County candidates weigh in on illegal immigrants, WIC

It’s been one full year since the Sedgwick County Commission first asked Kansas to try to block illegal immigrants from participating in a federal nutrition program.

But the state still hasn’t responded to the request to change the guidelines for the Women, Infants and Children program, which provides checks for nutritional food to low-income mothers and pregnant women.

“Their refusal to even respond demonstrates a complete lack of respect for the taxpayers of the state,” said Sedgwick County Commissioner Richard Ranzau. “My frustration at this point is not about whether they say yes or no.”

A Kansas Department of Health and Environment spokesperson did not return a request for comment on Friday.

Ranzau started the push last October when the county was accepting its yearly grant to run the program. Ranzau sent a letter to KDHE Secretary Susan Mosier on Oct. 8 of last year. A follow-up letter by Commissioner Dave Unruh, who opposes the restriction, argued it was just a consensus of commissioners.

The county asked again in July after the state said the county needed to pass an official resolution.

“Obviously, that was just another excuse,” Ranzau said. “They don’t want to be held accountable for their position.”

“It seems like they’re unaccountable to the taxpayer. Bureaucrats don’t have to respond; ‘to hell with the citizens of Kansas,’ ” Ranzau said. “That’s the sort of arrogant attitude I feel like they’re portraying.”

Ranzau also has proposed a form or questionnaire asking visitors to the health department their citizenship or immigration status. That effort has also stalled, among concerns that asking some program recipients would violate federal law.

“I’d like to know to what degree the taxpayers are subsidizing illegal immigration,” Ranzau said. “I personally don’t know, but I have had enough people complain to me about it that I think it’s worth asking the question.”

The WIC debate was quieter this year: County commissioners approved accepting a $2.2 million grant after a short discussion. Ranzau and Commissioner Karl Peterjohn raised concerns about the grant size and voted no.

Here’s what the four people running for the Sedgwick County Commission in 2017 think about the debate.

District 2: Michael O’Donnell

O’Donnell, the Kansas state senator and former Wichita City Council member running for the County Commission, says the county did the right thing by asking the state to look at eligibility requirements.

“I think, as a general rule, that we should not give taxpayer benefits to people that are in America illegally,” O’Donnell said. “We have to take care of our citizens who are struggling before we take care of people here illegally.”

O’Donnell said he also was in favor of asking about citizenship for health department clients.

“To me, that’s a valid question to find out,” O’Donnell said. “Currently we have no clue. So people are going off of emotion rather than actual evidence.”

He said he would not speculate if that would discourage some people from using health department services.

“This isn’t any type of position to demean or hurt somebody,” O’Donnell said. “But there are ways to do that that are humane without being demeaning.

“I do think that taxpayers want people that are going to protect public dollars.”

District 2: Tim Norton

Norton, the incumbent commissioner being challenged by O’Donnell, voted against Ranzau’s proposals every time they’ve come before the County Commission.

“I tend to default, myself, toward taking care of people,” Norton said.

Norton said he did not want to read too much into the state’s sluggishness in responding to the county. He said the county shouldn’t do anything to put federal dollars at risk by asking about citizenship status, which is illegal because it’s not currently tied to eligibility for some health department services like WIC.

Norton said the issue has largely faded away for him since it was never his initiative.

“It’s blown up to be a bigger issue,” Norton said about the debate last year.

District 3: David Dennis

Retired Air Force Colonel David Dennis, who defeated Peterjohn by double digits in the Aug. 2 Republican primary, said the county was wading into a federal issue.

“The federal government has decided who’s qualified for that,” Dennis said. “Unless there are changes made at the federal level, I don’t understand why we would be worrying about it at the local level.”

Dennis said a questionnaire would discourage some people from seeking to access WIC or other health department services.

“All that’s going to do is drive people away that may need that service,” Dennis said. “I’m very strongly pro-life, and that means all lives. It doesn’t matter if they’re documented or undocumented.”

“If this helps preserve the life of a young mother or preserves the life of a young infant, I think that’s part of being pro-life.”

District 3: Marcey Gregory

Goddard Mayor Marcey Gregory, who will face Dennis in the Nov. 8 general election, doubts the state would want to approach the feds about restricting eligibility.

“If they’re smart, they won’t touch it,” Gregory said about the state considering the county’s request.

Gregory also opposes a questionnaire about citizenship at the health department, pointing to her religious convictions by asking what Jesus would do.

“The answer is ‘Never let a baby go hungry,’” Gregory said. “I would never promote somebody doing something illegally or benefiting from a program doing things illegally.”

“But little children and babies don’t know that they’re doing anything wrong,” she said. “I don’t want them to be penalized.”

This story was originally published October 11, 2016 at 3:22 PM with the headline "County candidates weigh in on illegal immigrants, WIC."