Facing reports of ICE facility in KC, council says it won’t OK permits for it
Following reports that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is considering opening a detention center in south Kansas City, the Kansas City Council passed an ordinance Thursday stating the city wouldn’t grant such a facility local permits, licensing or other approvals.
The local law enacts a five-year moratorium on approvals for non-municipal detention centers within city limits. In a statement, Mayor Quinton Lucas directly attributed the action to emerging reports regarding the potential ICE facility.
“We consistently hear from residents that Kansas City’s focus should be on economic development and housing, not mass detention facilities holding thousands,” Lucas said in a statement Thursday. “Our priority is building businesses, homes, and schools that strengthen and grow our community.”
The statement added that the city intends to “use all available legal tools to enforce the moratorium.”
But one city council member, Nathan Willett of the First District, cast doubts on the effort.
“Kansas City should not take part in obstructing or appearing to obstruct legitimate state & federal law enforcement efforts,” Willett said in a text message. “Upon further legal counsel, I learned the ordinance itself cannot be enforced due to The Supremacy Clause. The city would lose in court.”
Ahead of Thursday’s council vote, several Kansas City-area officials confirmed reports that ICE is considering opening a detention center in the far southern part of the city.
Among them was 6th District Councilmember Johnathan Duncan, who told The Star that the city was “looking at all tools at our disposal to slow and prevent this from happening.”
Jackson County Legislative Chair Manny Abarca said that he confirmed with Department of Homeland Security agents on site that ICE and the DHS are planning to construct a detention center in an industrial building just outside of Grandview city limits to Kansas City’s far south.
Agents allegedly told Abarca that the facility would have capacity for about 7,500 detainees, which is consistent with a Washington Post story earlier this week that listed Kansas City as a potential detention center site.
Abarca took to social media Thursday morning to condemn the proposed detention center, calling on residents and local elected officials to mobilize against its development.
“Local Electeds must step up, and engage,” Abarca wrote on X. “We cannot sit ideally by and let things happen in our community.”
ICE did not respond to an inquiry from The Star.
Questions about the building
The Port Authority of Kansas City, a local development agency that grants incentives, released a letter on Thursday that said it has been “made aware of rumors regarding an industrial building” at 4001 E. 149th St. in South Kansas City.
The building in question appears to be a warehouse and is part of the former Richards-Gebaur Air Force base, which has been turned into an industrial and business park with multiple warehouse-type buildings.
The Port KC letter says that the building, and the land it’s on, are wholly-owned and managed by Platform Ventures, a Kansas City-based real estate company.
While the Port KC letter references 4001 E. 149th St., television news footage appears to show the building across the street and listed as 14901 Botts Rd. The development contains multiple warehouse buildings, including one listed in city records as 4001 E. 149th St. and another listed as 14901 Botts Rd.
A Port KC spokesperson confirmed that both buildings are owned and operated by Platform Ventures.
Port KC’s letter says that the agency entered into a development agreement in 2022 with Platform Ventures to build multiple industrial buildings on the site and called the transformation of the area a success.
“To be clear, the building referenced was built and occupied solely as an advanced logistics and industrial facility. It is wholly owned by a private entity. Port KC has very limited ability to disallow a sale of the facility,” the Port KC letter said.
“Under no circumstances would Port KC offer any development support to a use that is not consistent with our mission to bring quality industrial and logistics jobs to the community. We will continue to monitor any proposed sale or use of the Platform Ventures facility that would change its use.”
Duncan, whose district includes the site, told The Star on Thursday afternoon that his understanding is that Platform Ventures notified Port KC that the firm was going to sell a warehouse it owns to the Honeywell national security campus across the highway.
“It’s only through leaked documents did the city find out that they were actually going to sell to DHS,” Duncan said.
Duncan said that, to his knowledge, Port KC’s calls to Platform Ventures have gone unanswered over the past 48 hours. Port KC, he said, is trying to get information but Platform Ventures is not returning anyone’s calls.
Platform Ventures’ website directed to a 404 error page on Thursday afternoon. Ryan and Terry Anderson, who are listed as co-presidents and co-founders on an archived version of the website, did not immediately respond to email or text messages.
“We should be publicly and privately shaming Platform Ventures,” Duncan said. “They are a Kansas City company that has received public dollars for years and they need to get the message that the Kansas City community does not appreciate being sold out by a local company for quick financial gain.”
ICE expanding
The Washington Post reported last week that Kansas City is one of at least seven cities across the United States where ICE plans to build detention centers with 5,000 to 10,000 beds each. The Post reported that the centers would be built in warehouses and that ICE is seeking contractors in Stafford, Va.; Hutchins, Texas; Baytown, Texas; Hammond, La.; Glendale, Az.; and Social Circle, GA, along with Kansas City.
After the report was published, Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, a Missouri Democrat, condemned the DHS’ plan to open in Kansas City, questioning whether the current federal administration plans to respect local zoning policies and processes. ‘
“Kansas Citians do not want this administration’s reckless, deadly, and incompetent deportation policies in our back yards,” Cleaver wrote in a Jan. 13 letter to U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem.
Rumors about planned ICE actions in Kansas City, including the use of south KC warehouse as a detention center site, have been mounting among residents and on social media all week, prompting local officials’ probes.
A video went viral earlier this week showing ICE officers arresting an unarmed man outside of the Briarwood Gardens Apartments in Grandview.
Also this week, dozens of marked ICE vehicles could be seen in a parking lot near the Worlds of Fun amusement park in North Kansas City.
Duncan previously said that a KC-area automotive company had been contracted to add decals to the vehicles but that they were not set to be used in any sort of imminent immigration enforcement operation in the city.
The Star’s David Hudnall contributed reporting.
This story was originally published January 15, 2026 at 4:36 PM.
