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Inside Kansas City's immigration court

An illustration showing the Kansas City skyline with the words "Kansas City Today"

For immigrants looking to stay in the U.S legally, asylum is often their last hope, but judges are denying more claims. Plus: A Missouri man living in the U.S. for 25 years will be deported to Mexico after authorities pulled him over for not having a front license plate.

Millions of immigrants apply for asylum in the U.S. every year, protecting them from deportation. But judges in Kansas City’s immigration court deny the majority of asylum claims they consider. Reporting for The Midwest Newsroom, KCUR’s Celisa Calacal explains how those long odds affect one asylum-seeking family.

A 29-year-old Florissant man who came to the U.S. when he was 4 is now being deported to Mexico. Immigration agents detained Victor López Delara after a traffic stop earlier this year. St. Louis Public Radio’s Chad Davis spoke with López Delara by phone from the Ste. Genevieve County Jail and sat down with Abby Llorico to discuss the interview.

Contact the show at news@kcur.org. Follow KCUR on Instagram and Facebook for the latest news.

Kansas City Today is hosted by Nomin Ujiyediin. It is produced by Byron Love and KCUR Studios, and edited by Gabe Rosenberg, Madeline Fox and Emily Younker.

You can support Kansas City Today by becoming a KCUR member: kcur.org/donate.

As a newscaster and a host of a daily news podcast, I want to deliver the most important and interesting news of the day in an engaging and easily understandable way. No matter where you live in the metro or what you’re interested in, I want you to learn something from each newscast or podcast – and maybe even give you something to talk about at the dinner table.
As an on-demand producer, I am focused on using my skills and experiences across multiple digital applications, platforms and media fields to create community focused audio, video and on-demand products for KCUR Studios. The media that I produce aims to inform, entertain and connect with the Kansas City metro area as we continue to learn from each other. Email me at byronlove@kcur.org.
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