Quinton Lucas, the Democratic mayor of Kansas City, Missouri, stated in a post on X that all immigrants are welcome in his city. He even reached out to some of the cities most affected by immigrants crossing the borders of the United States in the past two years, notably Denver and New York.
“Everyone is welcome in Kansas City. Proud to work with my fellow mayors like @MikeJohnstonCO [Denver Mayor Mike Johnston] and @NYCMayor [New York Mayor Eric Adams] as we work to ensure the decompression of the new arriving communities and collaboration between cities, workers, nonprofit organizations, and federal authorities,” Lucas wrote on X.
Lucas told Bloomberg that he has already contacted these mayors to formulate some kind of plan that could make the situation sustainable for all involved and possibly lead to action after Kansas City better understands its own migratory capacity.
The mayor justified the initiative by saying that the city needs workers. He wants immigrants to be legally authorized to contribute. “If there are people willing and ready to work, I believe there can be a place for them,” he added.
The state’s construction and manufacturing industries are facing a labor shortage after a decade of progress, which Lucas said could be alleviated with asylum seekers from Latin America, for example.
“We simply are not getting the volume of people we need… That is who we are. We are a group of brothers and sisters. We don’t care what you look like. We don’t care where you come from. We embrace everyone,” he said.
Source: Newsweek