Can Missouri attorney general stop Kansas City mayor from welcoming migrant workers?

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Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey this week accused Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas of offering an “open invitation for illegal aliens to come to Missouri.”

The Republican attorney general issued a vague legal threat in a letter to Lucas, arguing that his previous comments regarding Kansas City welcoming migrant workers were “wildly irresponsible.”

But the core of Bailey’s legal argument focused on Missouri laws surrounding illegal immigration, while Lucas’ comments centered on migrant workers who are in the U.S. legally.

Legal experts and Missouri Democrats who spoke with The Star were quick to point out this discrepancy, saying that Bailey’s letter had no real legal merit. Many accused Bailey of using his office for political reasons as part of a Republican effort to draw attention to the southern border with Mexico.

“In my opinion, there’s no legal issue here for the attorney general to address at all,” said Chuck Hatfield, a Jefferson City-based attorney who worked in the attorney general’s office under Democrat Jay Nixon.

“After reading the attorney general’s letter, I don’t think he identifies anything that the mayor has done that would violate a law.”

Bailey’s legal threat followed comments Lucas made on social media saying, “All are welcome in Kansas City.” Lucas linked to an article in which he said that the Kansas City economy would benefit from workers seeking asylum or other legal status in the U.S. but who are stuck in crowded shelters in cities such as New York awaiting work permits or other documentation.

The Kansas City mayor also posted a follow up, emphasizing that he was talking about “persons who are lawfully present, with lawful work permits, and the lawful ability to come to our community.”

The Biden administration authorized expedited work permits for some eligible migrants from Venezuela, Cuba, Haiti and Nicaragua for humanitarian reasons. People who obtain those permits are allowed to temporarily live and work in the U.S. legally.

Bailey’s letter comes as Republicans have made illegal immigration a top issue ahead of the 2024 election. Bailey has joined lawsuits related to issues at the southern border and testified in favor of impeaching Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over the federal government’s handling of immigration.

Bailey, in his letter, pointed to a Missouri law that makes it a felony to transport people who are in the U.S. illegally and another law that bars businesses from hiring individuals who are in the country illegally.

“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.

Jazzlyn Johnson, a spokesperson for Lucas, in a statement on Friday pointed to the fact that the Kansas City Police Department is under state control, arguing that the “only way Kansas City could ever become a so-called ‘sanctuary city’ is if the Missouri legislature directs the police department to stop enforcing federal law.”

Missouri lawmakers, Johnson said in the statement, “tried and failed to do so,” referencing a state law that declares certain federal gun laws invalid. A federal judge struck down the law in 2023 but Missouri has appealed the decision.

“Beyond that, Andrew Bailey’s letter is a political campaign press release with no legal effect, because, as he knows, he has no ability to supersede federal law,” Johnson said. “The mayor will continue to follow all state and federal laws while also building a Kansas City that welcomes all.”

Rep. Peter Merideth, a St. Louis Democrat, called Bailey’s letter a “hateful political stunt” that emphasized a “fearmongering and bigoted narrative against immigrants.”

Merideth, an attorney by trade, pointed to the fact that Bailey currently faces a tightly-contested Republican primary for a full term as attorney general.

“But legally it’s a completely meaningless letter,” he said. “Pure political garbage.”

Rep. Emily Weber, a Kansas City Democrat, was also quick to point out that Lucas was not talking about illegal immigration in his comments about Kansas City accepting migrant workers.

“We’re talking about migrant workers, not immigrants. We’re talking about migrant workers that have a Visa,” Weber said. She accused Bailey and other Republicans of fear-mongering by using words such as “immigrants” and “illegal.”

“This rhetoric…is just going to harm more and more people,” she said.

But Sen. Mike Cierpiot, a Lee’s Summit Republican, said he was supportive of Bailey’s letter in an interview with The Star. Cierpiot said he did not have any problems with legal immigration, but he said he’s never read about cities “being overrun by legal immigrants with work permits.”

“There’s a lot of cities in this country that are having problems with this illegal immigration thing,” he said. “If this makes more Democratic governors and Democratic mayors call Biden and say ‘shut the damn border,’ that’s a good thing.”

Hatfield, the Jefferson City-based attorney, said the letter came down to the simple idea that Bailey disagreed with Lucas’ comments. He said there was nothing illegal in what Lucas said, pointing to his First Amendment rights.

“He never says that the mayor is aiding and abetting a violation of the law because he’s not doing that. He never says that anything the mayor said was actually illegal,” he said. “He just says that he doesn’t like the mayor’s position on welcoming immigrants to Kansas City. And he’s certainly entitled to have that opinion, but it’s not a legal issue at all.”

The Star’s Daniel Desrochers contributed to this story.