News & Commentary

"We would encourage the city to consider all possible options as the communities of Leavenworth have made it clear there is broad opposition to the expansion or use of the CoreCivic facility for ICE detainees," said Micah Kubic, the executive director of ACLU of Kansas.

"Speak out against the attacks on our community and the slander against the immigrant residents of Wyandotte County and this country," said Micah Kubic, with ACLU Kansas.

D.C. Hiegert, a legal fellow with the ACLU of Kansas who is trans, told legislators in both the House and Senate committees that the bills could be unconstitutional. They run the risk of violating Kansas’ right to personal autonomy, as affirmed by the Kansas Supreme Court.

Meanwhile, the court is also considering a separate appeal from the same case where the ACLU argues Kobach's position violates the constitutional rights of transgender people.

Opponents included several civil rights groups and civic organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union, the League of Women Voters and the Disability Rights Center.

The American Civil Liberties Union estimates that ICE is considering an expansion of immigrant detention space across at least eight states, in locations ranging from Leavenworth, Kansas, to the outskirts of major immigrant populations in New York City and San Francisco

The ACLU in December announced that documents it had obtained revealed that Immigration and Customs Enforcement was "actively considering proposals to expand its immigration detention capacity in Kansas."

The American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas expressed concerns over data privacy, pandering to conspiracy theories of illegal voting and inadequate appeals processes.

An immigration detention facility in Leavenworth, Kansas, was shut down by the federal government in 2021. Four years later, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) discovered that the facility could potentially reopen.