To the editor:

I am grateful for statehouse reporter Scott Rothschild’s coverage of what happens after Kris Kobach helps a community try to stop immigrants from moving there (Journal-World, Aug. 19). This is relevant to all Kansans as Kobach mounts a campaign for secretary of state. Kobach has made quite a career out of convincing towns around the country to let him write legislation to make them more hostile to newcomers. In Fremont, Neb., this apparently included new laws requiring people to get an “occupancy license” in order to rent a home.

Since we have a constitutional system designed to protect people’s rights from government intrusion, these towns are racking up huge bills to defend their measures in court. That’s money they don’t have, so they end up raising local taxes. Lawyers like Kobach get the immediate benefit.

I imagine that standing in line to get your renter’s license so you have permission to live in your own hometown while paying higher rent to cover your landlord’s property taxes gives residents an opportunity to consider whether this makes them better off. They may start to think they have been visited by a traveling huckster who sold them something they don’t need and can’t afford, that doesn’t work anyway. When “conservative” politicians promise to limit the power of government, let’s make sure to pay attention to what they do, not just what they say.