Immigration bill targets employers
Democrats would retain in-state tuition for some children of undocumented parents
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By Scott Rothschild

January 24, 2008

Topeka — House Democratic legislators Wednesday unveiled a proposal that they said would reduce illegal immigration by making employers more accountable.

But unlike a Republican measure unveiled in the Senate, the Democrats’ proposal keeps in place the current opportunity for the children of some undocumented immigrants to pay the less expensive in-state tuition for higher education.

There have been many attempts to repeal the so-called in-state tuition law, but they have all failed.

Sen. Peggy Palmer, R-Augusta, has introduced another bill that would attempt to repeal it. She said the 2004 law should be eliminated because it provides a public benefit to people who are living in Kansas illegally.

But House Democrats said the proposal was too divisive and could scuttle measures that have more support.

“I think that’s a tired debate,â€