Kansas
For immigrants in Kansas who fear Trump’s deportations, getting out of Dodge is not an option
The Guatemalan woman holds out her hands, her fingers permanently bent from gripping knives and equipment used to slice and carve raw meat. They are hard evidence of the new life she made after arriving in the United States.
For years she worked long, gruelling hours in a meat-processing plant in southwestern Kansas doing dangerous yet essential work that many citizens refuse to do: cutting cows apart and pulling out strip steaks and ribeyes that would end up on Americans’ plates. She also worked with roast beef, thinly shaving it to perfection. Those shavings, she was told, made it to U.S. troops.
Now, after decades in the country, she is one of millions of people living in the United States who are fearful that they will be forced to leave under President Donald Trump’s plan to carry out mass deportations, which are already under way.
These days, she is rocked by nightmares. In her sleep, immigration agents come for her, pulling her out of bed and taking her away from her children.
“I feel nervous and scared,” she said, adding that she has tried to keep her feelings to herself. “My kids, my family, they have enough pain. I don’t want to scare them.”
The Globe and Mail is not naming the Guatemalan woman because she is afraid for her safety. The Trump administration has said it is targeting immigrants who have committed crimes, but border czar Tom Homan has also suggested that anyone in the country without legal documents could be targeted. In practice, people who had been living in the U.S. legally have also been swept up in the illegal immigration crackdown and deported.
As of two years ago, about a quarter of Dodge City’s residents were born outside the United States. Trump-era immigration policies could have far-reaching effects on the community.
The Globe recently travelled across southwestern Kansas, where places such as Dodge City and Garden City have long attracted immigrants because they can find employment in agriculture or meat processing.
According to DataUSA, as of 2023, the number of residents in both Dodge City and Garden City who were born outside of the country is higher than the national average. In Dodge City, which has a population of more than 27,000 people, 24.9 per cent of residents were born in another country. In Garden City, which is about the same size, 26.4 per cent of residents were not born in the United States.
Immigrants make up a big part of the labour force and contribute significantly to the economy. A New American Economy report from 2022 shows they made up 67.9 per cent of essential food manufacturing workers and 18.3 per cent of essential food workers in southwest Kansas.
In addition to the woman from Guatemala, who has a temporary work permit, The Globe spoke with a range of people who are terrified of Mr. Trump’s deportation plans, including Americans worried about loved ones who don’t have legal paperwork to stay in the U.S. Many are afraid they will be deported and separated from their American children.
Massive and public deportation measures, such as this military flight from El Paso to Guatemala, have alarmed immigrant workers across the United States.Christian Chavez/The Associated Press
Michael Feltman, an immigration lawyer in Cimarron, Kan., which is about halfway between Dodge City and Garden City, said that in 18 years, his office has never been so busy.
He has heard from people facing a range of immigration issues, including some who are eligible for programs and others who want to know what their options are. Most people, he said, are sad and incredibly nervous. “You can see the fear in their eyes,” he said.
Mr. Feltman said one woman he spoke with said she told her daughters in high school not to go out. A man asked him if it’s safe to go to the store. Mr. Feltman said the man had few legal options, so he advised him that people are picked up driving, and suggested he walk. “But at the same time, I’m saying, don’t live in fear.”
He said the majority of his clients work in meat-processing plants in Dodge City and Garden City and noted that mass deportations of individuals without legal status would drastically affect operations.
Mr. Feltman recently helped the Guatemalan woman apply for a U-visa, which is for victims of certain crimes who have endured physical or mental harm and are helpful to officials with the investigation and prosecution of those crimes.
As part of that application, she was recently granted a temporary work permit after initial review for vetting so she can work legally while her visa is processed, but it does not offer her any protection to remain in the United States until and unless the U-visa is granted.
The woman from Guatemala ran away from home when she was 10 years old. After her mother died, she had to escape her violent father.
She was pregnant by 15, after moving in with her partner and his family. When he went to the U.S. to work, he left her behind. She said his family abused her and told her that her daughter would be like her: a nobody. A servant. A teenage mother. His family kicked them out. And when she was 17, they fled to the U.S.
The woman remembered her mother and uncles talking about how the United States was the land of opportunity. She decided she and her daughter would go there.
When she arrived, she reconnected with her partner and they had three boys. His family’s taunts that their daughter would be unsuccessful were etched in her mind. She had to make sure she succeeded. Leaning across the table, her eyes lit up: “Now, she’s an engineer. A mechanical engineer.”
That’s the main reason the woman moved to the U.S. “Not everyone comes to make crimes, to hurt this country.”
She and her partner separated, she said, and she started dating a man who abused her and threatened to kill her. Now he is in jail, she said, for what he did to her.
She could be waiting a long time for her U-visa to be processed; only 10,000 are issued each year. In the meantime, she said she tries to go outside as little as possible, travelling only to work and back.
She has also had tough conversations with her kids. Her youngest, who is 13 years old, no longer wants her to drive him to school. He is worried she’ll be picked up by immigration officers.
“It’s stressful, it’s scary. I just don’t want anything else to happen to us. After all this happened, my kids, they’re dependent on me,” she said.
And, she said, she is not here to steal anyone’s job. As an immigrant, she said, she is willing to work no matter how hard it is, in order to provide for her family. Hard work in the United States has given her a new chance at life, allowing her to create a home to raise her children in and see that they get a good education.
“I’m here in the land of opportunity. So I want my kids to be part of our city. This building where we are sitting right now, where we’re talking, my daughter could be part of designing this building because that’s what she does now.”
The Guatemalan woman’s fear is shared by families across southwestern Kansas.
Vicky Ortiz, a librarian at the Dodge City Public Library, moved here from Mexico more than 35 years ago. She said she was able to receive legal documents within a month because of an amnesty program. She went to work at one of the meat-processing plants, she said, one of the few places to work that didn’t require employees to speak English. After seven years, she went to college.
Ms. Ortiz, 58, said people are afraid of Mr. Trump’s deportation plans, including those who are close to her who do not have legal documents and feel like they’re in limbo. One woman, who is worried about being deported, asked Ms. Ortiz if she could take care of her daughter if she is forced to leave the country.
“That’s very sad,” she said. “You know, I can take responsibility of that little girl if I have to. But you know, she don’t know me,” she said.
Vicky Ortiz, a U.S. citizen who immigrated from Mexico illegally, is worried about the fate of migrant workers in her community.
About an hour west, in Garden City, 33-year-old Marie said she is worried her husband will be deported and separated from her and their daughter.
She said her husband arrived at the U.S. border from Eritrea eight years ago and that he was granted Withholding of Removal, which means the U.S. government would not send him back to his home country because if he returned he could face persecution. However, individuals with this status could be sent to another country if they accept them.
Marie, who The Globe is only identifying by her middle name because she is fearful for her husband’s safety, said the situation has been confusing and stressful.
She said his work authorization expires in July and he will have to reapply. In November, he’ll have to check in with immigration officials. She is anxious about what could happen at either step.
Marie said she has wondered how he would maintain a relationship with their daughter if he gets deported. She said they haven’t had those conversations yet because she doesn’t want to worry her children.
“I just feel like it’s not fair that families are separated just because of where people are from. … Like he says, ‘We just want to focus on people that have committed crimes’ or things like that, but that’s not the case,” she said, referring to comments by Mr. Trump.
Marie recalled when children were separated from their families at the border during Mr. Trump’s first term. She said what’s unfolding now is another form of family separation with mass deportations, only now “it’s everywhere.”
“I’m a citizen, my kids are citizens, but it still impacts me, even though it hasn’t even happened yet to us, and my family, it’s still impacting us. It impacts my mental health. It still worries me about what could happen to them.”
John Hanna/The Associated Press
While people across southwestern Kansas wait to see how the Trump administration’s mass deportation plans continue to unfold, they strategize to keep themselves and others safe.
A pastor of a church in Garden City, who The Globe is not naming because they fear for the safety of their congregation, said church members say they’re scared and ask how they can prepare.
The pastor said if it came to hiding people who were at risk of being wrongly swept up in deportations, they would. The pastor said the country is not at that point yet – but if it came down to that, they would go to jail for someone if it meant keeping them safe.
“There comes a time when we as Christians, we are called to follow the law, until the law goes above what God’s commandments are. And so if it gets to that point, then I have to follow God.”
Kansas
Kansas law revoked their right to drive and threatens their right to exist, transgender residents say
Some 1,700 Kansans had their driver’s licenses invalidated last month. It wasn’t for racking up speeding tickets or a DUI charge, but because they are transgender.
Kansas is one of five states to prohibit trans people from changing the gender marker on their licenses, but it is the first to pass a law that retroactively cancels licenses that were already changed. The law also invalidated birth certificates for those who updated their gender markers.
Hundreds of trans drivers already received letters from the state informing them their documents were “invalid immediately” and they “may be subject to additional penalties” if they continue to drive, unless they surrender the license to the Kansas Division of Vehicles and receive a new one with their birth sex.
“I’m pretty heartbroken,” said Jaelynn Abegg, a 41-year-old trans woman living in Wichita who received a letter. She said she will not turn in her license and plans to move this month to another state.
“It is a continuation of the message that the Legislature has been sending out for years now, and that is that transgender people are not welcome in Kansas,” she said.
Two anonymous trans residents sued Kansas last month, arguing that the law violates state protections for personal autonomy, privacy, equality, due process and freedom of speech. On Tuesday, Douglas County District Judge James McCabria declined to grant a temporary restraining order against the law while the case proceeds.
McCabria wrote in his decision that there isn’t enough evidence to show that trans people will face harassment and discrimination if they have to use bathrooms or show IDs that conflict with their gender identities.
Kansas law was years in the making
Kansas had allowed trans people to update the gender markers on their IDs since 2007. Then in 2023, it changed its legal definition of sex to be male or female and assigned at birth.
Fifteen other states have made a similar change in the past few years — and President Donald Trump issued an executive order declaring that there are only two unchangeable sexes. The State Department now prohibits trans people from changing the gender markers on their passports.
Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach sued the state, arguing that allowing people to update their gender markers violated the 2023 law. Last year, the Kansas Supreme Court affirmed an appeals court decision and allowed gender marker changes to resume.
In January, Kobach backed the new bill he said would “correct an error” by the courts. The state Senate added a provision prohibiting trans people from using bathrooms that align with their gender identities in government-owned buildings. It was passed without public comment. The penalties for violating the provision can be $1,000 for individuals and up to $125,000 for government entities with more than one infraction.
Last month, Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed the bill, saying the Legislature “should stay out of the business of telling Kansans how to go to the bathroom and instead stay focused on how to make life more affordable for Kansans.” Days later, the Republican-held state Legislature overrode her veto.
Kansas House Speaker Daniel Hawkins, a Republican, said in a statement at the time that the law’s purpose was to protect women. “This isn’t about scoring political points, but doing what’s right for women and girls across our communities,” he said, according to the Kansas Reflector. Hawkins did not respond to NBC News’ request for comment.
State Rep. Mark Schreiber, the only Republican to vote against the bill, told NBC News he agreed with the appeals court that Kobach could not show how allowing trans people to change the gender markers on their licenses caused harm to the state.
“I don’t have any trans folks in my family, but I know trans people,” he said, adding that they aren’t looking for special privileges and just want to live their lives. “And we seem to keep passing laws that keep getting in the way of that.”
Harper Seldin, one of the ACLU attorneys involved in the lawsuit, said during court arguments Friday that the Kansas Legislature singled out trans Kansans “for unique social stigma.”
“They were suddenly required, with no notice or opportunity to be heard, to present themselves to the DMV to obtain driver’s licenses that announced to everyone — the teller at the bank, the clerk at the hotel, the poll worker on election day — that they are transgender,” Seldin said.
Trans people have long reported facing more harassment and discrimination while using IDs that don’t align with their gender identity or expression, and many trans Kansans said they fear that their daily risk of facing such harassment would only increase as a result of the law.
‘There was no plan whatsoever’
Over the last five years, dozens of states have considered bills targeting transgender people, but the majority of those have targeted people’s ability to play on school sports teams that align with their gender identities and minors’ access to transition-related care. In the last few years, state and federal policies have shifted to focus on changing legal definitions of sex and restricting access to updated identity documents.
Logan Casey, director of policy research at the Movement Advancement Project, an LGBTQ think tank that tracks legislation, described these broader laws as “gender regulation laws” that attack the fundamental rights and identity of trans people.
“The point all along for the people pushing these bills and these attacks has been to single out transgender people and create a license to discriminate against transgender people and remove them from public life,” he said. “In effect, trying to get them to stop being transgender.”
Kansas’ law took effect immediately after it was published in the register Feb. 26. A spokesperson for the Kansas Department of Revenue told the Kansas Reflector that the law invalidated about 1,700 licenses. The department did not respond to a request for comment. During the court hearing Friday, Kobach said the department had so far sent letters to 275 Kansans and 138 had received new licenses.
Andrea Ellis, a 34-year-old trans woman living in Wellington, said she received a letter Wednesday even though she never changed the gender marker on her license — she only legally changed her name on it in December. She drove to the DMV the next day, where she said staff were confused about what to do and said her license had a “flag” on it.
They cut the corner off her license and gave her a temporary one. But later that day, they called her and said she had to return to the DMV because they made an error. When she went back, she said they gave her another temporary license that looked the same as the first.
“They claim that it was thought out, and everything else, but there was no grace period unlike any other kind of rollout program,” Ellis said. “There was no plan whatsoever.”
Some trans residents, like Matthew Neumann, said they still haven’t received any notification regarding their licenses. Neumann, who is the executive director of the LGBTQ Foundation of Kansas, said he’s been checking the validity of his license every day on the Kansas Department of Revenue website, and it’s still valid as of Friday.
Neumann said his organization has raised funds to help trans Kansans pay to update their licenses. Getting a license with an updated gender marker costs $8.75, while receiving a new ID is $26.
Neumann has lived in Larned, Kansas, for 20 years and said he will never leave. He said he’s been threatened over his restroom use, and he fears he could face more harassment under the new law.
“I’m just disappointed and frustrated,” he said. “I’m just hoping that maybe this is the wake up call we need,” he said.
KISMET, Kan. (KWCH) – Last month, wildfires in southern Kansas raged, destroying farmer Randall Thorp’s property, tools and 960 acres of land.
As he handles the massive cleanup project, he knows he is not alone.
“It’s about the greatest show of love I’ve ever seen,” Thorpe said. “I didn’t realize that I would have all this support in my greatest time of need.”
The two main contributors to Thorp’s optimism are the community around him and his faith.
“I’ve seen a lot of darkness that, because of my faith in Jesus, I can see the light in my heart,” Thorp said. “And that’s what keeps me going.”
Throughout the past few weeks, friends, family and neighbors have come to his property to help sort out and clean up the debris.
“I come out here and I’m by myself and I find it hard to do anything, but when a group of people all shows up and they’re wanting to work, then I’m ready to get to work with them, and they’re all ready to help me,” Thorp said.
Even with all the uncertainty following the fire, Thorp has been able to feed the 150 cattle he has, a number that is now growing since it is calving season. Friendly helpers are providing free hay for his animals to eat.
There’s a long way until things will be back to normal, but Thorp is determined to get there.
“You know, I can see some light at the end of the tunnel, but I’ve got to stay strong and keep it going and make it through,” Thorp said.
The powerful show of dependability from fellow Kansans is something he will never forget.
“I’ve been shown lots of love,” Thorp said.
You can still donate to Thorp’s GoFundMe here.
Copyright 2026 KWCH. All rights reserved. To report a correction or typo, please email news@kwch.com
Kansas City International Airport in Missouri was partly evacuated over a “threat” Sunday afternoon but has since resumed “normal operations,” officials said.
“The security incident at [Kansas City International Airport] is now clear and normal operations are resuming,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy wrote on X.
“I want to thank law enforcement including the FBI for their timely response. The safety of our passengers, airport staff, and crew members is always our number one priority.”
Airport representative Jackson Overstreet told The Associated Press in an email that the threat was reported at 11:50 a.m. local time, at which point an entire terminal was evacuated.
He said planes that landed after the threat were being held on the taxiway until it could be fully investigated.
FBI rep Dixon Land said the bureau was “aware of the incident” and worked with “law enforcement officials to determine the credibility of a threat.”
Passenger Logan Hawley, 29, told the outlet he was getting ready to board a flight to Texas when he saw police and K-9 units swarming the terminal.
“Suddenly there was an airport worker saying ‘immediately evacuate,’ people got up fast and rushed out of there,” Hawley said.
Roughly 2,000 people were ushered out of the terminal and onto the tarmac, he said.
Photos and video from the airport circulating online show large groups of passengers being led onto the tarmac or funneling out of the terminal.
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