Missouri
Missouri immigration enforcement triples; St. Louis families affected
ST. LOUIS – Missouri is experiencing one of the sharpest increases in immigration enforcement in the country, with activity nearly tripling compared to the end of the Biden administration.
More than 3,200 people have been taken into custody across the state since January 2025, according to new data from the Deportation Data Project.
Arrests in Missouri are approximately 2.7 times higher than they were just a year ago, leading local advocates in St. Louis to report that the impact is significantly affecting families.
Hundreds of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees are held in facilities statewide on any given day.
Jessica Mayo, co-director and attorney for the M.I.C.A. Project, highlighted the widespread consequences of this intensified enforcement.
“Even though we don’t see ice on the streets, the way they were in Minneapolis or Chicago or LA. That same destruction of families is happening here and it is really impacting our neighbors, the people we go to school with, the people we work with,” Mayo said. “And we all need to stand up and let our government know that we don’t support that and to support the immigrants, uh, in our community to make it a more welcoming place.”
Local advocates in St. Louis are observing this impact directly. The ASHREI Foundation reports receiving nearly 6,000 hotline calls and has provided support for more than 650 families, many of whom are dealing with detained loved ones.
Mayo stated that local police departments are a significant source of these detentions. “More than 80% of the people that we see through the St. Louis rapid response hotline are being turned over to ice by local Police Department,” Mayo said. She added that this occurs even with departments that do not have 287(g) agreements.
She further explained various ways people are encountering ICE. “We see many municipalities cooperating with ice and calling them even when it’s just someone who’s been driving without a license,” Mayo said. She also noted that routine check-ins with immigration officials, which individuals have often attended for years to update their status, are now frequently leading to detention.
Federal officials with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security maintain that these enforcement efforts are focused on public safety, highlighting recent arrests of violent offenders and expanded operations. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement also points to initiatives like its VOICE office, which supports victims of crimes tied to immigration. However, advocates argue and data shows, that about 20% of those arrested in Missouri by ICE have no criminal charges or convictions. More than 60 local agencies are working with ICE statewide.
For individuals or families affected by detention, the St. Louis Rapid Response Hotline is available daily at (314) 370-7080. The hotline helps families locate loved ones and understand their legal options.
All facts in this report were gathered by journalists employed by KTVI. Artificial intelligence tools were used to reformat information into a news article for our website. This report was edited and fact-checked by KTVI staff before being published.
Missouri Farm Bureau’s 2026 Agritourism Conference will be held Sunday through Tuesday in Hermann, bringing together agritourism stakeholders to explore opportunities in Missouri’s growing agritourism sector.
The conference usually draws 60-70 attendees annually, said Janet Adkison, director of public affairs and advocacy with Missouri Farm Bureau. This includes farmers, agribusiness leaders, tourism professionals and local economic development partners.
At the conference, participants will see firsthand how farms, wineries, orchards and other value-added agriculture business and rural destinations are connecting tourists and consumers with the state’s agriculture scene, while diversifying revenue streams for farm families and rural communities.
“Whenever folks think of agritourism, they think of a pumpkin patch or a flower farm,” Adkison said. “But agritourism is really anything that gets folks to connect with the agriculture industry. So from your Airbnbs that are out in rural Missouri to the wineries that you see across the countryside, to even a tree farm or just a simple orchard, those are all part of Missouri’s agritourism industry.”
The conference kicks off Sunday with welcome remarks by Missouri Farm Bureau president Garrett Hawkins and a dinner at Hermann Farm Store Barn. Participants will spend the nights at The Inn at Hermannhof.
Monday will include an agritourism bus tour, with stops at Thierbach Orchard, Heritage Valley Tree Farm, White Mule Winery & BNB and Cool Cow Cheese, where participants have the opportunity to speak to business owners.
It will be followed by a farm-to-table, wine-pairing dinner at Hermannhof Winery Court with the Missouri Wine & Grape Board.
“If you are somebody who’s interested in agritourism, you get to hear from somebody who’s been there and done that, and some of the hurdles that they may have experienced along the way,” Adkison said. “You’ll have that exposure both on the tour and also during the programs that they’ll provide on Tuesday.”
On the final day of the conference, participants will attend educational workshops and network with other vendors at Hermannhof Festhalle. Topics discussed in the workshops include marketing, risk management, USDA Rural Development resources for agricultural businesses.
“You’ll hear from some folks as far as the missteps or wins that they had while trying to market and get those crowds to come to the farm, and sometimes something might work, (or) something surprises you and it doesn’t work,” Adkison said.
The conference location rotates around the state each year — past stops have included northeast and west central Missouri, which Adkison said gives the conference a chance to showcase how agritourism looks based on the terrain and agricultural strength of each region.
Find out more about the event or register for it at mofb.org/event/2026-agritourism.
Former Missouri Gov. Jeremiah “Jay” Nixon followed in his ancestor’s footsteps, 250 years to the day.
On July 8, 1776, Colonel John Nixon was the first person to publicly read the Declaration of Independence from the steps of the Pennsylvania State House, now Independence Hall.
Jay Nixon, along with other Missouri officials from local, state and national offices, participated in a semiquincentennial celebration at the Historical Greene County Courthouse on July 8, 2026.
“As we commemorate 250 years of American independence, may we remember not only the courage of those who signed the declaration, but also our responsibility to preserve the freedoms they declare,” said Connie Yen, director of the Greene County Archives and Records Center.
While the reading of the Declaration of Independence was the main event, patriotic music from the Salvation Army Band, Springfield Sound, the Patriotic Chorale — as well as the national anthem sung by former U.S. Attorney John Ashcroft and former judge and representative Max Bacon — rang throughout the courthouse’s rotunda, which was packed with people. The music itself, Ashcroft said, was a metaphor for the nation.
“There is something charming about America that doesn’t require that we be uniform. There’s a difference between unity and uniformity. As a matter of fact, you can’t have harmony if you only have one note. You have to sing different notes for things to be harmonic and it’s much more beautiful,” he said. “Maybe America is America not because of uniformity or everybody being in unison, but America may be America because we have disparity, but we’re in harmony. We believe in unity, not uniformity.”
Before reading the Declaration of Independence, Nixon shared part of a speech he gave at Fulton’s Westminster College in August 2025, where he encouraged people to “resist apathy with action” through involvement with civic and faith organizations, and by voting. Like others, he emphasized diversity as the strength of America.
“(We’re) a nation of immigrants. Many of our ancestors fled poverty, injustice and tyranny to build something better. We are the great-great-great-grandchildren of slaves, and those who enslaved them; the first families who inhabited these lands, and those who drove them from it,” Nixon said. “A nation of scrappy strivers stitched together by our ideals, marked by original sins, but redeemed by the courage and sacrifice that saved us from fascism and unleashed freedom and prosperity — the envy of the world. That is the true story we all need to tell, the promise we made to each other that we work every day to keep.”
The reading was followed by an ice cream social, co-hosted by the Greene County Democratic and Republican women’s clubs.
Missouri
UPDATE: Suspect wanted in Kansas captured near Columbia; Missouri State Highway Patrol aircraft plays key role | 93.9 The Eagle
The Missouri State Highway Patrol says one of its planes played a key role in Tuesday morning’s capture on I-70 near Columbia of a Kansas suspect wanted for child endangerment.
Missouri state troopers say they were on patrol near a rest area on eastbound I-70 in Cooper County, when they located a Dodge Durango wanted for an alleged incident in Topeka. Troopers say the suspect drove off after seeing troopers and that the Patrol plane was used to avoid a pursuit.
Troopers say they were able to get in position after the plane’s pilot located the vehicle and that the Patrol deployed stop sticks and safely deflated the suspect’s tires.
The Highway Patrol says the suspect was captured without incident and that the two-year-old child, who was unharmed, has been reunited with their mother.
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