A Conversation with Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach

Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach, chairman of the Republican Attorneys General Association, joins Parsing Immigration Policy for a wide-ranging discussion of immigration enforcement, voter integrity, and state-federal cooperation.

A key national voice on immigration issues, Kobach shares with host Mark Krikorian insights into the practical and legal efforts that states like Kansas are taking to combat illegal immigration.

Highlights include:

Illegal Population in Kansas

• An estimated 90,000 to 100,000 illegal aliens reside in Kansas, many working in industries like construction.

State-Federal Law Enforcement Cooperation

• Kansas was among the first two states to sign 287(g) cooperation agreements with ICE.
• ICE has only 15,000 agents for interior enforcement – insufficient for mass removals. Kobach emphasized that under 287(g) the daily “net” cast by local officers provides the eyes and ears for federals agents.

Legal Advocacy & Litigation

• DACA Challenge: Kobach represented ICE agents in early litigation against President Obama’s DACA program.
• Obamacare Benefits Case: Led a multi-state coalition to stop illegal aliens from receiving Affordable Care Act benefits and received a victory from the 8th Circuit.
• Census Litigation: Currently leading a multi-state effort to exclude illegal aliens from the census for purposes of congressional apportionment. Including illegal aliens and those here on temporary visas causes “all kinds of constitutional problems.”

Election Integrity

• Former vice chair of the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity under the first Trump administration.
• As Secretary State of the State of Kansas, Kobach implemented strict voter ID laws, requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote.
• Warns that illegal immigrants voting dilutes the votes of U.S. citizens.

E-Verify

• Private businesses in Kansas are not required to use E-Verify, but the agencies and contractors under the Attorney General are mandated to use it for new hires.
• Broader E-Verify bills have not been enacted due to a strong business lobby in the state.

NSEERS (National Security Entry-Exit Registration System)

• This was a post-9/11 system designed by Kobach when he was at the U.S. Department of Justice to stop the terrorist threat posed by the ease of getting a temporary visa and overstaying that visa.
• Whenever an alien from a high-risk terrorist country overstayed a temporary visa, he was flagged so that local law enforcement across the country could arrest him during any routine stop.
• The INS system led to 1,500 arrests of Pakistani illegal aliens, and caused the self-deportation of an estimated 15,000 more.
• Went into effect in 2002, but President Obama cancelled the program. If it were still in effect, the recent attack by a visa overstayer in Colorado might have been stopped.

In today’s commentary, Krikorian, the Center’s executive director, highlights a corporate-backed push – championed by Agriculture Secretary Rollins – to exempt certain sectors from immigration enforcement. President Trump briefly embraced it, triggering swift backlash from the base and within the administration. The move was quickly reversed, but serves as a reminder that pro-unlimited immigration forces remain active, even within the GOP. Eternal vigilance is essential to ensure that immigration policy forces employers to hustle for workers – not the other way around. A tight labor market is in the national interest.

Host

Mark Krikorian is the Executive Director of the Center for Immigration Studies

Guest

Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach.

Related

287(g) Program: A Force Multiplier for Immigration Enforcement

A Preventable Terrorist Attack: NSEERS never should have been cancelled

Attorney General of Kansas Website

Kris Kobach personal website

That Was Fast

Intro Montage

Voices in the opening montage:

• Sen. Barack Obama at a 2005 press conference.
• Sen. John McCain in a 2010 election ad.
• President Lyndon Johnson, upon signing the 1965 Immigration Act.
• Booker T. Washington, reading in 1908 from his 1895 Atlanta Exposition speech.
• Laraine Newman as a "Conehead" on SNL in 1977.
• Hillary Clinton in a 2003 radio interview.
• Cesar Chavez in a 1974 interview.
• House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaking to reporters in 2019.
• Prof. George Borjas in a 2016 C-SPAN appearance.
• Sen. Jeff Sessions in 2008 comments on the Senate floor.
• Candidate Trump in 2015 campaign speech.
• Charlton Heston in "Planet of the Apes".