Topeka ? The battle over U.S. immigration policy came to the Kansas Legislature Tuesday as lawmakers once again considered a bill to repeal a 2004 law that allows some undocumented immigrants in Kansas to pay in-state tuition at state colleges and universities.

The hearing in the House Education Committee came at the same time that a national debate over immigration policy was broiling in Congress, where Senate Republicans have demanded repealing President Barack Obama’s executive orders on immigration as a condition for funding the Department of Homeland Security.

Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach testifies before the House Education Committee on a bill that would repeal a law allowing undocumented immigrants who graduate from Kansas high schools to pay in-state tuition at state colleges and universities on Feb. 24, 2015.

Kansas University sophomore Carla Rivas-D'Amico, a Venezuelan-American, testifies before the House Education Committee against a bill that would repeal in-state tuition for Kansas residents who are undocumented immigrants.

In 2004, Kansas passed a law that allows undocumented immigrants to pay in-state tuition if they meet the same residency requirements as U.S. citizens. For incoming freshmen, that means they must have been a resident of Kansas for at least three years and have graduated from a Kansas high school.

Since then, there have been almost annual attempts to repeal the law, none of which has been successful.

There are currently 651 students taking advantage of that law, including 12 at Kansas University in Lawrence. More than 400 of those taking advantage of the law attend community colleges.

Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, who has built much of his political career opposing illegal immigration, argued that the Kansas law violates federal law.

“What many legislators didn’t know in 2004 is that it is a direct violation of federal law to give in-state tuition to illegal aliens,” Kobach said.

Kobach was referring to a 1996 federal welfare reform law that limits the ability of states to give public benefits to undocumented immigrants. He argued that law prohibits states from offering in-state tuition to illegal immigrants unless it also gives in-state tuition to all U.S. citizens.

However, Raymond Rico, an immigration lawyer in Kansas City, said Kobach was misinterpreting that law. He said the law only requires states to extend benefits to undocumented immigrants on the terms that they are extended to U.S. citizens. And since the Kansas law requires immigrants to meet the same residency requirements as U.S. citizens, he said the Kansas law complies with the federal law.

Kobach filed a federal lawsuit challenging the Kansas law in 2010 while he was running for secretary of state. The suit was eventually dismissed because the court ruled the plaintiffs Kobach had recruited did not have standing to file a claim.

Meanwhile, several students and higher education officials testified against the bill. Among them was Carla Rivas-D’Amico, a Venezuelan-American at KU majoring in gender studies and philosophy.

“As a Hispanic woman, I am all too familiar of the daily fear and dread that comes from being an undocumented young person,” she said. “While both my family and I are documented, growing up I had many friends and close family acquaintances that were not.”

She said children of undocumented immigrants face many challenges getting an education in the U.S. and repealing the in-state tuition law would only make their lives harder.

Kansas Board of Regents member Fred Logan said the board also opposes passage of the bill.

“The children of undocumented persons who are making use of these in-state tuition rates are exactly the kinds of students we want in Kansas,” Logan said. “They must be highly motivated to succeed. They’ve gone to our high schools. They’ve gone to school with your children. They are great Kansans.”

The education committee only heard testimony on the bill Tuesday. The panel will debate the bill and vote on whether to send it to the full House at a later date.