Kansans listen closely to Obama’s immigration speech

President Barack Obama speaks during a nationally televised address from the White House in Washington, Thursday, Nov. 20, 2014. Spurning furious Republicans, President Barack Obama unveiled expansive executive actions on immigration Thursday night to spare nearly 5 million people in the U.S. illegally from deportation and refocus enforcement efforts on felons,

? Kansans across the political spectrum paid close attention Thursday night as President Barack Obama announced a series of executive actions aimed at dealing with the problem of illegal immigration in the United States.

Even before the speech, as a few details of the plan were released, immigration rights advocates in Kansas were praising the plan as a step in the right direction. But at Kansas University, which employs hundreds of professors and researchers, officials said it would not address some of the immigration issues confronting higher education.

“We are hoping that he will relieve the fear of deportation for as many of the 11 million families who have been waiting on this for years,” said Sulma Arias, director of the Wichita-based Kansas People’s Action and Sunflower Community Action, which invited guests to a watch party to hear the president’s remarks.

The executive actions announced Thursday call for prioritizing enforcement of immigration laws, beefing up border security and deporting those undocumented aliens who pose a threat to national security or engage in criminal activity. For others who pass criminal background checks and pay taxes, the new policies effectively grant temporary permission to stay and work in the United States without fear of deportation.

Arias said that will be a big relief to an estimated 100,000 families in Kansas, many of which she called “mixed status families” because they contain legal and documented and undocumented relatives.

“One of them may have the right paperwork, but there is no process (toward legalization) for their family,” Arias said. “Others have children that are born here, children who are grown now but the parents are without a legal pathway.”

At Kansas University, officials say they encounter comparable situations when they recruit researchers and professors from other parts of the world. While many of them are able to bring their families with them while employed at KU, those other family members typically are not allowed to work while they are here.

“It gets to be an issue to the extent that the United States is not an inexpensive place to live,” said Charlie Bankart, assistant vice provost for international programs. He said the system “allows families to be together, but not opportunities for a dual income. As the cost of higher education and health care costs continue to increase, families that are here temporarily are limited by their status.”

Although the issue of university professors’ families not being allowed to work is not as politically pressing as other immigration issues, Bankart said it does affect the ability of KU and other universities to recruit the world’s best research talent.

But Bankart said he didn’t expect to hear the president address that issue in his speech. He said that will have to wait for a more comprehensive immigration reform law. And that can only be passed by a Congress which, for the last several years, has been unable to agree on such a policy.

Among the Kansas congressional delegation, there was near universal condemnation of Obama’s announcement.

“This election the American people sent a clear message to Washington expressing they want us to work together to deliver real results that solve the problems facing folks all across the country,” 2nd District Rep. Lynn Jenkins, a Republican, said in a Facebook post Thursday. “President Obama’s unilateral action blatantly disregards this message and the separation of powers set forth by the Constitution.”

Republican Sen. Jerry Moran agreed.

“I am deeply concerned about the President offering amnesty to millions of individuals who have entered the country illegally,” Moran said in a press release. “I oppose President Obama’s plan to act alone on an issue of such importance. The President is choosing to allow 5 million people to jump the line in front of those who have followed the rules and are waiting to come to our country legally.”