Staff Report
Kris Kobach, the Kansas Secretary of State and co-author of Alabama’s controversial immigration law, endorsed Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and was scheduled to campaign for Romney in South Carolina today.
Kobach, a former U.S. Department of Justice lawyer, has emerged as a leading advocate for strengthening state and federal laws against illegal immigration. Sponsors of Alabama’s immigration law said they leaned heavily on Kobach to help craft the legislation before its approval by the state legislature in June 2011.
Kobach told the Press-Register in an interview last year that he made final edits to the bill while sitting in a Kansas turkey blind.
Romney, seeking the Republican Party’s nomination for president, announced Kobach’s endorsement in a news release last week. The former Massachusetts governor said Kobach “has been a true leader on securing our borders and stopping the flow of illegal immigration into this country.”
“We need more conservative leaders like Kris willing to stand up for the rule of law,” Romney said. “With Kris on the team, I look forward to working with him to take forceful steps to curtail illegal immigration and to support states like South Carolina and Arizona that are stepping forward to address this problem.”
