Never mind how the proposed repeal of the 2004 in-state tuition law related to illegal immigrants came to another dead end in the Kansas House this week. What matters is that it did, and that a lawmaker such as Rep. Mario Goico, R-Wichita, once a Cuban refugee himself, had the wisdom to defend such a commonsense, compassionate law. Goico was correct in telling his colleagues that repealing the law would take away some young Kansas residents’ only chance to succeed. Now, Goico and the too-few members of the Wichita-area delegation willing to underscore the law’s worth Tuesday should help ensure it remains on the books.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
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49 Comments
They are Illegal…Get them the hell out!!Come to my country the proper way..ie Legal and I will defend you with my life. Otherwise..GO back to where you came from!!
I know people have problems wiht the who illegal issue. Just about everybody is concerned about it because it is getting out of control.
But the State Tution law for children of illegal residents is a good thing. If you are against, it, I believe you are more racist than concerned about the illegal residency issue.
There are stringent requirements, such as that you had to be attending a Kansas high school for several years and you have to be persueing legal resident status. That is fair to me. So I believe this law is a great thing for those children who want to pursue higher education.
I actually don’t think there were very many in the first place. Last I can remember, but I could be wrong about this, was that the amount of illegal immigrants attending college with state tution was around 50 people.
Joe – let’s compromise. We’ll give them the in state tuition as long as their parents get their illegal status changed or leave.
Todd, I can go along with that as long as the employers get equally harsh treatment. I love how this bill died because it asked for sanctions against the people who illegally employ illegals. I suppose in Kansas, it’s ok to break the law if you are an illegal employer, but not ok if you are an illegal worker.
Once again, money trumps “moral” outrage in Kansas.
We should welcome any qualified students, illegal or not, into college classrooms so long as they are pursuing US residency or citizenship and they are bright enough to enter the university environment on the basis of their academic performance.
The future of the state and the country is far better with a highly educated populace than without.
US students/citizens who don’t receive in-state tuition from other states’ universities are generally in an entirely different boat. They have access to a quality education in their own states at in-state tuition rates. It may be that their state doesn’t have the exact program or the program is not rated as highly as it is in another state, but the fact is they have access to a good education. States also negotiate reciprocity agreements all the time.
What would the farmers do without the illegal immigrants? They put them up in mobile homes or a dirt floor shack and make them work the farm everyday.
All the farmer does is bark orders from a trunk window while holding a cigarette and a cup of coffee. It’s almost slave labor.
The largest reason why we are turning away from the illegal immigration issue is the Farm Lobby more than just businesses.
What is funny is that the Farmer still accepts and demands the socialist subsidy programs so that they can go on their European Ski Vacations on the backs of the taxpaying American Worker.
Nothing personal, Joe, but I don’t think you know very many farmers.
Joe, I hope that is your famous sense of humor again. Check the facts. The construction industry is the biggest violator. Of course that will be the fault of the unions. But farms are generally not unionized. Who will you blame now, joe?
I see how powerful the “farm” lobby is in the u.s. Big ag is very powerful, but the number of small farms drops every year. Big “farma” like adm, cargill, etc. collect the bulk of the subsidies. Go to the environmental working group website for FACTS.
For the record, I would rather have higher prices than subsidies, and in fact, for 1/3 of my land, I get no subsidy at all. Unlike big business in the U.S. (Think Tanker Todd) And the preznit cut farm subsidies this year. Just a little thank you to all those flyover states who helped elect him. :)
I am still laughing at the power of the “farm lobby. That must be why so many people find farming a good occupation. LOL…check out the packing plants in this state for the employment of illegals.
Unless you think those packing plants are farmers too!
Joe, if business…ANY business…regardless of the size or industry breaks the law, do you think they should not be punished?
To quote people here “what part of illegal do you not understand”? Why should business be above the law?
Well said farmfgirrl. I think probably you are the only farmer Joe knows.
I agree that construction and other businesses have a the bulk of the illegal immigrants employed.
I have to disagree with you of course on the Large big ag companies. You tell me how much farm land that Cargill owns in the state of Kansas. How many people cutting wheat in Kansas are actually employees of Cargill?
You are talking about the occupation of farming. Well! An average person cannot get into it. The other area farmers will refuse to allow a new-commer in the area.
What usually happens is that Farmers who get out of the business because they failed meseriably (usually because of alcohol and drug abuse) or they end up in nursing homes or die, the children of those Farmers usually just sell the land to the neighbor. The Neighbor farmer gets larger. There is no such thing as a new comer getting into farming.
Also! Every single farmer in the state of Kansas inherited their farm from the generation before them. So all farmers in Kansas belong to the blue blood club.
Farmers also need to be told what to grow. That is why they have County Extention Offices to tell you what to grow. But since grain is so easy to grow and harvest, farmers rather do that because it’s easy and subsidized.
We subsidized grain in the past and all those grain elevators that dot the landscape in Kansas were built for the Cold War. We negoitated with grain. Now that the Cold War is over and we can get wheat from most any place, Russia, Austrialla, New Zealand, Argentina, and even China.
Farmers in the US produce so much surplus grain that they literally rot on the docks and grain elevators. The subsidy programs in place for the cold war, now is used as a welfare program.
There are large companies that own farm land, like Del Monte and the like, but they grow crops that are not subsidized.
Why do you think Farmers in Kansas don’t grow tomotoes, watermelon, strawberries, and other like they used to back in the day. Kansas used to have one of the best watermelon crops in the world. I wonder why they don’t grow them now.
Hmmm. Because it takes a lot of work to grow crops like that. Yep! You actually have to go out and work the field all the time. Also! It’s not subsidized. So forget that. Not going to be done.
Yeah! Grain is easy! Just have to plant twice a year and harvest twice a year. The rest of the time you can play Keno, smoke, and drink 11 months out of the year.
I’m not going to label every farmer in Kansas like this, but there are quite a few.
The sweet spot for Kansas farmers is to get on the CSP and live the good life and not grow crops at all and get PAID BABY!
Joe, I take back what I said about nothing personal. Your last post proves you’re a nitwit.
Anyone actually reading your post about what you think farming is, is going to come away dumber for having read it.
Joe,I think you are making some sweeping generalizations in the above post that would be hard to back up.
Your post does reflect the prejudices that Wichita has historically had about ag business.
And, you do point out the interesting paradox that Kansas farmers who consistently voted Republican, did feed at what was once a highly regulated trough. But as KFG points out subsidies are becoming less all the time. This administration will say less subsidies are necessary for us to enter into expanded trade agreements. I, however, think that the red states have served their purpose and are now “dismissed with thanks”.
Illegals have no rights under the constitution, period! Most of these beaner offspring receive affirmative action handouts as well as in state tuition and it is all so wrong. It is time to round up and eport ALL illegals and those “anchor babies” need to have their citizenship revoked.
Viva La Raza Blanco!!
Joe, that post is so stupid I am not even gonna address it in detail. I have laid off the criticism of you because I feel sorry for you.
I still feel sorry for you, but…
I notice you didnt answer my question about business being above the law. I guess no answer is a revealing answer.
As for the rest of the post, it would be funny if it were not so utterly and profoundly ridiculous. If joe is typical wichita, that would explain your legislative delegation. And Tanker Todd.
Just in case anyone wants any facts about subsidies, you might check here:
http://www.ewg.org/farm/findings.php
And for the record, my primary source of income last year was the tomato crop from my veggie garden. You know, the one joe says is so much work no one does it anymore…
I did notice one interesting fact on the web. Steve Irsik’s farm was the second largest subsidy getter in the big first. Big irrigation corn farmer in the desert.
Why does that matter? He was appointed by governor leadership to be the head of the kansas water authority. You know, the one that sets irrigation policy.
Anyone think it is a co-incidence that a corn grower/big irrigator would head a state board that advocates paying irrigators for water they dont own?
Ian,
You’re BORN with rights..no one or no document has to affirm them. By your reasoning, an illegal has no right to his life, his property, to speak his mind, to associate with others, or any other “right” you seem to think is “created” for us by the Constitution.
The Constitution is a document from the Enlightenment. The Enlightenment posited that all governmental power stems from the people, who consent to be governed. Their rights are theirs by birth; they don’t come from a piece of paper.
KFG,I know you do organic farming. Does that pay off at all?
I bought some organic celery not long ago and it was noticible better tasting. It was a night and day difference that I did not expect. I think that product was definitely worth the extra cost.
Wichita, I think, has had a funny ambivalence about farming – they have depended on them in terms of banking interests, etc. (more so in the historical past). But the town also felt troubled about this dependence. Additionally, historically at least, a big contributor to the aircraft labor market were farmers. My dad remembers working with a lot of guys who farmed AND worked in aircraft plants. So, Joe’s characterization of farmers being lazy is pretty uninformed at best.
DD, this will be my third year in the organic veggie business.
The first year, I sold all I grew, and I got good prices too. I was astounded, because I thought everyone out here had a few tomato plants and such. Turns out, the demand is huge. I said the first year, that I could have sold 4 times what I grew.
So…last year, I grew 4 times more than the first year. Again, I sold out, and had to turn away orders and customers from as far away as Hays and Colby.
I hit five farmers markets a week, and take subscription orders…and I could have still sold four times as much as I grew. And I only place one ad in the paper at the beginning of the season.
This year…the pre-orders and demand are so high, I am enlisting other gardeners to help me!! I am contracting with other locals, in addition to doubling my output. Spreads out the risk of hail, bugs, etc. and is less work on my fifty year old body. Sort of like a co-op but we will market the produce under my business name.
I dont get paid a premium out here for organics…yet! I am still keeping the soil organic though in hopes it will pay off someday. But all in all, I think I get good prices, and yes, it was the most profitable thing I did. Cattle ran a close second. Wheat, well, I lost my ass for the fourth year in a row. That includes a whopping $2000 in subsidies.
I get $3/lb for tomatoes early, $2 in high season, and I sell out of all the culls for $1/lb. I get $2/lb for potatoes all season, $2/green beans and $1.5/lb for onions. Just a sample. The big profit item was corn. I didnt grow much of it, but I got $5 for six ears. The regular farmers got $3/dozen!
I also do some value added products, like salsa, canned hot peppers, etc.
And Ian, I dont hire any illegals!
“noticeably” – sorry
KFG,Glad to hear about your success. Good luck this next year.
I’ve heard a lot about consuming organically grown food for the health, etc. benefits. I am assuming my experience is not unique to celery and the better taste should be part of the marketing plan.
DD,One of the biggest differences in buying produce is that the agri-businesses have the problem of keeping veggies looking good after considerable shipping. They have to plant tougher varieties, and treat the hell out of them to do that. Local producers can plant the tastier varieties, and don’t need to treat them, since shorter distances and times are involved. The downside is that they aren’t available year-round.
Sorry DD, I left that out. It is the taste that my customers want. They can get cheaper and prettier stuff in the store, but it doesnt taste like home grown. People here still remember that taste.
You know the song “there’s only two things in life that money cant buy. One’s true love and the other’s home grown tomatoes.”
I also read somewhere this week that USDA does annual testing of nutritional values of foods. The last round of tests were showing that most produce today has 20% less nutritional value than ten years ago. The reason? What jed said. Their crops are bred for shipping and show not taste and nutrition. That is why I grow lots of heirloom varieties.
KFG,
I am glad that you are doing well. We buy organic almost exclusively and our kinder love the taste of the fruits and veggies. I am also glad that you don’t hire illegals. I don’t hire them either, or affirmative action incompetents for that matter!
It’s a shame that you don’t raise organic, free range oinkers because they would be great for our Cuban pig bbq’s. lol
V.L.R.B!!
This has been an extremely enlightening thread. KFG, lots of good info! Joe, same old misinformation. Everybody who has a hard time smokes cigarettes, drinks, or takes drugs. Stuck on stupid.
Ian, one of my organic gardening cohorts here does indeed raise organic oinkers. They are not free range, but he feeds them organic sweet corn he grows himself.
Yuuummmmm YUM!
PS–I smoke the bacon myself for the organic BLTs.
Here is more treasonous immigration stupidity that I am sure Rhonda would approve of! I lok forward to the day when scum like specter face the rope!
Michelle Malkin, WorldNetDaily, March 8, 2006
Nearly five years after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, our borders remain porous. The deportation system remains broken. The government’s tracking systems for criminal illegal aliens and visa overstayers remain incomplete. So, what’s Washington’s latest homeland security solution?
“Gold Cards” for illegal aliens.
I kid you not.
This week, the Senate Judiciary Committee began debate on a proposal by Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., that would create a “Gold Card” program for illegal aliens who broke the law to get into the United States before Jan. 4, 2004. Applicants for the Gold Card would supposedly undergo a background check by the Department of Homeland Security, then be eligible for two-year work visas that could be renewed indefinitely.
Forever.
If that isn’t the dictionary definition of amnesty, I don’t know what is. Indeed, Specter’s plan amounts to an unprecedented mass governmental pardon for millions of immigration law-breakers (plus their spouses, children and, by extension, their employers). There’s nothing in his measure that bars Gold Card holders from obtaining eventual U.S. citizenship.http://www.amren.com/mtnews/archives/2006/03/the_illegal_ali_1.php
Viva La Raza Blanco!!
I’ll still stand by my statements, because I have seen it all. I’ve traveled on practically every road in Kansas and been to almost every town.
But regardless. I think that is amazing what you are going ksgirl. I’ll give you daps on that. You are a rarity in Kansas farming, and you probably know it.
I also know a farmer south of Wichita that grows strawberries and melons and does very well for himself.
Farmers that grow things that humans eat I have all the respect for. I believe they are the breadbasket of our society. But grain farmers? Nah! They don’t grow things that humans eat.
I notice that you have a bit of anger for youself against the large heavily irrigated corn cattle feed farmers. We have discuss this before back a month or so ago about the depletion of the water table in Western Kansas because of irrigation. A problem that needs to be address, but I doubt it will. They’ll tap that water till it runs out. In many parts of extreme Western Kansas, the water is already brakish.
I could be over generalizing on some of what I say, but some of it stands true and there is no debating against it, because its fact.
And all you people who are defending KSfarmgirl, are only doing that because she is a Democrat. If she was a Republican, you guys would shout out so much hate against her.
So don’t defend her for hersake. Stand up on your own. She can defend and debate the issues herself, and she is one of the best debaters here. So you leftist that have nothing to say but by calling me names are just spinless weaklings. My goodness, its sad!
:)
Joe,
Have you ever worked on a farm? I have. I thought it was hard work.
I guess I would respond more to your defense of your bigotry, but I really can’t follow if that is what you are doing in your last post.
A free clue: just because you think it, that in itself, does not make said thought(s) true.
Joe, I swore off giving you endless amounts of grief over stupid stuff — your recent posts make it hard on me to not say anything, however. Please help me out and not post bigoted stuff that is really your OPINION which has no basis in documented fact, okay? People post their opinions all the time; label it as such and don’t try to contend that it is some set of facts.
Thanks. Have a nice day.
I’ve worked on a farm and I met and see more farmers than you ever have. I run into them just about every day.
I personally know farmers, which makes me one up on you.
Sorry! DD, but you have no merit to your aurgument.
LOL, well thanks for all the kind words from all sides!! I would hate to think I am only supported here because I am a democrat.
That is really funny because trust me, governor leadership and the leaders of the democrats in ks would like to see me DEAD! Of course, so would many religious and/or right wing republicans, and the last I checked, moderates hated my ass too. I guess I really am an job equal opportunity offender. lololol
As BB King says “nobody loves me but my mama, and she could be jivin’ too”.
(sniff)
Joe, I HATE SUBSIDIES. I am a free market liberal. I know that must make your head explode, but it is true. Blame it on Dan Rupp at Ft. Hays. He was a free market democrat.
I HATE CORPORATE WELFARE TOO!!!Do you?
I HATE IRRIGATION when it makes no sense. Of course there are places that can support it, but for christ’s sake, not in western kansas. DUH to the whole freakin’ water authority!
And as for those lazy, drinkin’, smokin’, gamblin’, druggin’ and skiin’ farmers…those would be corporate managers and big irrigators. Not real farmers with dirt and manure on their shoes.
And last but not least, your comment about humans not eating grain. I cant really answer that now because I have my mouth full of cornbread, and I am breaking whole wheat crackers into my veggie-barley-beef soup.
KFG,
I agree with for the most part, especially regarding subsidies and corporate handouts. This Rexist-Falangist, White Nationalist has your back! I wonder if Joe will call me a spineless leftist??? lol
V.L.R.B!!
Joe,What you know and data are two different things. This report suggests that farming is a stressful occupation, but there does not appear to be a higher than expected incidence of substance abuse disorders amongst farmers.
http://bse.wisc.edu/mbstout_curric/rosman.pdf
Your non-agruments hold absolutely no water.
ksfarmgirl. I agree with everything you said. Free market, too much corporate welfare, and everything.
Sure, there is a percentage of grain grown for human consumption, but the bulk of it is for animal feed.http://www.globalissues.org/TradeRelated/Consumption/Beef.asp
I might need to clarify myself on the farming issue. What I’m describing as a grain farmer in Kansas, is what you probably think about as a corporate farmer, and you are actually right, because these farms are actually corporations (not in the big business publicly traded sense) but these are farms that are over 10,000 acres.
The farmer that only has 400 acres is different. The small farmer thats growing tomatoes, strawberries, greenbeans, peaches, or whatever, they are the hard working people as I said in my pervious post that I respect and admire.
The ones I don’t care for are the same ones you don’t.
Joe said:”I’ve worked on a farm and I met and see more farmers than you ever have. I run into them just about every day.”
You need to watch where you’re going, lol!
“I personally know farmers, which makes me one up on you.”
My goodness, you know some farmers.
I started to work on the farm when I was 12 and grew up in a farming community. I know some farmers, too. I know them well enough not to accuse them of drug and alcohol abuse.
Joe, why don’t you go down to the county extension office and make that accusation?
Joe,
This thread and your posts have convinced me that I have mistaken you for a person who has an intact central nervous system. You have shown me that I have been completely wrong.
I hereby commit to not responding to any of your future posts. It would be a waste of time.
Good night and Good luck – you will need it.
DD, you’re a wordsmith of the first order, lol!
XXX,
I appreciate you saying that. Whenever I write to, or about Joe W., I just never have a good feeling.
Oh well. It will feel good to stop. In the same way that it feels good to stop beating your head against a wall.
LOL
Well done DD. But ignore Joe at the potential loss of future amusement.
Poor Joe is having a bad day. For the first time everyone except him and Hank and Rush stood up to bush and said no.
Strike that, they said HELL NO.
And just as is the case with bush, it is making Joe cranky. I’m not worried about Joe. He will just keep bashing farmers and unions and ……..well ya know. What is bush gonna do?
I always post the thread. Anything that encourages illegal immigration is bad.
That said.
Ksfarmgirrl got her a star thread.
I do not know what could be better for Kansas than a female organic farmer practicing an alternative lifestyle.
Ok so I got here late and am catching up. But it really is interesting.
Yeah Joe knows farmers. Probably his college room mate kept an old loaf of bread in the fridge.
Well, in that case, at least he can say he was “growing” something, lol!
DD, I think JR has a point. I used to make exceptions for Joe myself, but enough is enough. I’m tired of him bashing unions, Liberals, anybody left of Attila the Hun, and anyone who doesn’t share his pinched view of life. Anybody who disagrees with him either abuses alcohol, drugs, or smokes cigarettes. I’m not letting him slide anymore.
You guys are ridculous but funny. :)
We all amuse each other.
XXX let me ask you this: Do you smoke? Drink heavily on a regular basis? Have you ever tried illegal drugs or abuse perscription medication?
You will probably not answer that, but if you answer honestly, there is a very high change you will say “Yes” to one or more of those questions.
…very high chance. Replace the …very high change. Typo!
My answers to my very own question is “No”.
I have a good cigar occasionally, I never developed a taste for alcohol (I don’t drink), and I don’t have any use for drugs (no). So what’s your point, Joe? Do you really think that anybody left of center smokes and abuses drugs and alcohol?
Joe, I have a few questions.Have you ever struck a woman?Do you ever eat fast food?Have you ever snitched on a co-worker?