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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsKansas agriculture secretary seeks waiver for illegal immigrants
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???
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
(29,674 posts)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
(96,793 posts)Brownback took their food stamps away. Now he wants them to work at slave wages.
xmas74
(29,674 posts)Brownback is a real piece of work.
rgbecker
(4,832 posts)I don't imagine there will be any minimum wage...farm work you know.
HopeHoops
(47,675 posts)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.