(NewsNation) — Democratic Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas has offered to open the city’s doors to migrants seeking work, but he says his recent comments on social media do not mean he is pushing for sanctuary city status for Missouri’s largest municipality.
Lucas recently used his X (formerly Twitter) platform to say migrants with legal work permits from cities like Denver and New York City are welcome in Kansas City. However, local and state lawmakers, including GOP Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, have criticized the mayor’s comments, characterizing them as irresponsible.
Now, state lawmakers have threatened to keep funding from the city should it allow migrants to come to Kansas City in search of work.
Bloomberg reported in mid-April that Lucas has been in contact with Denver and New York’s mayors, offering Kansas City as a landing spot for migrants seeking work.
“We need a lot more employees,” Lucas told Bloomberg. “If there are people who are willing and ready to work, then I believe there could be a place for them.”
Denver has seen the highest number of migrants per capita sent from the U.S. southern border by GOP Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. The city has hosted numerous clinics to get migrants qualified to work and has also paid for plane tickets for those seeking a new life elsewhere, a spokesman for the Department of Human Services previously told NewsNation.
The spokesman did not immediately respond to an email on Thursday seeking comment on the mayor of Kansas City’s request.
However, since Lucas’ social media posts, Missouri officials have criticized the mayor’s open invitation. In a letter to Lucas on April 18, Bailey called Lucas’ comments “wildly inappropriate” and “dangerous.”
He also pointed to a Missouri law that makes it illegal to “knowingly transport” those in the U.S. illegally into the state, which he says the mayor’s open invitation welcomes.
“Make no mistake, my office will do everything in its power to take legal action against any person or entity found to be in violation of these statutes,” Bailey wrote.
Meanwhile, the Missouri legislature has threatened to strip Kansas City of state funding should it become a sanctuary city, the Kansas City Star reported this week.
However, Lucas previously said that his offer to welcome migrants with legal work permits was the first step toward Kansas City moving to become a sanctuary city.
“There is nothing that has been proposed that suggests we are a sanctuary city,” Lucas said, according to the Star. “There is nothing that has been proposed that suggests that this city is funding or in some conspiracy to help create more illegal immigration.”
Bloomberg reported that Lucas would like to have a clearer picture of what welcoming new arrivals to Kansas City could look like soon after Memorial Day. He said the city is considering how it could help migrants with temporary housing and other training, including language services.
The site also reported that Kansas City has allotted $1 million for housing, health care and job training for immigrants and migrants.
According to a study compiled by J.H. Cullum Clark of the Bush Institute-Southern Methodist University Economic Growth Initiative, Kansas City ranks as the 23rd top metropolitan area for migrants moving within the United States.
Bloomberg reported that Kansas City’s economy could be attractive to blue-collar workers seeking manufacturing or construction jobs. Lucas said that the effort to bring migrants in from other cities could lighten the load for officials in Denver and New York, which, along with Chicago, has seen the largest number of migrants sent from the border.
As of late March, Kansas City had an unemployment rate of 3.5%, which is slightly higher than Missouri’s March jobless rate of 3.3%.
Yet local officials remain concerned that the mayor may push for sanctuary city status for Kansas City. Councilman Nathan Willett recently proposed an ordinance that would assure the Missouri General Assembly that the city was not moving toward sanctuary city status, the Kansas Star reported.
“Right now, in Jefferson City, because of the mayor’s comments in the past week or so, they believe our intentions are becoming a sanctuary city,” Willett said last month. “I know that that’s not what I want. I know that’s not what you want. We need to firmly communicate that.”