Hundreds gather downtown for Kansas City ICE protest. Meet the protesters
Jessica Saucedo stood silently amongst the crowd at the intersection of Southwest Boulevard and Avenida César E. Chávez, a sign held high in her hands.
“I was wrongfully deported.”
Saucedo, who was deported from the United States five times between 2012 and 2016, joined several hundred people in Kansas City’s Westside and downtown areas Tuesday as a part of a “Shut down ICE KC” protest to “stand with Los Angeles and demand an end to ICE raids and detentions,” according to a flier for the event circulating online.
“It was easy [to come here today] because I know what everyone is protesting for, even though that was hard part,” Saucedo said. “And the hard part is to come in here and face other people that don’t want us here.”
Protestors held signs high in the humid Kansas City air. Some read “No one is illegal on stolen land,” and “Who are we to close the door behind us?”
Others held up flags representing various countries, the group chanting as cars passed by, honking in support of the cause.
While the event was initially supposed to remain at the intersection of Southwest Boulevard and Avenida César E. Chávez, it moved to the Liberty Memorial after Westside residents expressed concerns of a potential large police presence, according to the 50501 Missouri Facebook page.
“I didn’t have to go through that”
Saucedo was deported for the first time in 2012, leaving behind her four year old son.
“So I crossed the river,” Saucedo said. “I got caught by border patrol. I did one year.”
During her year in federal prison, she spent her time in the facility’s law library, researching immigration policies.
Saucedo’s father was born in Texas, and the woman is a derived citizen. Nine documents on the woman’s sign detailed her fight to prove her citizenship.
“Subject is a USC. She derived citizenship through her USC father after being deported,” an email from a deportation officer read on Saucedo’s sign.
“Birthplace, Mexico; citizenship, United States,” a document from the Federal Bureau of Investigation on the sign said.
While in prison, Saucedo gave birth to a baby girl. “I came home in ‘16, to a baby that didn’t know me. And I didn’t have to go through that. That’s the hard part.”
Despite coming home nearly nine years ago, Saucedo still struggles with the aftermath of her time in federal prison.
“I still have PTSD right now,” Saucedo said. “I only get two hours of sleep because I have to think of the next day, how to pay my bills, how to feed my kids.”
Since her deportation, Saucedo said has been able to reobtain her state ID and driver’s license, but has been unable to obtain her social security identification.
“Why are you wanting to tear all these families apart?”
Kayla Contreras could be seen driving around the protest in an SUV, two children in the vehicle holding the Mexican and Honduran flags out the windows.
Blaring through the car’s speakers was a song repeating the line, “F*ck Donald Trump.”
“I think that everything that’s going on is corrupt,” Contreras said. “Why are you wanting to tear all these families apart when you said you’re only going to get the criminals?”
Contreras has previously protested in a similar manner, in her car, at other protests in the area.
“And then he’s trying to stop protests,” Contreras said of President Donald Trump. “I thought that was part of your constitution, right?”
“I cannot abide by that”
Missouri Assistant Attorney General and Hispanic and Latino American Jordan Herrera stood at the side of the road thanking attendees as they passed him on their way to the Liberty Memorial.
Herrera, who is running for Congress to represent Missouri’s fifth Congressional district, felt it was important to attend the event to talk about the stories of Hispanic and Latino Americans.
“Defending our constitution is at the core of who I am,” Herrera said. “So to see people in this country ripped from their homes, their schools and their churches and deported without due process, a fair hearing, or a trial? I cannot abide by that.”
Herrera says the United States’ Constitution “needs us.”
“When we look at her like a living being, and we see that she’s being battered and assaulted and perverted by this president, it changes how we fight,” Herrera said. “It changes how we talk, and it changes how we revere our rights in this country.”
A former resident of Los Angeles, Herrera said people should care that a city that is predominantly Hispanic is “under attack.”
“And if we over here are sitting in silence, what does it say about us?” Herrera said. “Are we going to turn a blind eye and be quiet when we see violence and discrimination, or are we going to stand up and speak up like we know we can and have?”
The Kansas City Police Department monitored the event and reported “no issues” throughout the duration of the protest, Capt. Jake Becchina told The Star. The protest disbursed around 10:15 p.m.
Another protest, the nationwide “No Kings Rally” hosted locally by Indivisible Kansas City and other groups, will occur Saturday at Mill Creek Park and at several Johnson County locations to protest in support of Los Angeles, focusing on upholding Constitutional rights.
This story was originally published June 11, 2025 at 7:12 AM.