A bill on the brink of becoming law in Kansas would incentivize local cooperation with federal immigration authorities and make it a crime to come within 25 feet of a first responder — including an ICE agent — after being ordered to back up. The bill that lawmakers sent to Gov. Laura Kelly’s desk last week would remove the requirement that sheriff’s offices obtain county commission approval before entering into agreements with ICE. That provision was bundled with another piece of legislation that First Amendment advocates warn would give law enforcement officers broad, subjective power to arrest people whom they deem to be distracting them from carrying out their duties. ICE agents themselves would not be allowed to arrest people simply for approaching them under the proposed statute. Only state and local law enforcement officers could enforce the buffer zone. But the legislation is careful to identify federal officers of any agency as first responders — a definition that would be a first in Kansas law.
Read more: Wichita Eagle
