KS Legislature approves bill targeting Wyandotte County’s ‘safe and welcoming’ ordinance
A bill nullifying parts of a Wyandotte County ordinance limiting law enforcement cooperation with federal immigration authorities is headed to Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s desk with a veto-proof majority.
The Kansas Senate voted 29 to 10 Wednesday to approve the measure originally proposed by Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt. Both the House and Senate had the two-thirds majority needed to override a gubernatorial veto.
Kelly has not said whether she will sign the bill, but indicated Monday that she viewed the legislation as an overreach of state authority.
“I have been a staunch supporter whenever possible to allow local units of government that they feel are in the best interest of their community, I don’t like usurping their power,” Kelly said.
Wyandotte County passed a “safe and welcoming” ordinance last month establishing a municipal identification card and limiting how the unified government and KCK police department would work with federal immigration authorities.
The ordinance was intended, in part, to help communities of color within Wyandotte County to move freely without fear of law enforcement inquiring about their immigration status or that of their families.
Lawrence and Roeland Park passed similar policies in 2020.
The bill would still allow Wyandotte County to issue municipal IDs but would bar their use for any official state purpose like voting. Furthermore, it prohibits local governments from taking action preventing law enforcement from working with federal immigration authorities.
Schmidt has said the bill is necessary to ensure Kansas has a uniform statewide response to immigration policy rather than a patchwork of local policies.
Senate debate focused on the role of local government in immigration and questions about whether municipal identification cards could allow undocumented immigrants to vote illegally.
Sen. Dennis Pyle, a Hiawatha Republican, said he worried residents would attempt to use municipal ID’s to vote.
“Confidence in the elections has fallen,” Pyle said. This bill, he argued, was a step towards restoring it.
Undocumented immigrants, however, are already barred from voting in Kansas or elsewhere in the U.S.
Opponents to the bill called it an unjustified overreach into local control. Sen. John Doll, a Garden City Republican, said the Legislature was “slapping” municipal governments much like Will Smith slapped Chris Rock during the Oscars ceremony on Sunday.
Sen. David Haley, a Kansas City Democrat, said the local ordinance in Wyandotte County would make many in the community feel safer. The opposition, he said, was born out of Schmidt’s “thumping his chest” in an effort to play to a conservative base in his candidacy for governor.
“This is not doing any harm to a concept that any of you wish to denigrate,” Haley said. “It makes Wyandotte County stronger. It makes Wyandotte County safer.”
“Why would you support it if not just to lend some bones for some politics?” he asked his Senate colleagues.
Sen. Richard Hilderbrand, a Galena Republican, rejected the idea that Wyandotte policy was needed to welcome undocumented immigrants who had not come to America through the legal immigration process.
“Why would we allow in our state and welcome someone that does not abide by our Kansas laws or our U.S. laws?” he asked.
In a statement, Schmidt thanked the Legislature for it’s work.
“Neither our nation’s broken immigration system nor the Biden administration’s ongoing failure to secure our national borders justifies a patchwork of local rules that prevent law enforcement agencies from cooperating with federal officials,” he said.
Karla Juarez, executive director of Advocates for Immigrants Rights and Reconciliation, which was part of the Safe & Welcoming coalition, said lawmakers lacked knowledge on the Safe & Welcoming ordinance.
Judy Ancel, president of the Kansas City-based Cross Border Network, which was also part of the coalition called the entire process “undemocratic” and was angry that undocumented immigrants would not feel safe.
“We gave them this brief glimmer of hope that they could join our community as equals,” Ancel said, “and now we’ve ripped it away.”
Aarón Torres contributed to this report.
This story was originally published March 30, 2022 at 12:29 PM with the headline "KS Legislature approves bill targeting Wyandotte County’s ‘safe and welcoming’ ordinance."
