A Texas-based company that's gathering signatures for a vote on Missouri's congressional redistricting is strongly denying Attorney General Catherine Hanaway's claim it's employing immigrants without legal status.
The group seeking to place the state's congressional map up for a vote accused Hanaway, a Republican, of "political thuggery" in trying to scare people away from signing the referendum petition.
In a post Thursday on X, Hanaway accused Dallas-based Advanced Micro Targeting of "reportedly employing illegal aliens in their efforts to undermine the will of the people's elected representatives."
After saying that she was opening an investigation into the company that's working with People Not Politicians, Hanaway added she's referred the matter to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Hanaway's office declined additional comment about the tweets.
Advanced Micro Targeting President Billy Rogers said Hanaway's accusation is not true. He said his company verifies its employees' immigration status and does an extensive background check.
"We've qualified more statewide initiatives for the ballot than any other firm in the country since 2020," Rogers said. "We only have employees. We don't use independent contractors. And because we use employees, everyone we hire goes through E-Verify."
People Not Politicians is seeking to collect around 106,000 signatures in six of the state's eight congressional districts to place a redistricting plan passed by the legislature in September up for a 2026 statewide vote. The map would make it much more difficult for Democratic Congressman Emanuel Cleaver to win reelection in his Kansas City-based district.
Rogers said no one from Hanaway's office contacted him before her post went up on Thursday afternoon. He said he's never had this type of allegation lodged against his company.
"I can't get into her head, I don't know," said Rogers when asked what he thought the motivation behind the posts were. "What I do know is what she tweeted is not true."
ICE didn't immediately respond Friday to whether the agency received any evidence from Hanaway's office about Advanced Micro Targeting using immigrants without legal status to gather signatures.
Redistricting push
Missouri was the second state, after Texas, to answer President Donald Trump's call to redraw its districts to prevent Republicans from losing control of the U.S. House in next year's elections.
But if referendum backers succeed in getting enough signatures, it's highly unlikely that the map can go into effect for the 2026 midterms – which would provide another blow to Trump's redistricting efforts.
Hanaway is arguing in federal court that the U.S. Constitution prohibits a referendum on a redistricting plan. People Not Politicians notes there's already been a U.S. Supreme Court case affirming the right to place a redistricting referendum on the ballot, adding that Missourians voted down a redrawn map in 1922.
"This is the playbook: Scare the public, rig the process, and hope no one notices. We're not backing down," said People Not Politicians' Richard von Glahn. "We will defend First Amendment rights. We will qualify this referendum. And ultimately, Missourians — Republicans, Democrats and Independents — will decide whether they want this gerrymander, not the politicians trying to force it through."
People Not Politicians has battled with both Hanaway and Secretary of State Denny Hoskins over the referendum.
The group filed a lawsuit earlier this year that could prevent Hoskins from invalidating signatures collected before mid-October. And it sued earlier this week challenging the ballot summary for the referendum.
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