KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe said the state will provide members of the Missouri National Guard to help Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in the state.
According to a release Tuesday morning, Kehoe said the Missouri National Guard will start assistance on Wednesday, Oct. 1.
Those participating in the effort were selected on a volunteer basis and are eligible to be on duty through Sept. 30, 2026. A spokesperson for Gov. Kehoe said 15 National Guard members will be participating in the assignment.
Kehoe says their work will allow ICE personnel to “focus on core enforcement and security functions.”
“Public safety, keeping Missourians safe, and upholding the rule of law is our administration’s top priority,” Kehoe said in Tuesday’s release .”The Missouri National Guard is uniquely equipped to provide this essential administrative support, and we are confident their contributions will be invaluable to immigration enforcement efforts.”
ICE operates a field office at 11125 N. Ambassador Drive in Kansas City, Missouri.
William Sharma-Crawford works with hundreds of local immigrants in the metro area. As an attorney, he has strong opinions about Kehoe's decision.
"It's absolutely that performative aspect to say, 'We're bringing out the National Guard, so we sound tough'," Sharma-Crawford said. "It's a game designed to hurt people."
"I don't think you're going to see vehicles patrolling the streets of Missouri," Sharma-Crawford said.
According to Kehoe's office, their roles will be to assist with data entry, case management and logistical support.
Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas wrote in a statement that using the National Guard to support immigration enforcement "marks another example of Missouri public policy operating for the interests of Washington elites rather than everyday Missourians."
"The greatest safety challenge Missourians and Kansas Citians face is crime — crime committed in almost all cases by Missouri-born perpetrators against Missouri-born victims. Using the brave women and men of our National Guard as paper pushers and case managers at immigration facilities undermines their mission and the law, directs them away from the important storm-response and local public safety efforts Missourians care about, and marks another example of Missouri public policy operating for the interests of Washington elites rather than every day Missourians."
Kehoe said the activation was prompted by “a request for assistance from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to the Department of War to ensure the resources and personnel needed to effectively enforce immigration laws and maintain operational control of the border.”
It's not clear which states other than Missouri received a request for administrative assistance.
A spokesperson for Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly said Kansas had not received a request.
For Sharma-Crawford, Kehoe's decision will indirectly affect Kansas.
"Kansas arrests are going to be processed through the Ambassador Street office, so they will, in fact, be handling it," Sharma-Crawford said. "They will be handling paperwork from both sides."
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