TOPEKA — Republican legislators overrode Gov. Laura Kelly’s veto to create a 25-foot buffer around law enforcement and emergency personnel, a move the Senate leader said ensures Kansas won’t become like Minnesota.
Senate President Ty Masterson said in a news release that House Bill 2372, referred to as the Halo Act, keeps “radical protesters” from interfering with law enforcement and keeps officers and bystanders safe.
Masterson referred to riots in Minnesota when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers injured and killed bystanders while detaining immigrants.
The bill makes it a misdemeanor crime to go within 25 feet of a first responder while they are working. A violation can result in a fine up to $1,000 and jail term of up to six months.
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In addition, the bill outlines regulations for Kansas law enforcement to work with ICE, including allowing sheriffs to detain individuals on an immigration detainer request and to sign ICE contracts without seeking approval from county commissioners. It also requires municipal insurance pools to cover law enforcement officers when they are enforcing federal law.
Establishing a 25-foot boundary around law enforcement is government overreach, said Emily Bradbury, executive director of the Kansas Press Association. In an email to members, she said laws already exist to prevent people from interfering with law enforcement.
It is likely the law is unconstitutional and will cost the state when it goes to court, Bradbury said.
“In Kansas, we have no instances, in recent memory, of journalists interfering with law enforcement but we do have a recent instance of law enforcement interfering with freedom of the press,” she said. “We have to avoid another incident and costly lawsuit.”
Rep. Heather Meyer, an Overland Park Democrat, argued the bill harms community trust in law enforcement and expands the right to hold people indefinitely without judicial warrants.
“This had previously been 48 hours. Now that protection is lost,” she said. “It could occur that an individual could be detained by local law enforcement and then be detained indefinitely, waiting for ICE.”
Meyer also said the bill removes local control, which she called a “hot button” issue this session, by allowing law enforcement to bypass the county commission in deciding whether to sign a contract with ICE.
Rep. Susan Ruiz, D-Shawnee, said some local law enforcement agencies have had contracts, called 287(g) contracts, with ICE or Homeland Security for several years. Currently, according to the ICE website, 28 Kansas sheriff offices and police departments have signed 287(g) contracts.
“What is different now is the fact that Homeland Security has been faced with thousands of lawsuits — 20,000, up to today, federal lawsuits have been filed on behalf of immigrant detainees,” she said.
Court decisions nationwide have found that ICE and law enforcement detained immigrants unlawfully about 4,400 times, Reuters reported.
Ruiz said millions of federal dollars have been paid to settle lawsuits, and Homeland Security has said they won’t financially back sheriff’s departments if they are sued.
“Counties have not had to pay for that,” she said. “Homeland Security now sees that this is adding up for them. So they informed the sheriff’s departments that they’re no longer going to financially back them up.”
The American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas in 2017 analyzed the legal liability of local law enforcement when they operate under the 287(g) contracts for ICE. Because they are free to disregard detainers, those agreements have not been found in court decisions to be a defense for unlawful detention, the ACLU said, listing lawsuits.
“Jailers cannot evade responsibility for unlawful detention by claiming the federal government required them to hold the person on an immigration detainer,” ACLU’s report said.
Rep. Tom Kessler, a Wichita Republican who carried the bill on the House floor, said the bill wasn’t about ICE.
“This bill is about protecting our law enforcement officers and our first responders,” he said. “That’s what this bill is designed for. If one of our law enforcement officers gets hurt, or anything else while they’re enforcing federal law, there’s a possibility that they’re not going to be covered under our insurance pools.”
The House overrode the veto 85-38 and the Senate 31-9, with votes along party lines.
Kansas Reflector is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kansas Reflector maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sherman Smith for questions: info@kansasreflector.com. Follow Kansas Reflector on Facebook and Twitter.
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