Locals & illegals: On the right side


Friday, July 24, 2009


Halfhearted and/or inconsistent federal immigration enforcement makes necessary and admirable the work of Kris W. Kobach. He's a conservative professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City law school who has headed the Kansas GOP and is running for Kansas secretary of state.

It's his role as the leading legal advocate for local governments fed up with the feds' weak immigration enforcement -- including the government of Hazleton, Pa. -- that's drawing national notice, including a profile in the liberal New York Times.

Mr. Kobach doesn't always win in court but he always argues forcefully for the rule of law.

Kobach was working for the U.S. Justice Department shortly after Sept. 11, 2001, when he realized the hijackers might have been foiled had traffic police who stopped several of them known they were in the U.S. illegally. That prompted Kobach to think of ways that local police could serve as the "eyes and ears" for federal immigration officials.

Local governments' duty to keep the public safe, which covers the threats posed by illegal aliens, is even more important because of such federal foot-dragging as the Obama administration's delay of an immigration overhaul.

As local governments strive to meet that responsibility, Americans who understand the meaning of "illegal" should be grateful that they have Kris Kobach on their side.

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