KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas, Commissioners voted 6-4 on Thursday to pass the Safe and Welcoming City Act.
The newly passed ordinance now establishes a municipal ID and ensures that the resources from the Unified Government are not used to enforce federal immigration law.
A presentation at the meeting outlined some of the goals of the ordinance.
One goal is to foster trust between the community and the UG to ensure local resources are used for local purposes, improving the quality of life for undocumented community members and their families.
Before the meeting, hundreds of people rallied outside of the UG building in support of commissioners passing the ordinance.
Throughout public comment, most speakers were in support of the ordinance.
"I ask you commissioners, to please do the right thing and vote to pass the Safe and Welcoming ordinance," Yazmin Bruno Valdez, who was in favor of the ordinance said. "We have worked for five years to pass this ordinance, and I ask you to do the right thing."
However some speakers urged the commissioners to not pass it.
"While the immigration system is broken, fixing it the Bernie Sanders way is not the answer," Mary Jean Grindel, who was opposed to ordinance said during public comment.
The municipal ID will be issued by a third-party program administrator via the UG.
It will include a person's photograph, name, date of birth, address and expiration date.
