Lenexa official says citizenship probe caused her ‘emotional and mental harm’

Following last week’s ICE raid in Lenexa, City Councilmember Melanie Arroyo came forward with her own recent experience with authorities questioning her immigration status.

“I want to make it very clear that this story is not me trying to place blame on anyone or any shame, but rather bring awareness of a growing trend we need to face,” Arroyo said during Tuesday’s City Council meeting.

About two weeks ago, Lenexa Police Chief Dawn Layman informed Arroyo that she would need to provide proof of U.S. citizenship to the department after someone called the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, claiming that Arroyo isn’t a legal resident and isn’t eligible to serve in local office by law.

To run for office in Lenexa, candidates need to be eligible and registered to vote, which by definition also means they need to be U.S. citizens. Voter registration rolls are public records.

While the situation was resolved, and Arroyo provided her documentation that proved her citizenship, she asked the City Council to take action to prevent local law enforcement from conducting this type of probe again.

“If this happened to me, this can happen to anyone on this council,” Arroyo said. “I would not want anyone, any single employee, council member or resident of the city to go through what I went through.”

The anonymous tip

Chief Layman told Arroyo that the tip came in after she published an Op Ed in The Star, where she voiced support of a Kansas law granting in-state tuition to students living in the state, regardless of their immigration status.

In the commentary, Arroyo wrote that she came into the U.S. legally but overstayed her visa in high school. She said she was still able to attend college and receive in-state tuition because of the Kansas law, later graduating and becoming a therapist.

She became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2018 and was elected onto the Lenexa City Council in 2021.

After her commentary was published, an anonymous, alleged Johnson County resident left a voicemail for KBI, referencing Arroyo’s “public testimony she gave to her immigrant background,” and “requested someone check if she was able to hold local office due to her status,” KBI Public Affairs Director Melissa Underwood said in a statement.

The Star requested an audio file of the voicemail. The request is under review by the KBI legal team, Underwood said.

“Since the KBI does not typically investigate immigration-related matters, (unless there is another alleged criminal violation) the information was sent to the Lenexa Police Department for follow-up as they deemed appropriate,” Underwood said.

Police ask official to show her documents

Lenexa Police Chief Layman informed the councilmember that another officer would be in contact with her to request a copy of a form of documentation that proved her citizenship, Arroyo said.

“I could not quite discern the multitude of emotions I felt in that moment,” Arroyo said. “Later, I started to recognize that the reason why this felt uncomfortable was because I was being asked to show my papers.”

“And many people with an immigrant background would know that this carries a lot of political and historical weight.”

Arroyo complied, but hired an immigration attorney before moving forward. She met with Lenexa officers in person to present her documents and resolve the matter.

“But at that point the emotional and mental harm was already done,” Arroyo said.

“Especially because at no point throughout the process was there any acknowledgement of the invasive nature of this request or no consideration of verifying this case in a way that didn’t create discomfort or any tension in my professional relationship with the Lenexa Police Department.”

City defends investigation

The Lenexa legal team agreed that the situation was difficult.

“While we do not assume there was a concern with her citizenship we had to ensure this,” Lenexa City Attorney Sean McLaughlin said during the meeting. “While she feels we didn’t do this properly, we did everything we could.”

He said that staff handled the matter professionally while being sensitive to Arroyo.

“We must carry out our duties without prejudice or preference,” McLaughlin said. “We only investigated that matter because our council member must be a citizen. We do not investigate others.”

This was the first time many had heard Arroyo speak about this matter, including fellow council members and the police chief.

“I would like to say that I apologize if I made you feel that way,” Layman said. “That was not my intent, and I think we worked together for a very long time that I was trying to make this easier for you in the long run,” Layman said during the meeting.

“I would welcome some additional conversations on this, since this is the first time I’m hearing about it today.”

Pushing for change

After her testimony, Arroyo requested that the City Council support putting in place new measures to “protect our community from these wasteful reports.”

“The Lenexa Police Department takes a lot of pride in the work they’ve done to create and maintain public trust,” Arroyo said. “We should have guardrails in place so that they don’t have to be in this awkward situation again or ask anyone ever for proof of legal residence because that is completely outside their professional scope of duties.”

During public comment, dozens of residents came forward in support of Arroyo and requested better protections in place to prevent this from happening again.

Reverend Jackie Hernandez, a senior minister at Lenexa’s Unity Church, urged the City Council to adopt a resolution stating that Lenexa will not engage or support in “discriminatory profiling” or “misuse law enforcement resources based on ethnicity or national origin.”

“The process should be investigated, not the person,” Hernandez said. “Let that resolution include a commitment to reviewing police protocols for how complaints are vetted and followed, particularly those that could undermine public trust and democratic processes.”

While no path is set in stone moving forward, several council members supported Arroyo’s call to look into action they can take moving forward.

“We figure out problems together,” Mayor Julie Sayers said. “As the leader to this governing body we will have conversations to ensure this never happens again.”

This story was originally published August 7, 2025 at 6:09 AM.