Kansas state law enforcement, AG Kris Kobach agrees to help ICE arrest immigrants
Some Kansas Bureau of Investigation agents will be enlisted to help U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement arrest undocumented residents with a criminal history.
Attorney General Kris Kobach and KBI Director Tony Mattivi signed an agreement with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, making Kansas one of the first states to deputize state law enforcement in response to President Donald Trump’s calls for a crackdown on illegal immigration.
“All across Kansas, illegal aliens who are dangerous criminals or gang members are released back to the streets on a regular basis. That will end,” Kobach said in a news release. “This agreement will ensure that those criminals are deported.”
Under the terms of the agreement, an unspecified “limited number of KBI agents” will receive ICE training that authorizes them “to arrest illegal aliens, to serve and execute warrants for some immigration violations, and to issue immigration detainers,” according to the release.
Mattivi said the focus will be on removing “known criminal offenders” from Kansas communities.
“This agreement will not shift KBI investigative priorities but will allow us to more swiftly achieve justice in cases in which the KBI currently focuses — major violent crimes, crimes committed against children, and targeting drug trafficking organizations,” Mattivi said in the release.
Studies have consistently shown that immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than U.S.-born citizens.
In an email response to questions from The Star, Mattivi said KBI agents will not be involved in detaining undocumented immigrants who are not suspected of crimes on behalf of ICE.
“We don’t have the resources to focus on crimes outside those investigative priorities, to include focusing on persons who are in the country illegally but who aren’t a concern to law enforcement,” Mattivi said.
“For example, we might utilize this authority for a person who is known affiliated with a violent gang (even if that person had not yet committed a crime that we could build a case around). We would also utilize this authority for a person who is on the terror watch list, or who has demonstrated violent or criminal connections and is a threat to public safety (even if we didn’t yet have enough evidence for an arrest or charges).”
Michael Sharma-Crawford, a Kansas City immigration attorney, said the deputization of state law enforcement to assist ICE is a poor use of limited state resources.
“It’s cumbersome, it’s inefficient, especially in an investigative process,” Sharma-Crawford said.
“You’re going to turn criminal investigators, law enforcement officers, into civil enforcement officers . . . I understand it’s part of Kobach’s agenda. It’s always his agenda, but is it really what Kansas needs?”
Through a spokesperson, Gov. Laura Kelly declined to comment on the agreement between state and federal agencies. The Kansas Highway Patrol, which is under Kelly’s purview, will not be involved in immigration enforcement.
Kansas joins Missouri in the state-level effort to assist federal immigration authorities. Minutes after taking the oath of office, Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe signed an executive order allowing some Missouri Highway Patrol troopers to undergo ICE training.
Undocumented immigrants detained in Kansas may not immediately be removed from the state. Under an agreement between ICE and the Federal Bureau of Prisons obtained by The Star, FCI Leavenworth is one of five federal prisons designated to hold ICE detainees.
This story was originally published February 18, 2025 at 3:16 PM.
