Kansas Bill Would Have State Agencies Check Legal Status
Rep. Ray Merrick has introduced legislation to force Kansas state agencies to verify the citizenship of people seeking state benefits.
"'I'm tired of the government saying, 'It's too big of a problem, let's just look the other way,' ' [Rep. Ray] Merrick said. 'To me, illegal is illegal.' Some of the bill's opponents, however, say Merrick's legislation is an election-year ploy to look tough on illegal immigrants while doing nothing to really address the problem," the Wichita Eagle reports. "The state has no statistics that show how many people may receive social services they're not entitled to, leaving room to speculate on how much the estimated 47,000 illegal immigrants in Kansas cost taxpayers. 'If we could ever get a number on it, I think we would be surprised how much money we're spending on it,' said Merrick, who says his family immigrated legally from Canada."
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