State cracks down on illegal immigrants
5:12 p.m. Thursday, August 31, 2006
Illegal residents are not entitled to the benefits offered to legal citizens in the state, but it is possible for them to slip through the cracks. That means tax payers end up footing the bill.
Governor Kathleen Sebelius says it's up to individual agencies to check documents of every person they provide services to.
“It really is just a reminder that agency by agency there needs to be verification of documentation,” Sebelius said.
She also believes it will be tough to strike a balance between those who don't have the proper documents, and those who do, but simply can't find them.
“We clearly have some people who may not be mentally competent, may be elderly, and trying to find a family member or a relation who can go back and meet those individual guidelines may be a complicated situation,” she explained.
Mike Deines, a spokesman for the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services, says they're doing their best to make sure Kansans don't get cut off from the services they depend on.
“We're not going to automatically deny somebody services if they don't have their documents at the time of the review of their case. We're going to give them a reasonable amount of time to get that information to us so we can make a determination,” Deines said Thursday afternoon.
The governor's directive comes on the heels of a federal mandate that all medicaid recipients prove their citizenship in order to receive benefits.
It's just one more way governments are cracking down on illegal immigrants, and the strain they put on state and federal resources.
Most of the verification will be directed at new Medicaid and Social Security Income recipients.
But current users will be subject to periodic checks, so it's a good idea to have identifying papers, like a social security card and birth certificate, ready just in case.
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