WHILE states like Arizona and Alabama have passed tough measures to discourage illegal immigration, Kansas is taking the opposite approach. According to a report in the International Business Times, a coalition of business and agricultural groups is exploring a plan that would allow undocumented immigrants to work in industries that face labor shortages.
With the backing of Kansas Agriculture Secretary Dale Rodman, an influential coalition of business interests is pushing to create a state-sponsored program that would allow businesses with a proven labor shortage to recruit undocumented immigrants, IBT reported.
Since states do not have the authority to grant legal status to immigrants, Kansas plans to ask the federal government to grant qualified immigrants work authorization rather than detaining or deporting them. The draft of the legislation stipulates that work authorization will be given to undocumented immigrants who have clean criminal records and have lived in Kansas for at least five years.
The proposed legislation will support the state’s feedlots, meat processing and packing plants – all part of the livestock industry that is critical to Kansas’ economy.
The news report said that the proposed bill will likely find a steadfast opponent in Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, who denounced the measure as an “amnesty” for immigrants who had entered the country illegally and called it a “political impossibility.” A spokeswoman for Gov. Sam Brownback said he would not support the program, IBT reported.
(www.asianjournal.com)
(LA Weekend Feb 4-7, 2012 Sec A pg. 6)
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