A former chairman of the Kansas Republican Party, Kobach rose to national prominence over his support for anti-immigration advocacy,[1][2][3][4] including his involvement in implementing high-profile anti-undocumented immigration ordinances in various American cities.

During this time, Kobach published two books: The Referendum: Direct Democracy in Switzerland (Dartmouth, 1994), and Political Capital: The Motives, Tactics, and Goals of Politicized Businesses in South Africa (University Press of America, 1990).

Senator, Republican Kevin Cramer, was there to promote his state's firm, Fisher Industries, which demonstrated its ability by constructing a 56-foot fence in Coolidge, located 120 miles north of the Mexican border.

[61] In late 2018, Kobach joined with other right-wing political operatives, including billionaire Erik Prince, Trump's chief political strategist and former Breitbart editor Steve Bannon, Breitbart manager Brandon Darby, former Milwaukee County, Wisconsin Sheriff David Clarke, former Congressman Tom Tancredo and social media "fake news" scion, Brian Kolfage, to form an organization to raise funds ostensibly to facilitate construction of a barrier.

[73] On August 20, 2020, a federal grand jury indictment was unsealed against We Build the Wall advisory board member Steve Bannon, Kolfage, and two others, charging them with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering.

Following the September 11 attacks, Kobach helped construct a program that mandated that men from 24 predominantly Muslim countries and North Korea be fingerprinted, photographed and questioned at government offices.

[112][113][114] While speaking on February 20, 2016, to a committee of the Kansas 2nd Congressional District delegates, regarding their challenges of the proof-of-citizenship voting law he championed in 2011, Kobach said: "The ACLU and their fellow communist friends, the League of Women Voters — you can quote me on that, sued".

[116] On August 1, 2018, Kobach's office was ordered by federal judge Julie A. Robinson to pay $26,000 in attorney fees to the Kansas American Civil Liberties Union for court costs in a proof-of-citizenship case which he lost.

[127] He was unable to reserve the Beechcraft to fly to Washington, D.C., for a hearing and deposition on a lawsuit which he had joined in support of Brian Newby,[129] whom he had helped get appointed as the federal Election Assistance Commission (EAC) director.

Newby, without public notice, unilaterally changed a national voter registration form in order to require residents of Kansas, Georgia and Alabama to show proof of citizenship.

Representative Jim Ward criticized Kobach's use of the state plane to promote national voter ID policies, an action he contended was intended to "suppress votes."

State Senate Democratic Minority Leader Anthony Hensley said Kobach should reimburse Kansas for trips to Republican Party events, characterizing claims that the political functions coincided with official business was "probably just a ruse.

"[8] In response to a sufficient citizens petition that, as somewhat uniquely allowed in Kansas, requesting the convening of a grand jury for the purpose of investigating Kobach's actions, the state Court of Appeals ruled against him.

Wichita Democratic representative John Carmichael recalled that Howe had been asked about this case during that hearing explaining that the two were former Johnson County residents who had cast advance ballots in Kansas by mistake.

Sharon Farris Critics of Kobach, including the Southern Poverty Law Center, claimed he overreaches on cases that district attorneys deemed not worth prosecuting, and alleged that he was motivated by racism.

[171] The technology website Gizmodo discovered that Kobach's office had made the last four digits of the Social Security (SS) numbers of thousands of state employees and legislators available to anyone doing an Internet search.

[129] On June 18, 2018, a federal judge ruled that proof of citizenship voting requirements were unconstitutional, and ordered Kobach to take six hours of legal education before he could renew his law license.

Treadwell's opposition was based on concerns that the legislation in question would suppress voting in that demographic due to inherent difficulties for remote village residents in obtaining such identification, for whom getting driver's licenses can be burdensome and which are not mandated to have photos.

[186][187] Kentucky's secretary of state, Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes, said the supposed basis for creation of the commission in the first place — that voter fraud was pervasive and needed to be restrained — was essentially a pretext.

"[186] The ACLU, representing plaintiffs in a voting rights case, asked the presiding federal judge to prevent Kobach from withholding the public documents he was photographed carrying as he met with Trump, by virtue of marking them "confidential".

[188] In June 2017, a federal magistrate judge, James O'Hara, found that Kobach had made "patently misleading representations" to the court when he claimed he didn't possess the materials sought by the plaintiffs, in the course of the document dispute.

[195] Fellow Commission member Hans Von Spakovsky of The Heritage Foundation described Kobach's efforts to expose the alleged existence of extensive voter fraud as, "carefully described research".

"[20] Kobach's 2020 campaign employed Joe Suber, an Olathe, Kansas man who regularly makes posts to a white nationalist, Holocaust-denialist website, The Unz Review.

Common Cause Vice President for policy and litigation Paul S. Ryan said, "At a minimum, this Kobach for Senate fundraising solicitation email appears to violate the 'paid for by' disclaimer requirement" for official campaign communications.

Besides the concerns raised about Kolfage himself, a week prior to the mailer, right-wing anti-immigrant, WBtW board member and former congressman Tom Tancredo sat on the stage alongside Kobach and endorsed him in a New Mexico rally pushing the Wall.

[24] In late March 2019, the Associated Press reported that President Donald Trump was considering creating a post of "immigration czar" to coordinate efforts among federal agencies involved in the issues, with Kobach being one of two top candidates for the job.

The list included: A West Wing office; “walk in” access to the Oval Office; 24-hour access to a government jet so he could fly to the border on a moment's notice and travel back to Kansas on weekends; an assurance that he would be made Secretary of Homeland Security by November 2019; a guarantee that he would be the administration's primary spokesman on immigration policy; a guarantee that other Cabinet secretaries whose positions relate to immigration would defer to him, with Trump mediating disputes as needed; a seven-person staff; a security detail if necessary; and the title of assistant to the president.

[22][23] In the general election, Kobach faced novice Democratic politician Chris Mann, a former police officer, prosecutor, and state securities regulator, who is an attorney in private practice.

[23] While attacking Kobach’s professional competency, Mann promised to run the AG's office in a non-political manner, and focus on public safety concerns and consumer protection.

In fact, studies have found immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than people born in the U.S."[240] To support his claims, Kobach cited a column by Peter Gemma, who is associated with white supremacist groups and the American Holocaust denial movement.