ICE operations confirmed in Grandview after video of man pinned down in arrest
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Grandview spokesperson says ICE contacted police about enforcement operations
- Viral clip shows armed federal officers arresting a man outside apartment complex
- Officials and leaders dispute reports of large detention sites and call for clarity
After a video went viral this week showing an unidentified man being arrested by federal immigration enforcement officers in Grandview, the local mayor took to social media with a message that the community is one of different races, cultures and backgrounds.
The brief video, posted on the Facebook and Instagram accounts of KC Discover, shows the man being wrestled to the ground by armed officers outside the Briarwood Gardens Apartments, located in the 6000 block of East 126th Street, on Wednesday.
“While Grandview supports an orderly immigration system to arrest criminals, Grandview first (prioritizes) keeping families together, our community whole, our businesses open, and preserving community first,” Mayor Leonard Jones wrote.
It was not known why the man was being arrested by ICE agents.
Valerie Poindexter, a spokesperson for Grandview, said that the police department had been contacted by ICE about immigration enforcement operations in the city.
On Thursday, several residents at the Briarwood Gardens apartment complex declined to speak to The Star, but one resident said that this is the first time they had heard about ICE activity in the complex.
The video comes on the heels of a large number of marked ICE vehicles being seen in a Northland parking lot on Wednesday.
Earlier this week, Kansas City Councilman Johnathan Duncan said he was told those vehicles were not going to be used for any large-scale immigration enforcement in the area and were just being worked on by a local company.
Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas responded to reports about the presence of those vehicles in a video posted to X, formerly Twitter, on Wednesday.
“We want more people in Kansas City, not fewer,” Lucas said in a video clip posted on X, formerly Twitter, Wednesday evening. “We want people to feel more welcome, not like they’re being pushed away. And fundamentally, we want to make sure that everyone feels safe to navigate this community.
“Building a city or a country in fear is, to me, antithetical of what America is all about.”
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security reportedly has identified Kansas City as one of seven sites where DHS is seeking to renovate industrial warehouse space to incarcerate thousands of immigrants arrested by federal authorities, The Washington Post has reported.
U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver condemned the warehouse proposal as dehumanizing in a letter to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem.
City officials said they have not verified media reports of potential DHS or ICE facilities in Kansas City, a spokesperson for the mayor said previously.
The Star’s Bob Cronkleton and Matthew Kelly contributed to this story.
This story was originally published January 15, 2026 at 1:01 PM.
