Kansas Republican Secretary of State Kris Kobach lost the gubernatorial race last week to Democrat Laura Kelly and now Michaela Todd, one of his supporters on campus, may be losing her seat as vice president of Emporia State University’s student government. Michaela posted about Kobach’s stance on taxes, abortion, welfare and immigration, saying “Put Kansas first, not illegal aliens….The millions of dollars spent on public welfare for illegal aliens in Kansas hurts Kansas taxpayers every single day,” according to Campus Reform.
Pretty mild take, right? A nation’s own people before everyone else? But the school’s Multicultural Greek Council, as well as some students/former students, weren’t too pleased.
She called using the term “illegal aliens” “dehumanizing” and suggested it went against the student government oath of office. But here’s the thing: “illegal alien” is a term used in federal law. It’s used in Section 1252(c) of the “Aliens and Nationality” part of the US Code and Section 1365: “Reimbursement of States for costs of incarcerating illegal aliens and certain Cuban nationals.”
This is federal law — we’re not in Kansas anymore, Kayla. The Supreme Court has used “illegal alien” in at least two different cases, De Canas v. Bica, which concerned the hiring of “illegal aliens,” and Arizona v. U.S., which addressed Arizona’s immigration law. And as we all know, President Donald Trump is a yuge fan of the term. That’s the third branch of government so yeah I think we’re PRETTY covered in terms of precedent.
Get this: Michaela removed “illegal alien” from her post and apologized for using it, but the student government tried to impeach her. It was unsuccessful, but the group’s diversity and inclusion committee has called for her to resign. Michaela’s not willing, but they may just make her. Such are the wages of not using the most current version of the Newspeak dictionary.
