Wednesday, February 1, 2012

An architect of state and local laws cracking down on illegal immigration is a leading Republican officeholder in Kansas, but business groups in his home state are asking legislators to move in the opposite direction.

They're advocating a plan designed to give illegal immigrant workers hard-to-fill jobs.

Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, a former law professor who helped draft tough laws against illegal immigration in Alabama and Arizona, criticized the new Kansas proposal Tuesday as "amnesty." But it's expected to get a hearing from legislators.

Utah has a guest worker program, but it isn't set to start until January 2013, and the idea has been proposed in several states.

In Kansas, it's likely to split Republicans in the GOP-controlled Legislature and complicate the immigration debate.