Kansas immigration

The Trump administration’s plans for expanded immigration detentions include Kansas. While a 1,000-bed facility in Leavenworth is on hold, the majority of the state’s detention plays out in a Flint Hills jail.

The Trump administration’s promised deportations have private prison operator CoreCivic moving to use the inactive Kansas facility to house federal detainees. Some former employees and immigrant rights advocates are pushing back.

Federal immigration enforcement moved through western Kansas and detained several people. It comes after President Donald Trump promised deportations of people in the country without legal status. Southwest Kansas has a high percentage of immigrants.

Roeland Park resident Evenezer Cortez Martinez was protected under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. He sued the Trump administration after he was not allowed to reenter the country.

28-year-old Natalie Zarate spent two decades working towards becoming a citizen after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally as a child. Except now she worries that the Trump administration’s aggressive efforts to crack down on immigration and end birthright citizenship could endanger her and her family.

Kansans overwhelmingly voted for President Donald Trump. So why are so many local authorities hesitant to help his administration carry out its immigration policy goals?

Under the state-federal partnership, an unspecified number of KBI agents would receive ICE training allowing them to issue immigration detainers, serve warrants for some immigration violations and arrest people allegedly in the U.S. without authorization.