Kansas AG Kris Kobach says KBI agents will work with ICE on illegal immigration
Kansas state law enforcement officers will assist federal officials with Immigrations and Customs Enforcement on illegal immigration cases, Attorney General Kris Kobach announced Monday.
Kobach said the attorney general's office and the Kansas Bureau of Investigation have signed an agreement with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security allowing KBI agents to work with ICE on removing "criminal illegal aliens" from Kansas.
"All across Kansas, illegal aliens who are dangerous criminals or gang members are released back to the streets on a regular basis," Kobach said in a statement. "That will end. This agreement will ensure that those criminals are deported."
Kansas is among the first states to enter such an agreement, Kobach's office said, which is under Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
"Under the terms of the agreement," the attorney general's office said in a news release, "a limited number of KBI agents will receive ICE training that authorizes the agents to arrest illegal aliens, to serve and execute warrants for some immigration violations, and to issue immigration detainers."
"The KBI is pleased to have another tool at our disposal to get known criminal offenders out of our communities," KBI director Tony Mattivi said in a statement. "This agreement will not shift KBI investigative priorities but will allow us to more swiftly achieve justice in cases in which the KBI currently focuses — major violent crimes, crimes committed against children, and targeting drug trafficking organizations."
Since 1996, the 287(g) program has allowed ICE to delegate certain immigration enforcement authority to state and local officials. As of December 2024, ICE had several such agreements nationwide, largely with county sheriffs, including Jackson and Finney counties in Kansas.
The Kansas Highway Patrol isn't part of the KBI's agreement with ICE. The KBI is under Kobach, who is a Republican, while KHP is under Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly.
More: Kansas lawmakers eye resolution urging governor to work with Trump on immigration
Jason Alatidd is a Statehouse reporter for The Topeka Capital-Journal. He can be reached by email at jalatidd@gannett.com. Follow him on X @Jason_Alatidd.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas AG Kris Kobach says KBI will help ICE on illegal immigration
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