If he has to be obsessed, at least he's also incompetent

Kansas' new Secretary of State-elect, Kris Kobach, had a setback today when the California Supreme Court ruled that the state could offer in-state tuition to the qualified children of undocumented immigrants. As you know, Kobach has created quite a name for himself developing laws designed to make sure Hispanics vote for Democrats well into the 22nd century - er, that is, making sure that law enforcement officers harass Hispanics, legal or not - er, that is, suppressing the vote. Actually, it's all of those.

As this article points out, Kobach likes to parade his expertise as a constitutional lawyer, but the problem is that the laws he supports are found unconstitutional. That's why there's a Republican effort to change the constitution to further enable harassment of Hispanics.When in doubt, throw the Constitution out - that's their motto.

The California case will probably be appealed to the Supreme Court, and it's an open question whether it will succeed there, given the current court's devil-may-care attitude toward the Consitution. But some things are clear:

1) this has nothing to do with Kansas,
2) Kris Kobach won't pay much attention to his job here in Kansas if there's anti-immigrant hay to be made in Arizona, California or anywhere else, and
3) he won't let a little thing like the job description of the job he's been elected to constrict his activiites.

An interesting wrinkle to all this is that Governor-elect Brownback has a mixed record on immigration reform - that is, he doesn't have the 100% anti-immigrant bona fides of Kobach and some of his other Republican colleagues:

I have also called for a comprehensive solution to the current immigration problem, which includes border and interior enforcement first, removing criminal immigrants, reducing chain migration, creating sufficient legal paths for controlled immigration, while providing an opportunity for immigrants with clean records who are employed, learn English, pay fines, and pay back-taxes to assimilate.

Hmmm, "comprehensive solution"? sounds like "amnesty" to some who like to make anti-immigration hay:

Senator Sam Brownback actively encourages more illegal immigration to our country and is in our opinion a threat to this nation. We cannot give Sam Brownback our seal of approval. 

A "threat to this nation"? Wow - I didn't know Sam had it in him.

One of the first bills likely to be passed by the new legislature is a requirement that voters carry photo IDs, and that's likely to be only the first of many similar bills - in-state tuition most decidedly among them. Given that Republicans statewide are likely to look at Kobach's election as a green-light to use this as a wedge issue, it will be interesting to see if Brownback chooses to stand on his much-publicized principles on this issue, or if he will cave to the anti-immigration sentiment. Personally, I don't think principle will get very far.


h/t Kansas Free Press