Illegals to March in Kansas

As the numbers of illegal immigrants residing in the US spirals out of control, Hispanic activists feel increasingly emboldened to demand that state and local governments treat illegal immigrants as if they were legitimate US citizens. In Kansas, the illegal population has grown so large, that activists plan to make a display of its size as a means of intimidating officials into granting their demands.

Thousands of Hispanic residents are expected to descend on Topeka this week to ask state legislators for rights for undocumented and illegal immigrants.

The residents will march for better access to education and health care in an event organizers are calling Out of the Shadows.

'For too long, the 'illegal' name has stigmatized our people,' said Sulma Arias, director of special projects for Hispanos Unidos -- a chapter of Sunflower Community Action, which is organizing the march.

'The system forces them to feel they have to live in the shadows.'

Illegal aliens are properly stigmatized because they broke the law and violated a sovereign country's territorial integrity by running across its borders. One wonders why Ms. Arias believes that Hispanics have the right to arbitrarily decide which US laws they will obey and which they will disregard. If other American citizens tried that, they'd be arrested.

The Hispanic activists have a laundry list of demands, all of which aim to drastically increase the burdens on Kansas taxpayers.

Representatives of Hispanic groups will talk to lawmakers Tuesday about the need for better access to health care. A lack of insurance coverage and translators to help answer questions often blocks them access to proper care, organizers said.

In addition, they want continued support of the law allowing children of undocumented or illegal immigrants to pay in-state tuition at universities.

'We hope (legislators) are open-minded about these things and will explore the possibility of making people's lives better in the state,' said Father Juan Fahey Guerra, director of Hispanic Ministries for the Catholic Diocese of Dodge City.

They also want lawmakers to grant driver's licenses to undocumented or illegal immigrants.

A driver's license is the primary article of personal identification in the US. To permit illegal aliens, whose provenance and intentions are unknown, to obtain such identitification places the entire country at risk as such licenses would make it easier for terrorists to move freely inside the US (not to mention mere foreign criminals). In the wake of September 11th, making it easier for undocumented aliens to obtain passable identification makes absolutely no sense.

Contrary to the arguments offered by advocates, the granting of driver's licenses to illegal aliens has little to do with improving road safety and more to do with the gradual erasure of any legal distinction between American citizenship and residence in the US. This deliberate effort has as its long range goal the diminishment of American sovereignty.

Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius has expressed support for the idea of granting licenses to illegals.

Those who are opposed, such as Wichita lawyer Kevin Mark Smith, say state regulatory agencies can give immigrants access to insurance without the legislature granting them driver's licenses.

'I don't think our state should reward criminals,' Smith said. 'From an illegal immigrant standpoint, when someone crosses the border without authority, they are breaking the law.'

State agencies should restrict their benefits only to those who have legally entered the US and remain here in obeyance of our laws. Granting benefits of any sort to criminals only encourages the activity. Kansans should consider removing Governor Sebelius at their earliest opportunity - and demanding that Washington, whose failure to control the border has resulted in this problem, shoulders the financial burdens imposed on Kansas taxpayers by illegal immigrants.