A hotly-contested bill in the Kansas Legislature gained the signature of Governor Laura Kelly on Monday.
The governor signed House Bill 2717, which essentially ends the so-called “sanctuary city” practice in Kansas. The bill forbids any Kansas city or town from preventing enforcement of federal immigration laws. It also mandates law enforcement agencies to give officers written notices of their duty to cooperate with state and federal agencies when it comes to enforcing immigration laws. On top of those provisions, the bill also requires any municipal ID care to note it is not a valid state ID.
HB 2717 was actually introduced by Kelly’s main Republican challenger this election cycle, Attorney General Derek Schmidt, and followed Wyandotte County’s decision to let undocumented immigrants get municipal ID cards — and forbidding local law enforcement from participating in Immigrations and Customs Enforcement cases.
In signing the bill, the governor called on Congress to resolve longstanding immigration issues, saying immigration should not be fixed at the local or state levels.
