Border war over immigration comes to Midwest

KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Reuters) - A routine city hall appointment threatens to turn Kansas City into a new front in the U.S. debate over illegal immigration, even though the closest Mexico border crossing is hundreds of miles (kilometers) away.

Anger has been simmering among Hispanic leaders since the summer, when newly elected Mayor Mark Funkhouser appointed Frances Semler, a dues-paying member of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps (MCDC), to the city's parks and recreation board.

Critics say the group is a racist band of vigilantes patrolling the Mexican border with guns and intimidation.

"The Minuteman is an extremist group ... espousing hate and sometimes violence," said Janet Murguia, chief executive of The National Council of La Raza, the largest U.S. Hispanic advocacy group.

The Minutemen, who count about 9,000 members nationally and have a stated mission of helping apprehend "those who violate our borders," counters that it wants only to uphold the law. It says opponents are the ones promoting hatred and law-breaking.

The group is now seizing on the appointment controversy to increase its visibility in the Midwest, promising to make Kansas City the site of a winter leadership meeting and a public education "open house" on immigration concerns.

"Kansas City is going to become a hotbed and centerpoint for the issue in the near term," said MCDC spokesman Bryan Rudnick.

The group's Midwestern chapters are already among the fastest-growing in the United States, according to MCDC president Chris Simcox.

Membership has been given a boost by growing worries that illegal immigrants are crowding out jobs and resources in heartland areas and from rumors of a Mexico-to-Canada "superhighway" that will pass through Kansas City.

IMMIGRATION ISSUE

There are an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States. How to deal with them and others seeking to come in has become a divisive issue for Americans and a key topic for contenders for president in the November 2008 election.

This week's battle in Washington over legislation that would grant permanent legal status to students under certain conditions is only the latest proposal that has outraged those seeking stricter enforcement of U.S. immigration laws.

La Raza and other ethnic organizations are threatening to boycott Kansas City by canceling conventions unless the mayor removes Semler -- a move the mayor has refused.

"It's a pickle," said Kendrick Blackwood, a spokesman for Funkhouser. "I'm optimistic that we're going to find some way to work through this."

Semler, who joined the Minuteman group in December because of frustration with a lack of enforcement of U.S. immigration laws, said she has been vilified in smear campaigns on the Internet and elsewhere. But she has no intention of backing away from the group.

"I feel very strongly about enforcing the law," she said.

The furor has left city and business leaders frustrated.

"I'm concerned about our image nationally," said city councilwoman Jan Marcason, who fears the controversy makes the metropolitan area of 2 million people look like a "right-wing extremist community."

"The border of Kansas and Missouri is not in jeopardy," Marcason said. "It is odd that they feel like they should even be here."