Signature gathering company denies Missouri AG’s claims of illegal activity
Haley Swaino
EDITOR’S NOTE: AI was used to research background for this story.
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
A company paying people to get signatures on a petition to overturn a new Missouri congressional map has denied it employs illegal immigrants, a claim made this week by the state’s attorney general.
Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway has launched an immigration-focused investigation into Advanced Micro Targeting, Inc., a signature-gathering firm from Texas.
Hanaway, in a news release Tuesday, accused the company of using undocumented workers to gather petition signatures to reverse the GOP’s gerrymandering efforts.
The release states that Advanced Micro Targeting is the signature-gathering contractor for many petition efforts in the state, including the anti-gerrymandering campaign associated with the group People Not Politicians.
“Election integrity is a core priority of this office,” Hanaway said in a statement. “Missourians, not unregulated labor hired by out-of-state interests, should determine our elections.”
Hanaway issued a civil investigative demand, a subpoena-like order, requiring Advanced Micro Targeting to provide documents related to its hiring practices and worker verification of Missouri clients. The issue has also been referred to federal immigration authorities, Hanaway said.
The Attorney General’s Office said preliminary information suggests the firm may have violated state laws against hiring or transporting unauthorized workers. They are also investigating whether the company provided misleading information to clients, which would violate the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act.
“Missouri’s laws are clear: no business may employ or transport individuals who are not authorized to work in the United States,” Hanaway, a Republican, said in a statement. “My Office will not allow dark-money groups to violate Missouri laws and hijack the will of voters.”
AMT rejects that notion.
“The allegations are not true,” Billy Rogers, AMT president and founder. “Everyone who works for AMT is a W2 employee, and every AMT employee is verified through the Department of Homeland Security’s E-Verify system. AMT does not employ undocumented immigrants.”
The battle over the signature drive has spread to Missourians’ phones this week.
Some Missourians received a text message warning that out-of-state interests may be “trying to trick people into signing petitions” on Black Friday.
A text message some Missourians received on Nov. 25, 2025.
The Missouri Republican Party issued a statement after the text message was sent out, saying it is in support of Hanaway’s investigation.
“Unfortunately, there are always malicious actors who wish to take advantage of Missourians’ generosity during the holiday season,” the Missouri GOP said in a statement. “There are serious questions about the tactics these groups are using to collect signatures.”
The Missouri GOP issued a statement in support of Attorney General Catherine Hanaway’s investigation into illegal aliens gathering signatures on Tuesday.
State Rep. John Martin (R-Centralia) urged Missourians not to sign such petitions.
“This weekend signature gatherers will be out among the shoppers and DECLINE TO SIGN,” Martin wrote in a Facebook post Monday. “The Left and all of their money continue to use Missouri’s low-threshold petition system to push their radical agenda and stop Trump’s agenda.”
People Not Politicians called the message a “scam.”
“Desperate politicians are at it again trying to scam Missourians,” the group wrote in a Facebook post Tuesday. “They are afraid of our power, but we know that we will win!”
Hanaway has filed a lawsuit in federal court to block the referendum on the state’s new congressional map from appearing on the November 2026 ballot.
The map, signed into law by Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe on Sept. 28, is expected to remove a Missouri Democrat from the U.S. House of Representatives. Dubbed “Missouri First,” the map is part of a broader Republican effort to strengthen the party’s hold in the U.S. House ahead of the 2026 midterms.
Hanaway contends that the U.S. Constitution grants the Missouri legislature exclusive authority over redistricting, and the referendum undermines this power.
Secretary of State Denny Hoskins approved the petition for circulation by People Not Politicians after initially rejecting the forms submitted last month. However, Hoskins noted that signatures gathered earlier are no longer valid, a claim disputed by People Not Politicians.
Several lawsuits have been filed challenging the new congressional district map.