Kansas Governor Kelly signs ‘sanctuary city’ bill, dealing harsh blow to immigration activists
KCUR | By Laura Ziegler
Published April 12, 2022 at 9:11 AM CDT
The Democratic governor signed the Republican-backed bill acknowledging that veterans, the elderly and people with disabilities will be adversely affected. She called on the Legislature to lobby the state's Congressional delegation to pass comprehensive immigration reform and allow the state to focus on state and local issues.
Kansas Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly signed a Republican-backed bill on Monday that will thwart hard-fought efforts by the Unified Government of Wyandotte County/Kansas City, Kansas, to issue municipal IDs to residents unable to get legal photo IDs.
The UG's "Safe and Welcoming Act," which would have allowed undocumented immigrants to obtain municipal IDs, faced backlash from the state GOP.
Passed by the UG in February, the act also blocked local police from cooperating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement authorities except in the case of threats to public safety or a warrant signed by a judge.
Kelly, who is up for re-election in November, said in a statement that she signed the statute because it is the responsibility of federal officials, not municipalities, to address our broken immigration system.
https://www.kmuw.org/2022-04-12/kansas-governor-kelly-signs-sanctuary-city-bill-dealing-harsh-blow-to-immigration-activists
