I'm from Kansas and was even in the Statehouse when everyone converged for these sessions. Lots and lots of kids running around the halls.

Anyway, I have an immigration solution that seems to piss everyone off. Its not my original idea, but I've claimed it:

Tall Fence, Wide Gate.

Step 1) Make it quite easy to come into this country either to work seasonally, or to become a permanent citizen

Step 2) Patrol the southern border

I have known people who have tried to become a citizen (and eventually were successful). It was a red tape nightmare. Make it easier. We live in an information age - do a check and make sure they aren't violent criminals, and welcome them in. Ours is an economy based on expansion, and we are about to hit the contraction when thebaby boomers leave the economy. We absolutely need new people to work and consume in our economy.

And of course we have to still patrol the border. But imagine how much easier it will be. If it is very easy to legally enter the country, who is going to be crossing the border illegally? Primarily violent criminals and smugglers...the type of people who should not be welcomed in. They will be easy to spot, as they will no longer be interspersed with hundreds of laborers just looking for work.

As for the legislation....I don't know what the cutoff age should be, but if a kid has grown up here and the only life he knows is as an American, its very punative to deny him in-state rates. Now I am a transplant to Kansas....and I can understand the sentiment that some people have. Their families may have been here for generations, building up the area, contributing tax money to the universities, etc...and that is why they are rewarded with in-state rates. And I can see how its a punch in the gut to have somebody 'new' get the same rate. But, this is their 'home' now, and children who were brought here at a young age should get the perk.

And look how it turned out for the people who were already living there. I think there's a moral in there somewhere.