 5.9 percent.

"It's a good starting point," said state Senate Agriculture Chairman Mark Taddiken, a Clifton Republican. "We have a labor shortage in certain industries, agriculture being one of them, and we're turning to solve that shortage problem."

The new program proposed by the groups would create a pool of immigrant workers businesses could tap after the state certifies a labor shortage in their industries. The state would support individual workers' requests from the federal government for authorization to continue working in the U.S., despite not being able to document that they are in the country legally.

"The key is, these are people that are in Kansas," said Allie Devine, a Topeka attorney and former state agriculture secretary who lobbies for business owners on immigration policy. "We're asking to keep those people here, let them remain and let them work."

Utah created its guest-worker program last year, and Georgia officials were directed to study the idea. There were two unsuccessful proposals in Texas last year, and lawmakers in New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas have proposed programs for their states. But other states with large immigrant populations, including California and Florida, don't have such programs.

Sefsaf predicted the federal government would block such efforts, just as it's tried to block laws like Alabama's and Arizona's, as encroaching on its power. Kobach agreed, calling the Kansas proposal "a legal impossibility and a political fantasy."

The proposal is not part of Brownback's legislative agenda, and he's not supporting it, spokeswoman Sherriene Jones-Sontag said.

The proposal comes only months after the state Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services enacted a new policy Oct. 1 that reduced or denied food stamps benefits to hundreds of U.S.-born children of illegal immigrants. Legislators also are pursuing several proposals to crack down on illegal immigration.

State Rep. Lance Kinzer, an Olathe Republican who's pushing proposals to crack down on illegal immigration, called the business groups' plan "amnesty" for such immigrants. He said the state — working with Democratic President Barack Obama's administration — would give legal status to immigrants "by fiat" despite their being in the U.S. illegally.

"It should make some people mad," Kinzer said. "A proposal like that, I think, is unlikely to make it through the legislative process."

The proposed program would be for illegal immigrants who have been in the U.S. at leave five years and have committed no more than one misdemeanor, aside from traffic infractions. The immigrant also would have to agree to work toward English proficiency. Essentially, coalition members said, the federal government would make their deportation a low priority while they continue to work in the U.S.

Businesses would have to pay a fee of up to $5,000, plus an additional $200 for each worker, to tap the labor pool, and they'd have to agree to follow federal labor standards. Money raised by the fees would go to community groups to help finance English lessons, immunizations and other services.

___

Online:

Kansas Legislature: Welcome | Kansas State Legislature

Read more: Kan. Plan: Allow Illegal Immigrants To Stay, Work | Fox News

Added to ALIPAC Homepage with amended title:

http://www.alipac.us/content/kan-pla...u-s-state-131/