Kansas City official resigns over immigration flap

By Carey Gillam

KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Reuters) - A Kansas City parks official whose membership in an anti-illegal immigration group sparked the cancellation of two conventions here has resigned.

Kansas City parks board commissioner Frances Semler, a member of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps (MCDC) which runs patrols on the U.S. border with Mexico as part of its effort to prompt more enforcement of U.S. immigration laws, resigned late on Monday, the city said.

Her resignation marks the latest skirmish in an increasingly emotional debate across America over illegal immigration.

Although Kansas City is far from the Mexican border, the focal point for arguments over how to handle illegal crossings into the United States, the debate over Semler's views has spotlighted deep divisions among Americans on the issue.

Last week, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference said because of Semler's views it would join the National Council of La Raza, a U.S. Hispanic advocacy group, in rejecting Kansas City for national conventions previously planned for the city.

Semler said frustration with a lack of enforcement of U.S. immigration laws led her to join the Minuteman group in December. She had planned to attend a meeting of the organization planned for Kansas City on February 1-2 but was warned by Mayor Mark Funkhouser not to attend.

"Any individual or organization who speaks with concern of the impact of the well-organized invasion of illegals in this country is subjected to being called terms such as bigot or racist," Semler said in her resignation letter.

Southern Christian Leadership Conference CEO Charles Steele Jr. also urged other civil rights groups to boycott the city.

Leaders of the organizations could not be reached for comment on Tuesday, but in the past they and other critics said the Minuteman group is a racist organization that uses guns and intimidation against minorities.

In contrast, the group, which counts about 9,000 members nationally, says it is a peaceful organization trying to uphold U.S. law. Its has member patrols along the U.S. border with Mexico and reports illegal crossings to law enforcement agencies.

"Mayor Funkhouser is clearly running a sanctuary city (for illegal immigrants) in Kansas City, and rather than demonstrate some leadership by enforcing the laws, he has chosen to play racial politics..." said Chris Simcox, Minuteman Civil Defense Corps president.

(Reporting by Carey Gillam; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)