Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

A coalition of Republican attorneys general, including both Kansas and Missouri, sued to suspend a new federal rule allowing immigrants protected under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program to access health care through the Affordable Care Act.

President-elect Donald Trump announced that he would begin deporting undocumented people on the first day of his term. His “largest deportation" in the country's history plan could affect tens of thousands of people across the region.

A plurality of Kansas voters feel that immigrants to the state have had a negative impact. But the largest industries even in rural Kansas rely heavily on immigrant labor for the state’s economy.

A Missouri legislative committee has been holding hearings across the state about immigration and crime. It got an earful, with many witnesses trying to explain immigration law and citing data that refutes the starkly anti-immigrant messaging.

Mayor Quinton Lucas said that he was in talks with cities like Denver and New York to bring immigrants who are authorized to work to Kansas City. Despite uproar from anti-immigration politicians in Jefferson City, that doesn't mean Kansas City is becoming a "sanctuary city."

The 2018 incident allegedly left Andrea Martinez with a fractured foot, concussion and other injuries. A portion of the incident was captured on camera by a Netflix crew for a documentary, “Living Undocumented,” that aired in October 2019.

The bill was introduced by the Kansas Attorney General’s office in response to the ‘Safe and Welcoming Act’ that was passed in Wyandotte County earlier this year.

Local governments are now banned from preventing law enforcement from working with federal immigration authorities, and limited in their ability to issue municipality ID cards. But advocates warn the action will have a chilling effect on the Kansas economy and cause legal problems.

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, a Democrat, shocked many when she decided to sign a GOP-backed bill that bans "sanctuary cities" and targets efforts in Wyandotte County to issue municipal IDs. Who will be impacted by the decision, and how will it affect the governor's reelection chances?

Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt pushed for a ban on so-called “sanctuary cities” in response to action by the Unified Government of Kansas City and Wyandotte County to issue municipal ID cards to undocumented residents.

Thanks to the Safe and Welcoming Act, Wyandotte County residents who don’t have a legal ID will have an opportunity to get a municipal photo ID, which advocates say will help connect them with needed resources.

Advocates say the ordinance will protect vulnerable members of the community including immigrants and those who are homeless. Supporters are also hopeful the new measure will encourage collaboration with law enforcement.