Democratic U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids of Johnson County celebrated a company’s plans to halt the sale of land in Kansas City, Missouri, for a potential immigration detention center.
On Thursday, Davids stated her support for the decision made by the development company Platform Ventures to halt the sale of a warehouse they own in southern Kansas City to be used as a proposed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility.
“I’m glad to see this proposal halted and will keep working on thoughtful immigration policies that provide a clear pathway to citizenship, secure our border from violent crime and drug trafficking, and do not overwhelm our systems,” she wrote.
The news came after Davids penned a letter on Wednesday to U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials stating her strong opposition to ICE detention centers in Kansas City, Missouri, and a separate proposal to repurpose a private prison for ICE detention now being considered in Leavenworth, Kansas, citing their impact on local emergency services and law enforcement resources, as well as economic development agreements.
“Proposed facilities … would undermine public safety, derail local economic development priorities, and divert critical resources away from local law enforcement and community-based public safety efforts,” she wrote.
Davids’ letter joins a growing opposition to ICE and its proposed detention centers in the area, including lawmakers in Kansas City blocking federal detention center permits and the Kansas City, Kansas, Planning Commission advancing a two-year ban on special permits for jails.
Davids’ letter comes after 2 other immigration decisions
Davids’ letter to DHS and Platform Ventures’ decision come on the heels of some other moves by Davids in early February related to immigration enforcement that upset some local advocates.
She was one of just 21 Democrats in the U.S. House who voted in favor of a bill temporarily extending funding for the federal Department of Homeland Security. (Lawmakers on Friday again appeared poised to fail to come to a deal, making a shutdown of DHS imminent.)
Prior to that vote, Davids did vote against a funding package that would have funded DHS for a full year. A Davids spokesperson said she “continues to push for common-sense ICE enforcement reforms” as lawmakers continue to negotiate a funding bill.”
She is also one of an increasingly small group of House Democrats who have not signed on to a resolution calling for the impeachment of DHS Secretary Kristi Noem.
Davids said she voted for the funding package on Feb. 3 to “avert a prolonged government shutdown and deliver critical investments Kansans rely on,” including spending on roads and aviation infrastructure in Johnson County.
Some advocates, including Moti Rieber, a local rabbi and executive director of Kansas Interfaith Action, criticized Davids’ choices, saying the recent funding bill was the “one point of pressure” Democrats had for trying to force concessions from the Trump administration.
“Serious concerns” about now-scuttled KC deal
While plans for the Kansas City, Missouri, detention center fell through, Davids said she still has concerns about the Leavenworth proposal, after the city’s planning commission approved a permit for a detention center to CoreCivic, the company that would run the facility.
In her letter, Davids expressed concerns with CoreCivic, which she said has past issues with staffing, inhumane conditions and lack of cooperation with local law enforcement.
“While this matter faces pending action by the City of Leavenworth, CoreCivic’s historic operation of this facility is troubling,” she wrote in the letter.
Before the Platform Ventures deal was halted, Davids also viewed the proposed ICE detention facility in Kansas City as counterproductive to the structure’s intended purpose.
“The facility was given tax exemptions by Port KC with the clear understanding that the site would be used for economic development and manufacturing growth,” she wrote. “This apparent shift in use raises serious concerns that the building owner’s actions are misleading and inconsistent with local intentions.”
ICE protests have popped up around Johnson County
In the past year, large-scale protests against ICE and support for immigrants in the area have occurred in Johnson County, including the “No Kings” rally in August and October.
Student-led demonstrations have also ramped up over the past few weeks. On Wednesday, hundreds of Shawnee Mission North High School students joined other Johnson County and Kansas City area schools in their own walkout to protest ICE.
“It’s not like if we bury our heads in the sand we’re going to be better off a year from now, a month from now,” said Avery Hoppock, a junior at SM North. “It just felt like it was the time.”
Go deeper: Hundreds of SM North students walk out to protest ICE, joining other JoCo and KC-area students
