Grandview coffee shop hosts community event as immigration sweeps raise anxiety in neighborhood

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (KCTV) - A local coffee shop owner opened her doors to the community Wednesday as ICE enforcement sweeps have been reported across Kansas City, Kansas.

Wendy Aguayo, owner of Café Provecho, said she organized the event to give residents a place to gather during a period of heightened fear.

“I wanted them to have a safe space to come and not just enjoy coffee, because at the end of the day I think this event is more important than just coffee,” Aguayo said.

Fear and anxiety in the community

Aguayo said the enforcement activity has unsettled a community that had grown less guarded in recent months.

“It’s not that people let their guard down. But they definitely thought ICE was away from Kansas City,” she said.

She said the anxiety is also affecting local businesses.

“It raised some type of anxiety in our people and we see it with the decrease in people showing up to restaurants,” Aguayo said.

Immigration attorneys say the sweeps are connected to Kansas Senate Bill 2372, a law that recently took effect. The law gives local law enforcement the authority to hold people for ICE and shields officers from lawsuits for doing so.

Genesis Mercado, an immigration attorney with AGH Law Firm, said enforcement quotas and newly built detention centers are contributing to the increase in activity.

“I think because of the ICE enforcement and the quotas they’re trying to meet. Especially trying to fill the centers they’ve recently built. I think that contributes to the increase of activity that we’re seeing,” Mercado said.

ICE did not respond to a request for comment on how many people have been detained since the law took effect.