Immigrants' Rights

In recent years, government-sanctioned attacks on immigrants’ civil rights and liberties have increased in number and intensity. Immigrants face violence, discrimination, detention, and deportation, often without due process. When immigrants are denied equal protection under the law, the constitutional values upon which this country was founded are degraded.

Signs promoting immigrant rights

In recent years, government-sanctioned attacks on immigrants’ civil rights and liberties have increased in number and intensity. Immigrants face violence, discrimination, detention, and deportation, often without due process. When immigrants are denied equal protection under the law, the constitutional values upon which this country was founded are degraded.

What are we doing about it?

The ACLU of Kansas is dedicated to expanding and protecting the rights of immigrants in this state, regardless of their citizenship status. We use litigation, advocacy, public outreach, and education to work to lessen the hostility immigrants face on a daily basis on the state and local levels.

Our legal department has successfully petitioned jails in Kansas to stop illegally detaining people for unreasonable amounts of time at the request of federal immigration authorities. Most recently we helped to foil a bill that would have made it impossible for immigrant students raised in Kansas to receive in-state tuition to public universities in Kansas. Through the Know Your Rights project, we’re also working to educate immigrants in Kansas about their rights and supporting the community.

RESOURCES

The Latest

Publication
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Municipal ID Cards

Municipal ID cards are a form of photo identification issued by a city or county government, rather than by the state (as with a driver’s license) or the federal government (as with a passport).
News & Commentary
wyco

Wyandotte County may join Kansas City in trying to block ICE detention facility

“While the full county program faced setbacks,” Google AI says, “residents can still potentially access a community ID through local initiatives, with efforts led by organizations like the ACLU of Kansas aiming to provide IDs for library, transit, and service access, though the process and availability for a specific municipal ID card need checking with local county/city offices.”
Resource
2026 Leg Hub

2026 Legislative Hub

The ACLU of Kansas is never busier than when the Legislature is in session. Whether independently or with our partners in diverse coalitions spanning across the state, we work to defend, protect, and expand civil liberties for all Kansans through the legislative process. Follow along here on our 2026 Legislative Hub, where we'll include weekly recaps, key bill summaries, toolkits, and more.
News & Commentary
ICE arrests

Data shows ICE arrests in Kansas soar under Trump administration

Esmie Tseng, communications director for the ACLU of Kansas, said the data confirms what is already known. “This is clearly a numbers game about quotas and percentages for ICE agents, divorced from the humanity of who is impacted and blurring the lines between the civil immigration matters and the cruel legacy of our criminal legal system,” she said. She argued each data point represents someone going through a traumatic experience that she said can involve being grabbed off the street by strangers in masks, put in chains, thrown in the back of an unmarked vehicle and driven to a facility with deplorable conditions.