Local leaders chime in after reports of ICE touring south Kansas City locations for possible detention center
By Chloe Godding & Andy Alcock
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KANSAS CITY, Missouri (KMBC) — After rumors of a possible detention center began swirling in Kansas City this week, federal agents were spotted in south Kansas City on Thursday.
KMBC 9 saw Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in the area of East 149th Street on Thursday morning. Jackson County Legislator Manny Abarca said on social media that he confirmed they are looking to build what he called a “mega detention facility.”
Plans for these possible detention facilities were first reported in the Washington Post. U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Mo., first spoke against the possible detention sites, which he said would aim to hold 8,000 immigrants. The Department of Homeland Security reportedly awarded a $29.9 million no-bid contract to an organization to carry out the plan. The DHS has not confirmed reports of these facilities.
U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver IIRep. Cleaver says possible immigration detention center in Kansas City will ‘degrade our society’ Cleaver strongly condemned the reported plan, saying it will “degrade our society, divide our communities, waste taxpayer dollars, and stress the civility of our institutions to the point of fracture.”
And he is not the only local leader who has expressed disapproval of the detention center, should it come to fruition.
Mayor Quinton Lucas said his office was working to verify reports of a potential detention center but that it would work to ensure that “no such facility” comes to the Kansas City area.
“I want to reaffirm our city’s commitment to being welcoming and inclusive,” Lucas said in a news release. “Kansas City has always been a place that embraces growth and opportunity, not fear and division. We believe in ensuring that all who live and visit our community feel valued and respected.”
On the other hand, some local leaders seem to think that some language and actions involving recent ICE rumors have gone too far.
Jackson County Legislator Sean Smith referenced Cleaver’s letter on the reported detention center, saying Cleaver is “stoking fear and insulting federal law enforcement efforts.”
“Such actions are inappropriate,” Smith said on social media. “Obstructing, threatening and insulting law enforcement is disgraceful. And elected officials doing so erodes any potential we have for keeping our discourse civil.”
Where could this facility be built?
Concrete plans for a detention center are not available, and may not exist yet, but one rumored location is an industrial building in the area of the 4000 block of East 149th Street.
Port KC issues a statement regarding the site of the former Richards-Gebaur Airbase and its involvement, or lack thereof, in it.
“To be clear, the building referenced was built and occupied solely as an advanced logistics and industrial facility. It is wholly owned by a private entity,” Port KC said.
Port KC said the building and the land are owned by Platform Ventures, a Kansas City-based real estate company.
“Port KC has very limited ability to disallow a sale of the facility,” Port KC continued. “Under no circumstances would Port KC offer any development support to a use that is not consistent with our mission to bring quality industrial and logistics jobs to the community.”
After speaking out against a possible ICE or DHS detention center, Lucas and the City Council approved an ordinance Thursday to block permits and licenses for any pending or future applications to establish non-municipal detention facilities in Kansas City.
The five-year moratorium applies to any application for a detention, corrections or carceral facility not owned or operated by the city. This would last through Jan. 15, 2031.
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