Jackson County, Missouri – Jackson County lawmakers have passed a five-year moratorium that stops private immigration detention centers from operating in the county. Supporters say this is a stand against federal enforcement techniques that they feel violate due process.
Ordinance No. 6061, approved on March 2, halts any county-level permissions for privately held detention facilities immediately. That includes zoning permits and development applications for any center that isn’t run by Jackson County or a city government. The ban will be in place until January 15, 2031.
In January, County Chairman Manny Abarca brought forward the idea. He said the goal is to stop the federal government or private businesses from turning local warehouses or other private property into immigration detention centers. Abarca stated in a public statement that the county should not help build infrastructure for enforcement activities that he says regularly violate constitutional rights and due process protections.
The ordinance comes after weeks of increased public interest in an potential facility in South Kansas City. Platform Ventures LLC has been talking to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement about selling a big warehouse that might have been turned into a detention center. The corporation eventually backed out of those conversations since a lot of people in the community were against them.
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For supporters of the initiative, the legislation makes it clear to county leaders how local resources and land use should and shouldn’t interact with federal immigration enforcement.
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Still, not everyone agreed with the choice. Councilmember Sean Smith asked if the county has the right to put such a prohibition in place, saying that it makes it harder for property owners to get special use permits. Smith wanted to put off the bill so that it could be reviewed by legal professionals again, but that idea didn’t work, and the ordinance moved forward.
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Legal observers note that while counties can set local zoning and permitting rules, federal authority under the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution could potentially override local restrictions. The Jackson County ban is now in effect, though, meaning no immigration detention centers that are not in the county or a city can open for at least the next five years.
