Rep. Cleaver Condemns Reported DHS Detention Center Opening in Kansas City, Demands Additional Information

(Washington, D.C.) - Today, U.S. Representative Emanuel Cleaver, II (D-MO) condemned the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) reportedplans to open an immigration detention center in Kansas City, Missouri, calling for additional information on the process before the plan moves forward. According to the report, DHS intends to build several detention centers across the country, including in Kansas City, to hold approximately 80,000 immigrants. DHS recently awarded a $29.9 million no-bid contract to an organization that had no previous history of government contracts to facilitate the plan-which is just shy of the $30 million threshold that requires the administration to justify forgoing a competition process for the award.

"Since day one, this administration has fractured communities with ICE raids and severed families with hundreds of thousands of deportations, sweeping up legal residents and American citizens in the process. While we believe strongly in an orderly immigration system, Kansas Citians and I do not want to see the stench of these extreme mass deportation policies centralized in Kansas City," Congressman Cleaver wrote in a letter to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and ICE Acting Director Tom Lyons.

"No human deserves to be rounded up as cattle, shipped across the country, imprisoned in warehouses, and stripped of their dignity. The proposed plan will degrade our society, divide our communities, waste taxpayer dollars, and stress the civility of our institutions to the point of fracture," Rep. Cleaver continued.

"America's immigration system is far from perfect, and border security is a key component. But those millions of dollars for detention centers would be better spent on finding criminals rather than attacking families and those with no criminal history," Cleaver concluded.

In addition to condemning the administration's plans, Rep. Cleaver requested answers to the following questions by January 23:

1. Has the administration briefed Congress on the plans and locations of these facilities?
2. Why did the administration pursue a no-bid contract, as opposed to a competitive, transparent application process?
3. Will the administration provide Congress and the general public with the locations of the proposed facilities?
4. How has the administration coordinated with local governments? Will the administration honor the local zoning policies and process?

The official letter from Rep. Cleaver is available here.

Emanuel Cleaver, II is the U.S. Representative for Missouri's Fifth Congressional District, which includes Kansas City, Independence, Lee's Summit, Raytown, Grandview, Sugar Creek, Greenwood, Blue Springs, North Kansas City, Gladstone, and Claycomo. He is a member of the exclusive House Financial Services Committee and Ranking Member of the House Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance.