At least 3 arrested in KC-area raids released from ICE custody, advocates say
At least three of the 11 people detained Wednesday by federal immigration agents at two separate locations of local Mexican restaurant El Toro Loco have been released from custody, according to Advocates for Immigrant Rights and Reconciliation (AIRR).
AIRR told The Star on Thursday evening that family members and loved ones of people detained during simultaneous raids in Kansas City, Kansas, and Lenexa confirmed that at least three people were no longer in federal custody.
Although it’s not immediately clear where the others are still detained, at least one person was sent to the Kay County Detention Center in Newkirk, Oklahoma. The identity of the man that was in custody in Kay County was not available as of publication time.
The Chase County Detention Center confirmed with The Star that a few people had been admitted to the Cottonwood Falls facility on immigration charges yesterday, although jail staff did not confirm how many people, or whether those admissions were in connection with the raids in Lenexa and KCK.
Agents from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), a unit of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), arrested seven people in Kansas City, Kansas, and four in Lenexa from the two locations on Wednesday morning. The raids happened almost simultaneously, according to AIRR.
Agents said they were responding to an issued criminal search warrant related to “harboring, human smuggling, or labor exploitation” before issuing arrests.
At the Lenexa restaurant, the HSI agents left behind a copy of a warrant signed by a judge authorizing them to seize records and documents. The warrant did not name any individuals who were to be arrested.
This story was originally published July 31, 2025 at 7:00 PM.
