News & Commentary

Another two area restaurants were raided by ICE this week. As a refresher, here is a collection of resources from ACLU Kansas and Missouri and Advocates for Immigrant Rights and Reconciliation (AIRR).

An immigration advocacy group says the raids were carried out by Homeland Security Investigation agents about midday on Wednesday at El Toro Loco restaurants in Lenexa and Kansas City, Kansas.

In early July, the ACLU of Kansas called for the “immediate release” of the body camera footage from the June 22 shooting. The release, the nonprofit said, would allow for transparency and accountability.

"We don't have a comment on this particular instance but certainly see it as part of an ongoing onslaught of attacks on DEI by our legislature and other politicians," Tseng said in an email.

A spokesperson with the ACLU of Kansas also told the Journal-World on Wednesday afternoon that the organization was “following and concerned” about the pronoun issue, and was gathering more information. ...

Attorney General Kris Kobach isn’t ready to accept a ruling that would allow transgender Kansans to change their gender on driver’s licenses and state identification cards for the first time in two years.

Led by D.C. Hiegert, a legal fellow at ACLU Kansas, and Donnavan Dillon, senior organizer with Loud Light, the evening’s discussion addressed developments in changing gender markers and gender-affirming health care for minors, as well as resources for the local community.

The state is asking a Douglas County judge to dismiss a lawsuit challenging a new state law banning surgery and the use of puberty blockers for treating transgender children in Kansas.

Earlier this week, the ACLU of Kansas called on the Lenexa Police Department to release the body camera footage from that morning. In a Facebook post, the ACLU said it stood with the community wanting justice for the young man.