Illegal Immigration: What’s Your Solution?

That’s what my friend and colleague Senator Ralph Ostmeyer keeps asking around the Capitol. Every time someone criticizes our illegal immigration bill (the original Senate Bill 458), he queries: “What’s your solution to illegal immigration?” After months of waiting during the Session, the answer has always been the same – leave it up to the federal government.

Let me get this right – you are talking about the same federal government that last solved the illegal immigration problem back when I was still in high school? Yes, with a straight face, “leave it to the federal government.” Please recall – the last comprehensive federal answer was the 1986 amnesty. Remember, the overwhelming problem back then of one million illegal aliens? Magically legalized with a wave of the federal wand. And a complete federal government promise (including my beloved President Ronald Reagan) to finally secure our borders.

Today, there are an estimated 12 million illegal aliens. That’s right. A few more “solutions” like that…a little more border security like that…well you get the point. Sadly though, too many of my colleagues seem to be buying this line. Can’t solve this in Kansas. No, not at all. Can’t even try. In fact, if we even tried to duplicate what they are doing in Arizona or even Oklahoma – the economy would be decimated. And the Oklahoma claim is curious, given that the employer provisions haven’t even taken effect yet…

Which is an interesting claim – particularly given not a single opponent to our illegal immigration bill has ever hired, condoned the hiring, or even knows of anyone that ever hired an illegal alien. (Or so one would easily surmise from their literature.) If there are no illegal aliens working in Kansas, why would adding state penalties impact the economy? Maybe it is because most Kansas employers are ignoring the I-9 form mandated back with the 1986 amnesty.

This is my twelfth year in the Kansas Legislature – and rarely am I surprised – but the response on illegal immigration is so strange. Associations represented by more than 60 lobbyists have joined together to fight any adequate response to problem – but amazingly, out of all these folks, I don’t believe more than three of them have had the courage to visit with me about this issue. Instead, I read newspaper columns criticizing our motives – and indirectly – your motives. Some of my very own colleagues are engaging in similar tactics – even going so far as to actually strip the names of the five co-sponsors off our own bill.

As some of you may know, I am one of the few legislators who have actually any personal experience with the federal immigration agencies (then it was INS, now it is ICE). Thank goodness, my wife and I were able to work through the massive paperwork in order to adopt our two oldest sweethearts from Haiti. No, the process is not easy (but nor was it easy for the tens of thousands of other Kansan legal immigrants and their families). Perhaps that is intimidating to some. But in reality, the real intimidation is their inability to answer the question: “What is your solution?”

Or perhaps it is the unwillingness of many to truthfully answer “We want no solution.” For the current system has its benefits, companies who hire illegal aliens are able to employ folks who work at wages much lower than the marketplace, who are usually lower-educated and thus unwilling to question or fight workplace unfairness or discrimination…and don’t forget…the government can be counted on to pay for their children’s health care, school for at least thirteen years, in-state tuition breaks for college, subsidized housing, and any other welfare program for which they can buy fraudulent documents. Yes, that sounds harsh, but it is the reality of national numbers from the Heritage Foundation and numerous other reputable research groups.

I believe Kansans are like most Americans – we are looking for solutions. And Americans are clear – amnesty, open borders is not the solution we seek. By working together, Kansas can adopt measures that would allow our local law enforcement to assist in tracking down and detaining those who break our laws. We could not only adopt laws to prohibit your tax dollars going to support illegal aliens, but actually require proof of U.S citizenship or legal presence to receive our welfare. And we can penalize those businesses who knowingly break federal law by hiring illegal aliens – without harming those who are good law-abiding Americans.

It is doable. It is possible. Next week, the immigration debate hits the floor of both the House and Senate. Let’s hope and pray that the people who roam this building – whether they be legislator, lobbyist, or just citizens who care about our country – can work together for solutions to the problem of illegal immigration, not just empty rhetoric and accusations. It is what Kansas citizens deserve.

Kansas State Senator Tim Huelskamp (R-Fowler) is a farmer-rancher and has served in the Kansas Senate in 1996. Tim has an undergraduate degree from the College of Sante Fe, as well as a PhD in Political Science from American University, located in Washington DC. As an advocate for fiscal responsibility, protection for the unborn, judicial restraint, private property rights, and other family-friendly policies, Tim has become a leading conservative voice in the Senate. For more information about Sen. Tim Huelskamp visit his website at www.huelskamp.org.