Northland councilmember pushes back on KC migrant plan
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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Thursday, 1st District Councilmember Nathan Willett introduced an ordinance to “affirm to the Missouri State Legislature that Kansas City will not become a sanctuary city for undocumented immigrants.”
Tuesday, it will be in front of the city’s Special Committee for Legal Review.
Clay, Platte County presiding commissioners push back on Mayor Lucas’ migrant plan
The introduction of the resolution comes after Mayor Quinton Lucas said on Tuesday of last week that migrants in the country legally are welcome in the city. Lucas said if the migrants have work permits and want to work, local employers have the jobs.
“What we are saying is, if you’ve gone through that work, a work permit, you’ve worked with the Department of Homeland Security and you are lawfully present here in the United States, then you know what? We want to welcome you, and we want to make sure there’s a way you can find work in our community,” Lucas said on Wednesday.
Saturday, Clay County Presiding Commissioner Jerry Nolte and Platte County Presiding Commissioner Scott Fricker came out with a joint statement, calling on Lucas to withdraw his offer. They’re calling on Willett’s resolution to pass out of committee.
“When it did come up, Nathan was the natural person to go to on it,” Nolte said in an interview with FOX4 Monday.
Nolte says he’s also concerned the city would lose state funding if migrants came here. He says the plan would definitely affect the area.
“The other is the influx of a lot of people, because that would strain our social services, our law enforcement,” he said. “Every system you can think of would be affected, especially by a massive influx of new people.”
Willett is not a member of the Special Committee for Legal Review. In a phone conversation with FOX4 Monday though, he told us he does plan on being at the Tuesday meeting at City Hall.
“I think that’s a question that is really best handled at the Attorney General level. I am not an attorney,” Nolte said when asked if the people coming here would be undocumented if they went through the Department of Homeland Security.
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Thursday, Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey wrote a letter to Lucas saying Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’ “open border programs are themselves illegal,” also claiming it’s a Class D felony to knowingly transport illegal aliens in the state of Missouri.
Both Bailey and Lucas did not comment to us Monday.
Bailey’s running to continue being the state’s Attorney General. Nolte, a Republican as well, is running to be a State Senator in term limited Democrat Lauren Arthur’s seat this November. Tuesday’s city meeting starts at 1:30 p.m.
