Wage theft, housing: Immigrants open up to Kansas City Mayor on their challenges, fears

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - On Friday, Kansas City, Missouri, Mayor Quinton Lucas heard from immigrants, immigration attorneys, and nonprofits about the challenges and fears they are currently facing.

This was held in the Historic Northeast. KCTV5 was not allowed to film the roundtable to allow for a safe space for the conversation.

This discussion is on the heels of the executive orders by President Trump involving immigration, border security, and refugee settlement.

“What I heard today was not so much that immigrants want something unique different or special but instead what we heard today is that immigrants just want us to make sure we are enforcing our rules, that we are being fair, and that we are building all the things we’ve been building for years in this city,” Mayor Lucas said. He added, “Better housing opportunity, better transit, more access to jobs, and frankly caring about our children that’s what I heard today and I hope that this is the sort of narrative that we have more of in our country.”

Resettling in Kansas City from The Democratic Republic of Congo in 2021, Lukas Lubingo shared his story of coming to the States.

“It was tough in the beginning but we got used to it pretty quickly because of the help of the refugee settlement agencies,” said Lubingo.

He said the biggest challenge was the language barrier.

“Just being able to navigate through all the programs here was really tough you don’t have anyone to help you with it,” said Lubingo.

Now, he’s gone to school, plays for a semi-professional soccer team, and is working on his graphic design skills.

“This is the purest pursuit of the Declaration of Independence, for life and liberty in the pursuit of happiness,” said Della Lamb Executive Director, Ryan Hudnall.

At Friday’s roundtable, one family from Venezuela shared they were living in a rat and bug-infested home when they first came to the metro. They said the landlord didn’t try to fix it.

Mayor Lucas said they can work to enforce housing policy more and said anyone who runs into housing issues can call 311.

Another family shared they were working in a job and not being paid what they were told.

Mayor Lucas said they can address wage theft at the city level.

“It is illegal in Missouri, in Kansas, and in our city so that is the sort of thing that we can start enforcing more of today,” said Mayor Lucas.

There was also a discussion of the need for more immigration attorneys and funding for this.

Along with those stories, fear was another topic.

Many shared they are afraid of what is happening in the country after President Trump’s executive orders and what will happen next.

“For me, the step one on fighting back is really just to fight for the people who are here right now and our community,” said Mayor Lucas.

Hudnall said this roundtable reflects a bigger need for collaboration in the community as funding is in limbo for Della Lamb and other nonprofits.

“It is important that local stakeholders step in there is an incredible opportunity right now,” said Hudnall.

Mayor Lucas hopes to schedule more roundtables like these in the future.

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