A conservative conundrum

(Syndicated to Kansas newspapers Jan. 7, 2013)

Martin HawverWell, it’s always fun to hold a couple guys’ coats while they fight.

It appears that situation is coming up for the 2013 Legislature, a fight over immigration law, or at least the pieces of immigration law that the state can deal with. Immigration is basically a federal issue, of course, and Kansas doesn’t have a border with any foreign nation…unless you want to count Oklahoma.

The scrap? It is shaping up between the Kansas Chamber of Commerce and Secretary of State Kris Kobach, who doesn’t want any accommodation of not-legally-here residents of Kansas. Kobach has made a nice sideline job out of writing bills for cities and states to deter illegal immigration and expel illegal immigrants.