KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Weeks after Kansas City publicly pushed back against the possibility of turning a local warehouse into a federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center, city officials are looking more critically at their own jail project.

At first glance, some City Council members drew parallels between ICE facilities or warehouses and the city’s own, new $25 million temporary city jail now under construction in the East Bottoms.

The city is quickly building the new, temporary facility in order to hold detainees facing city charges — such as trespassing, theft, car break-ins, resisting arrest, assault, indecent exposure or unlawful use of a weapon — ahead of the FIFA World Cup in June. It’s also working on separately building a new, permanent jail that won’t be ready for a few more years.

City staff provided an update to the council’s transportation committee on Tuesday that showed the construction progress both inside and out.

“It looks like an ICE detention center,” Councilwoman Melissa Robinson said into her microphone just seconds into being shown a drone video of the 200-foot by 250-foot metal building expected to be completed by mid-May.

“I’m realizing just how much this looks like a warehouse,” Fourth District Councilman Eric Bunch said.

Their comments come as a local newsletter floated the possibility that a warehouse site in south Kansas City that’s been eyed for an ICE “mega” detention facility — tied to local development and investment firm Platform Ventures — could be condemned by the federal government, who would compensate Platform Ventures.

That would mean the warehouse could be used as an ICE detention facility, Kansas City Stack reported, despite weeks of protest and the company’s announcement that it was no longer engaged with the U.S. government. Ryan Anderson of Platform Ventures declined to comment when reached by The Star this week.

Kansas City has not had its own jail since 2009 and currently contracts out with other counties, including Vernon and Jonson counties, to hold detainees. City officials have long raised concerns about the arrangement, including over the treatment of people in facilities a long drive away from family, lawyers and the city’s limited oversight.

The temporary jail that has been under quick construction at 7740 E. Front Street — construction began in January — is intended to be in use for three to five years until a planned $151 million permanent city detention site comes online at the same site. It makes use of a pre-engineered metal building, built around the pre-built cells inside. The facility will also include a medical area, a kitchen, a booking area and other services.

Officials say the temporary facility could still be used for a different purpose after the permanent jail is built, such as a booking facility, or incorporated into the permanent site.

“The plan for the permanent facility is to not have something that looks like a warehouse,” Rukhsana Reyes, architect with the city planning department, told the council. “That is the idea. And then this becomes something that is a city asset that could be used for central booking, or to be incorporated into the facility. We’re looking at that now.”

The temporary jail’s modular structural units could be rearranged or modified in the future.

For 30 minutes, the committee raised questions about the facility, including that it appeared to lack windows. Reyes noted that skylights would be cut into the building, which will provide natural light to the facility.

The facility is expected to provide about 100 beds across cells and dormitory-like areas. Funding comes from the public safety sales tax that city voters approved in 2025.

Plans have also been in the works for a community resource center that would connect people moving through the justice system with various support services, such as for substance abuse or mental health struggles.

Design work for the permanent detention facility has started. While the temporary jail facility is expected to be used as a temporary jail for three to five years, its structures could have a lifespan of 25 years or more.

Councilman Johnathan Duncan of the Sixth District told The Star that he agrees with his colleagues’ comments that the facility bears a striking resemblance to an ICE warehouse.

Duncan said based on the presentation and the facility having a lifespan of 25 years, he doubts the temporary tag placed on the facility.

“There’s nothing temporary about it,” Duncan said. “While we’ve invested $25 million in this warehouse jail and $26 million in the department to run it, we’ve invested only $800,000 in the [Community Resource Center] and this budget is aiming to cut $6 million from violence prevention while providing KCPD $17 million over the state mandate.”

Council members also said they hope for robust, accessible opportunities for community members to provide feedback going forward. Public outreach has started and will continue.

“I’m wondering how those conversations are going and what is being told in those conversations as far as being able to ease people’s angst about this looking like a warehouse, looking like an ICE facility,” said Councilwoman Lindsay French of the Second District At-Large.

French said there has been a lot of confusion and angst from community members, alongside language barriers, and said the city needs to be sensitive and collaborative moving forward, including ensuring digital access.

And council members raised additional questions about the multi-year project’s details, such as how the exact design came to be, how the temporary jail will operate while the permanent jail is built or how city rules for a 1% of a project’s budget going to art should be applied.

Robinson emphasized on Tuesday that the temporary jail project was a council decision.

“I hope this doesn’t come across as being upset or challenging the staff because you’re essentially doing what we asked to do,” she said. “However, the public deserves to know the details of this as well, and that’s why it’s important to drill down on this.”

Robinson also urged the city consider whether someone who is facing low-level charges, like a housing code violation, should be jailed in the temporary facility now that the city will have more beds available.

Bunch noted that it was a council decision to move the site for the proposed permanent jail from 40 Highway to Front Street, which is believed to bring significant cost savings. But Bunch himself did not vote to support the change at the time and said there were answers they didn’t have when the council voted in January.

“We as a council need to get it together,” he said. “Figure these things out. And that’s on us.”

City officials pushed to build the temporary jail ahead of the World Cup, saying the major event could strain the city’s limited rehabilitation and detention resources.

Local media have reported that hundreds of municipal detainees were released early in recent years, some even against a judge’s orders, under the city’s current arrangement.

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—The Star’s Kacen Bayless contributed reporting.

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