Kris Kobach, Kansas Secretary of State, To Push Immigration Law

Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach is promising to press several controversial immigration measures when the state legislature reconvenes in January.

Having made immigration his signature issue, Kobach told the Lawrence Journal-World, that he wants the legislature to take up several immigration-related measures in the next session. This includes a bill similar to the controversial Arizona immigration measure he helped write, which allows police officers to detain individuals they believe may be undocumented.

“I think one of the reasons is that there is just so much demand for it from constituents,” he said.

Also, he said, an e-Verify bill that has failed in the past in the Kansas Legislature is more likely to gain acceptance because of a U.S. Supreme Court decision in May that upheld an Arizona law that requires employers use the E-Verify database system to check the immigration status of their workers.

During the 2011 session, legislation similar to another Arizona anti-illegal immigration law, and a bill to repeal in-state tuition for some undocumented students, was under consideration. Kobach has been a driving force behind both measures.

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