Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

More than 350 ICE detainees have spent time in the Phelps County jail this year, and more of them are on the way after a two-month pause.

People gathered by the thousands across cities in the U.S. on June 14 to protest actions of the Trump administration. Organizers expected a bigger turnout for the second wave of protests Saturday, driven by the ongoing shutdown of the federal government and immigration crackdowns.

Como Comunidad has organized a care package drive for Hispanic and immigrant communities in mid-Missouri that are afraid of large public gatherings because of ongoing ICE raids.

About 50 people gathered to mourn Leo Cruz-Silva, who died by suicide in a jail in Ste. Genevieve last week while being detained by ICE. His was the second reported suicide in ICE custody in Missouri this year.

Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe mobilized Guard members to assist ICE with "data entry, case management, and logistical support." Military experts say they also worry how these new deployments will affect recruitment and public trust.

The arrests of the workers at El Potro Mexican Café in February were among the first in the Kansas City area to draw widespread media attention. Immigration attorneys sued the Trump administration for making arrests without a warrant.

Leo Cruz-Silva, 34, was arrested for public intoxication and died by apparent suicide after just one day at an ICE detention center in Ste. Genevieve. He is at least the 15th ICE detainee death nationwide, and the second in Missouri this year.

The federal government is currently shut down. NPR's network is following the ways the government shutdown is affecting services across the country, including in Missouri and Kansas.

State Senate Democratic Leader Doug Beck said Gov. Mike Kehoe should not have authorized a deployment just hours before the federal shutdown.

The move comes amid President Donald Trump's immigration enforcement practices garnering increasing criticism. Kehoe said that Missouri National Guard troops will help with "administrative, clerical and logistical duties."

Owen Ramsingh, a legal permanent resident who lives in Columbia, was detained by ICE in Chicago last Tuesday after flying home from a three-week visit to the Netherlands. Authorities are citing past drug convictions from the 1990s.

National Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated from September 15 to October 15. Consul Soileh Padilla Mayer, who leads the Mexican Consulate in Kansas City, is spending this month making sure that Latino residents are being treated fairly around the metro, especially as the Trump administration ramps up deportation efforts.