Kansas agriculture secretary seeks waiver for illegal immigrants

[proud2BlibKansan]

Unreal. Last week Brownback took food stamps away from the children of the undocumented workers. Now his agriculture secretary wants a waiver to hire these workers???

TOPEKA | Facing pressure from large dairies and feedlots desperate for workers, Kansas Agriculture Secretary Dale Rodman is seeking a federal waiver that would allow companies to hire illegal immigrants.

Rodman has met several times with officials at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security about launching a pilot program that would place employers and illegal immigrants in a special state-organized network. The Topeka Capital-Journal reported that the goal is to create a legal, straightforward manner of organizing existing immigrant labor.

So far, Homeland Security has neither approved nor closed the door on the idea.

"I need a waiver," Rodman said. "It would be good for Kansas agriculture."

Now a coalition of business interests is preparing to push the idea in Topeka. Details are expected to emerge this week about a bill establishing the outline of a state-managed worker program. Operating in cooperation with the federal government, it would link sponsor companies with illegal immigrants who have been in Kansas a minimum of five years and have no criminal background. One potential candidate would be a person who entered Kansas on a visa that expired years ago.

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2012/01/29/3398406/kansas-agricultural-interests.html#storylink=cpy

[xmas74]

1. Why am I not surprised?

Of course, we'll hear about how they need to do this because they can't find Americans willing to work in the field. What they won't address is that the pay often isn't high enough to warrant the gas money to drive to the fields to work.

Hire the illegal immigrants but be sure to not make them too cozy, I guess.

[proud2BlibKansan]

4. And starve their kids too

Brownback took their food stamps away. Now he wants them to work at slave wages.

[xmas74]

5. I read about that recently in the Star.

Brownback is a real piece of work.

[rgbecker]

2. O boy! State sanctioned slavery.

I don't imagine there will be any minimum wage...farm work you know.

[HopeHoops]

3. Anyone with a good-sized garden knows it is nasty work.

Ours provides a lot of our food. We've still got a shitload of potatoes from this year's harvest, mostly ones from leftover "seed" potatoes from LAST year's harvest. I don't know how anyone can work in a field without snitching things on the job. I can't even get through an hour of weeding without eating a meal.