The Jackson County Legislature on Monday approved a plan to ban immigration detention facilities despite criticism that it was “performative politics.”
A second measure, which would have barred federal agents from wearing masks or hiding their badges, was held after County Counselor Bryan Covinsky said the county risked being sued once again by the Missouri Attorney General.
Both plans were sponsored by Legislator Manny Abarca, who said they were moral questions despite cries that they were unenforceable. The detention bill puts the county on the record as being against "the caging of people."
Abarca, who questioned ICE agents when they were touring a possible lease on a south Kansas City warehouse, said he was told by immigration officials that they are pursuing several other locations. By Abarca’s math, each facility holds 7,600 people and ICE turns over beds every 51 days, so that would place 54,392 in detention every year.
“The reality of this situation is far worse than a code or a zoning ordinance or not,” Abarca said. “This is about humanity. This is about what we believe what democracy will stand on or fall on.”
Legislator Sean Smith argued that the federal government won’t be stopped in building more detention centers. If one fails here, Smith said it would be placed in a rural area that could cause even further distance for detainees and a loss of oversight by communities.
“I think you’re placing people more at risk for performative politics consistent with simply trying to placate people. When in reality we need to pass responsible legislation that helps keep people safer and doesn’t pretend to do things that we don’t have the authority to do,” he said.
The Kansas City Council passed a similar measure in January and Kansas City, Kansas, is considering such a plan. An effort at placing a detention center in south Kansas City failed when developers dropped the idea after negative public pressure.
Several people testified at the public hearing for both plans, including Debra Parmet, who supported Abarca’s bill. She said if an ICE agent approached her, she feared being kidnapped.
“ICE is nothing but Trump’s private army and they are like the Brown Shirts of Hitler,” she said. “But Hitler’s Brown Shirts did not wear masks and they were in uniform.”
Kenda Tomes McClain of Kansas City opposed the mask ban, saying it was flawed because law enforcement are allowed to wear masks, often for safety reasons, including protecting their identity from people who would follow them.
“It is a very dangerous job when they are simply enforcing federal law, which has been around a long time,” McClain said. “This is nothing new.”
