Nonbinding measure praises Texas governor’s defiant answer to immigrant ‘invasion’
BY: TIM CARPENTER Kansas Reflector
TOPEKA — The Kansas House struggled through lengthy debate on illegal immigration mired in issues of fentanyl poisoning, Marxist journalists, Texas’ governor, state sovereignty, razor wire, federal judicial power, the United Nations, the role of law enforcement, the Kansas National Guard, the presidential race and human trafficking.
When dust settled on the partisan back-and-forth a majority registered support for House Resolution 6035, which characterized influx of migrants across the U.S.-Mexico border as an “invasion” and encouraged Gov. Laura Kelly to offer “support and solidarity” with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s defiance of Biden administration directives and a U.S. Supreme Court ruling.
Rep. Pat Proctor, a Leavenworth Republican, said the resolution sponsored by more than 60 House members made clear the federal government failed to protect southern border states in violation of the U.S. Constitution.
“Let us make no mistake, the state of Texas and all the states on our southern border with Mexico are being invaded,” Proctor said. “It’s not just those from Mexico looking for a better life. It’s people from all over the world, including military-age males from China and the Middle East.”
He said the incursion had a component of “chemical warfare” due to trafficking of chemicals from China used to manufacture fentanyl, a powerful drug flooding U.S. cities and killing about 100,000 people annually.
‘Waste our time’
The resolution urged Kelly to give Abbott support from Kansas, including deployment to Texas of Kansas National Guard troops and Kansas law enforcement agents. The resolution also sought a formal Kansas-Texas agreement of “solidarity against future lawlessness by illegal immigrants and the detrimental actions or nonactions of the federal government.”
Rep. John Carmichael, D-Wichita, said the resolution was unnecessary because the U.S. Senate was working on a bipartisan bill to increase border security. The legislation, endorsed by President Joe Biden and opposed by former President Donald Trump, authorized the executive branch to close the border if the flow of migrants exceeded certain levels, to hire more border agents and to reform the process of handling asylum claims.
“We do not need to pass this resolution because it is the responsibility of the United States Congress and the president to protect our borders,” Carmichael said. “We waste our time, the citizens’ time today with one more meaningless resolution expressing some member’s indignation at something that is, frankly, none of the Kansas Legislature’s concern.”
At that moment, Rep. Stephen Owens, R-Hesston, accused Carmichael of attacking motives of Proctor or other sponsors of the measure.
Democratic Rep. Ford Carr of Wichita made a motion to send the resolution to a House committee for standard vetting, public hearings and possible amendment.
“I would oppose this motion,” said Proctor, the lead sponsor. “We’re not going to get any more substantive discussion from a committee of a dozen people than we will from a committee of 125. It’s just a delay tactic.”
A majority of House members voted against shelving the resolution by sending it to the House Federal and State Affairs Committee.
What is a prop?
House Minority Leader Vic Miller of Topeka said urgency displayed by Proctor and others seeking passage of the resolution one day after it was introduced should be remembered when amendments offered by Democrats on the House floor were deflected because they hadn’t be considered by a House committee. While engaged in the question-and-answer debate with Proctor, Miller pivoted to confront Wichita GOP Rep. Patrick Penn, who Miller said was offering commentary from his desk seat on the House floor.
“Sir, if you’d like to talk to me you can come down here and do so,” Miller said. “You don’t need to sit at your desk and scream things at me and point at me.”
In midst of the debate, House Rules Committee members sorted out whether Miller had violated tradition, rules or protocol by holding a piece of paper — a copy of the immigration resolution — so it could be used as a visual aid when addressing the full House. Rep. Susan Humphries, R-Wichita, said Miller’s decision to hold a copy of the resolution was improper because custom defined the document as a prop while in Miller’s hand.
“The item itself, for instance a bill, is not necessarily a prop, but may be used as a prop,” she said. “Is a bill a prop? Not necessarily. The difference is how it is used.”
Miller asked Humphries whether the large button she was displaying on her jacket supporting the GOP’s flat-tax bill should be considered a prop under her interpretation of House rules. She didn’t fully answer his query.
“Did I use it as a prop? That is the question. How is it used? Did I call attention to it? What did I do with it? Did I hold it up?” Humphries said.
“I love this place,” Miller said.
‘Sword by sword’
Fort Scott Republican Rep. Trevor Jacobs said states had the right to “shield by shield, sword by sword” self-defense against invaders and that constitutional right extended to consequences of so many undocumented people entering the United States. He expressed gratitude that Kansas House Republican leadership warmed to the threat posed by open borders months after he sounded an alarm.
“There is evidence of the UN being involved in this, bringing individuals over here,” Jacobs said. “The world is organizing an army against the United States of America. Once they get their green light, it’s going to be devastating.”
Jacobs said illegal immigrants were stealing U.S. tax dollars. The elderly and veterans were being kicked out of nursing homes to make room for undocumented migrants, he said. Organizations such as the Muslim Brotherhood, Boko Haram, Hezbollah and Hamas were a threat to this country, he said. Illegal immigrants committed crimes, got a slap on the hand and paraded in front of the “Marxist media” to celebrate, he said.
“They’ve come not to embrace but to exploit our nation,” Jacobs said. “This federal government has completely failed the American people. I also think we need to address the president of the United States’ total negligence of our border. This is happening. Treason. When it comes down to it, we’re all border states. It’s coming. The flood is coming.”
Rep. Eric Smith, R-Burlington, also supported the resolution. He said the trafficking of fentanyl from Mexico into the United States had to be stopped because it could become the most deadly drug encountered by domestic law enforcement.
“We’re talking about things that are ending up right on our streets in our kids’ parties. We need to go to the source,” he said. “We have a security issue right here in the state that can be fought at that border.”
‘Political games’
Democratic Rep. Angela Martinez, a third-generation Mexican-American from Wichita, said she was the product of the American dream as experienced by her immigrant grandfather during World War II.
“But, frankly, I’m appalled at some of the political games that we play with people’s lives,” she said. “I agree that we need to protect our borders. But we also need effective immigration. We can’t do that here in the Statehouse.”
Rep. Rui Xu, a Democrat from Mission Hills, said he was a first-generation immigrant. Arguing a resolution was useful to rebut the surge in fentanyl poisonings was disingenuous because a majority of the drug was brought into the United States by American citizens, he said.
“This resolution, let’s not kid ourselves, has nothing to do with fentanyl. It’s not going to do anything. Legal immigration has almost nothing to do with fentanyl,” Xu said.