Gov. Laura Kelly this afternoon signed a legislative bill that blocks the Kansas City, Kansas, Safe and Welcoming Act.
Local leaders including Mayor Tyrone Garner had urged the mayor to veto the bill.
The Unified Government Commission had passed the Safe and Welcoming ordinance in February. The ordinance welcomes diversity, allows identification cards to be issued so that residents can access UG services, and states that KCK resources cannot be used to enforce federal immigration law. The ordinance applied only to KCK, not to Wyandotte County, Bonner Springs or Edwardsville.
Besides undocumented workers, the ID cards would have been used for elderly residents, the homeless, the poor, youth in foster care and ex-offenders who are re-entering society, some who may not have ID cards, according to those backing the ordinance.
Local law enforcement leaders, including the KCK police chief and mayor, said that the Safe and Welcoming ordinance would build trust between local officers and the community, which was needed so that crime victims who are undocumented would feel encouraged to come forward and report crimes.
House Bill 2717 was passed by the Kansas Legislature to block the KCK ordinance. It also blocks a Safe and Welcoming ordinance in Roeland Park, plus some other ones in Kansas.
In a news release, Gov. Kelly, a Democrat, stated that Congress should pass comprehensive immigration legislation.
“The responsibility to address our broken immigration system rests with Congress and cannot be resolved at the municipal level,” Gov. Kelly stated. “Both Republicans and Democrats in Washington have failed to address immigration issues for decades. We need a national solution and we need it now.
“I encourage my colleagues who sent me this bill to persuade our federal delegation to pass comprehensive immigration legislation that allows us to continue growing our economy and meeting our workforce needs here in Kansas.
“Kansans who rely on local government IDs to vote, such as veterans, the elderly, and people with disabilities will be adversely affected by this law. The Legislature needs to send me a trailer bill that ensures these folks can continue participating in our democracy.”
Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt, a Republican, also issued a statement on House Bill 2717.
“The veto-proof bipartisan support for this bill in the Legislature demonstrated its importance, as the Biden administration continues its tragic failure to secure our southern border, jeopardizing public safety in our Kansas communities,” Schmidt stated in a news release. “Under this new law, Kansas law enforcement will be able to resume working professionally with federal immigration authorities as the needs of public safety require and not be silenced by a patchwork of local ‘sanctuary city’ gag orders.”
Both Kelly and Schmidt are running for governor this year.
See earlier story at https://wyandotteonline.com/mayor-urges-governor-to-veto-bill-that-would-block-safe-and-welcoming-ordinance/.