While much of this work must be accomplished at the federal level, we can do our part in Kansas to enforce border security and discourage illegal immigration by ensuring that those who violate our immigration laws to come into our state are not rewarded for doing so with taxpayer funded benefits and services. Thus, I would sponsor and support legislation to eliminate all taxpayer-funded benefits or services for illegal immigrants and their families in non-emergency situations, including in particular taking action to repeal the law allowing in-state tuition benefits for the families of illegal immigrants.

I would do this not only because securing our borders is vital to our national security, but because of considerations of fundamental fairness. I ask, is the current system fair? Is it fair that the children of taxpaying U.S. citizens from, say Missouri, or immigrants from other nations who are legally here on student visas, have to pay much higher out-of-state tuition to attend Kansas colleges and universities, while the children of those who broke our laws to get here get rewarded for doing so with in-state tuition breaks. Does this make sense? I believe most Kansans think it does not.

I also will support and vote for a renewed legislative attempt to require Kansas voters to produce a valid photo I.D. to vote, in order to prevent illegal voting and voter fraud. As you know, such a proposal was passed by legislature last session, but vetoed by the Governor, although the U.S. Supreme Court had just upheld as constitutional a similar provision in Indiana -- and despite the fact that, to prevent hardships on legal voters, the Kansas legislation exempted from its requirements anyone over 65, anyone who is disabled, and military personnel and their families, and provided for free photo I.D.s at government expense for any low-income Kansans who don't already have them. Therefore, the only reason I can see why the Governor vetoed this legislation, and why my opponent, Democrat Cindy Neighbor, voted against it, is that they wanted to score political points with their own party by refusing to take steps to prevent those who vote illegally, including illegal immigrants, from continuing to do so.

I would also support legislation imposing criminal penalties on businesses who knowingly and willfully employ illegal immigrants, but not on those who inadvertently do so. I would encourage employers to utilize the E-verify system to guard against hiring illegal immigrants, by providing tax incentives for those who do so.