WICHITA, Kan. — Sedgwick County officials are pushing back against an area legislator's erroneous assertion during a public meeting that Wichita is a sanctuary city for immigrants living in the U.S. illegally.
The Wichita Eagle reports that freshman state Rep. Cheryl Helmer, a Mulvane Republican, made the claim this week during a town hall meeting with U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran.
Wichita Mayor Jeff Longwell said the city regularly cooperates with federal agencies on immigration enforcement.
A group advocating strict immigration limits included and then removed Sedgwick County from a list of so-called sanctuary counties last year after Sheriff Jeff Easter complained.
Helmer even suggested she had been robbed twice because of "that sanctuary city law." She later backed off that statement and offered no evidence that Wichita is a sanctuary city.
