Southwestern College Collegian

Issue date: 2/20/08 Section: Features

Kristy Gordon/Collegian photographerDon Reed, Cowley County Undersheriff, spoke about illegal immigration on Tuesday in Pound's Lounge. The event was hosted by the SC Republicans. [Click to enlarge]

Don Read, Cowley County Undersheriff Officer, was invited to speak to students Feb. 12 about immigration. The presentation was sponsored by SC Republicans. His topic mainly focused on immigration in Cowley County and in the nation. Read's areas of expertise about immigration include personal experience dealing with immigrants and research he has done in the past few weeks. A lot of the sheriff's information dealt with statistics and his views on the issue. Read opened with a reading, which many commonly would know if they have visited the Statue of Liberty. It is a poem that explains the foundation of our country, and the feeling of knowing you are a citizen of the United States. There are four different types of immigrants. Family, refugee, diverse lottery, and employment. All of these are generally considered legal as long as they undergo the process of legalization, and leave when their term is up if one is set, Read said. Anywhere from 25 to 30 million illegal immigrants live in the U.S. Economics is the reason, money is the issue. He continued to say that American employers fail to realize is that Americans pay taxes for illegal immigrants to stay here. We employ them thinking it benefits us, but really it does not because of the money they earn. That money is then sent back home to take care of their families. Kansas does not have an immigration law. Steve Ruggles, computer lab supervisor, asked why? Read said, "A lot of states don't, but the topic will be brought up at the Topeka session." Oklahoma passed a law stating no illegal immigrant can live or work in that state without proof of citizenship. This makes it hard on Kansas because all the immigrants do is move to another state. Some statistics read off how many illegal immigrants impact our country. More than 22.2 billion are on medical, food assistance, housing, and imprisonment. Elyse Achenbach, undecided freshman, asked, "If they are not citizens how are they allowed all these rights?" The courts determine their rights. If they are here they still have to be treated as though they are Americans, Read said. Immigrants are dealt with on a federal level, so at the state level there isn't much that can be done. There is the choice to call Immegration and Naturalization Services, which deals with illegal immigrants. Most of the time they do not respond and the jails have to let them go. Kansas is finding ways to put a stop to illegal immigrants. Every citizen will have to show proof of citizenship in order to retain their license. The question is does this cause more problems than resolve them? Korie Hawkins is a freshman majoring in journalism and communication. You may e-mail her at korie.hawkins@sckans.edu.

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