Kansas City: On the Record - Why data centers keep popping up despite public opposition

Added: 2026-05-29

[00:00:01]from KCTV 5 local live. This is Kansas City on the record.

[00:00:09]Welcome in this Sunday morning to Kansas City on the Record. I'm Lauri Margarino.

[00:00:13]Right now, we are in the midst of one of the biggest building booms of our lifetimes. But instead of factories or power plants, data centers are popping up all over the country. Take a look at this. The data center map says more than 4,000 data centers are either in operation or being developed right now.

[00:00:32]More than 100 are in Missouri and Kansas with most data centers being built in rural areas. In fact, just last week, Missou's Governor Mike Kho announced a new 15 billion dollar data center project in Montgomery County. It's one of many projects announced in both Missouri and Kansas in the past year, which includes places like Independence and Dotto. But when you look at the polling, like from Gallup, it shows more than seven in 10 Americans do not want a data center built in their area, with many concerned about how much water and energy these data centers will use. Here at home, we've seen protests and calls for people to get a chance to vote after city councils approved data center deals. So, it begs the question, why are cities approving these deals when they are so unpopular? And why are they popping up in the Midwest so much in the first place? To find the answer, we spoke with Park University professor Dr. Susan Kim. She's a professor of public management and urban policy. She goes on the record.

[00:01:39]>> Dr. Susan Kim, thank you for joining us on Kansas City on the Record.

[00:01:42]>> My pleasure. Thank you. There's so much attention on data centers and it feels like when you talk to folks who are following this like every other week, for sure every other month there's news about some proposed data center within our area. What's the deal with that? Is that in our heads or is there truly a fast track going on right now with data centers? There's absolutely a fast track going on with data centers. And you can drive around Kansas City right now and see signs, no data center here. Or you can listen to a news story. Independents just approved one recently. Um, and there are 12 data centers, 14 data centers in the metropolitan area now, but Kansas has Senate Bill 98 that just um approve tax breaks for 20 years for data centers as long as they invest um $250 million and they have 20 employees.

[00:02:36]>> So, that's that's a huge incentive to bring in more data centers. So, it's it's it's real. And I'm going to put a pin on that front around, you know, the legislation and and what we're seeing just our government officials, how they're handling the deal of it all. But I want to start with why our region, why are we seeing this growth uh when it comes to this sector within our area? We have land. We have lots of land and um it's farmland. We need the farmland, but we also it's land and it's available.

[00:03:11]And so when you look at the communities, you mentioned Independence, we're seeing also Jackson County, you know, thinking about a moratorum around data centers, uh, you know, several other local governments saying, "Hold on a second, maybe we got to hit pause on here to really come up with some sort of strategy." What do you make of the strategy that we've seen so far locally when it comes to these deals?

[00:03:35]>> I don't know that we could really call it a strategy. I think that it's an opportunity. And when there's an opportunity then um uh you know the developer goes to the city the city you know hey we you know we have this deal for you and um it brings in money for a short period of time and so that's an incentive for cities to approve it but I think it's moving so quickly that we don't really understand the full impact and we're hungry for data. What do we know about so far? Because this has been across the nation. Texas is one of the states that has really, you know, seen immense growth when it comes to data centers. Uh I would say Northeast also seemed like another area as well. Have we seen substantive job creation out of data centers in other places? Most data centers average 10 to 20 um full-time employees in in data centers that are acres and acres of space. So there are not a lot of jobs created um long term.

[00:04:39]Construction jobs that would last maybe a year would be um significant, but those construction jobs may or not be may or may not be from individuals living in the community necessarily.

[00:04:51]they may be brought in from out of town also.

[00:04:55]>> So between not really seeing uh with some occurren substantive numbers when it comes to job creation that's long-term or the environmental uh you know challenges that are presented.

[00:05:06]We've seen constituents really push back locally uh on data centers and yet there are cities that have moved forward not all but most. Why is that? I think that they're weighing the economic benefits with the um um with the opportunities and um I know um in um in Tonganox you can drive past and see the no data center signs everywhere. Um, in Lawrence, there was um a big push for citizens to um to send notice to the commission um by Tuesday night um to um talk about wanting to have a moratorum on data centers at least for short-term until until they could come up with a policy. I think that's the other idea is there's no regulation and there's not there aren't policies. Cities haven't developed policies about data centers.

[00:06:02]>> What do policies look like? um what kind of data center they would allow, um what kind of water usage they would allow, what kind of power, um what kind of noise mitigation, what kind of safeguards for pollution and safeguards for land.

[00:06:19]>> Those would be policy considerations.

[00:06:22]>> So bottom line for the folks who are watching who, you know, have an opinion on this and they're going, "Well, where does my opinion get a say?" Right?

[00:06:29]Because I'm seeing in some places it's being heard, in others it's not. And you mentioned at the top of our conversation even on the Kansas side legislation uh allowing even more incentives with this.

[00:06:40]How can people engage on this issue?

[00:06:43]>> I think they need to engage with their local um local officials. Um and some officials may say um you know may listen to the constituents that are concerned and some may override them based on economic development concerns. And I think they all have be the city's best intentions in mind. I think we need to be clear of that. And it's a it's a difficult decision, but this we are in a democracy and citizen engagement um voting and um being active um telling communicating with the local officials is is really important because they do listen.

[00:07:22]>> Well, Susan, thank you so much for your time and your insight. We certainly appreciate it.

[00:07:26]>> Thank you.

[00:07:28]And it's certainly a developing story we're going to stay on. In the meantime, you can find this interview in full on kctv5.com on therecord.

[00:07:38]Well, you've seen the national debate about immigration enforcement, but up next, you'll hear how those decisions play out in Kansas City. A local couple shares their story of what happened during a routine check-in with federal officials that ended with a husband in chains and a family separated. Plus, in a world that feels disconnected, we take you inside the place where kids are getting undivided attention from high schoolers willing to teach.

[00:08:04]You're watching Kansas City on the Record from KCTV 5.

[00:08:15]Welcome back to Kansas City on the Record from KCTV 5.

[00:08:21]In January, KCTV 5 brought you an investigation beyond the border, unpacking immigration enforcement in the Kansas City metro. Since then, we've obtained federal data showing ICE made more than 800 arrests across Kansas and Missouri in the first two months of this year. Targeted arrests, not random sweeps in communities like yours. This morning, one Kansas City couple shares what that looks like up close.

[00:08:50]Carlos, >> I'm a musician. I've been playing for like 25 years.

[00:08:55]>> And Christine, >> I play some songs for her uh in Spanish.

[00:09:02]>> Are learning how to keep the music playing after a sound they never wanted to hear.

[00:09:09]>> I could hear the chains being put on him through the wall. ICE detained her husband undocumented from Venezuela at a routine monthly check-in with federal immigration authorities.

[00:09:20]>> In that moment, my life, to be honest, it's just like fell down. I feel like everything was destroyed.

[00:09:29]>> And I said, "Well, can I give my husband a kiss and a hug?" And he said, "No, they already took him." And then he led me out of a side door. And um that was it. This Kansas City couple wanted to share their story with you to reveal how immigration enforcement and the law plays out. Speaking with us from Mexico, the video connection was not clear, but Carlos was when it came to his immigration journey. It started when he crossed the southern border in 2019.

[00:09:59]>> I was able to find a police and just like, you know, hey, I'm here. I'm from Venezuela.

[00:10:05]>> KCTV 5 verified his journey through court documents. Carlos sought asylum at the border. An immigration judge later denied it, but agreed sending Carlos back to Venezuela would risk his life.

[00:10:18]So, the judge approved Carlos for what's called withholding of removal, a temporary status. As Kansas City immigration attorney Maya King explains, >> it was never supposed to be long-term in the US government's view, right? like we are withholding your removal until there is a material change in your situation or in your country's situation until we can send you back.

[00:10:40]>> He also received temporary protected status again signaling unsafe conditions in Venezuela. In the meantime, the government granted Carlos work authorization and a social security number to pay taxes. Over the course of six years, he maintained a clean record.

[00:10:56]He worked, receiving top marks, as we see from this letter from his employer, and fell in love. All qualifications to pursue permanent legal status, which the couple took action on. But that pursuit isn't simple. It's a battle between long wait times and changing immigration policies.

[00:11:16]>> Does it really just become a race of what can get done first, them conditions changing in my home country, >> you know, to get sent back versus an application getting approved? It's It's crazy because a lot of things is out of your control.

[00:11:28]>> Carlos and Christine are waiting on two applications that could lead to a green card. According to a USCIS processing calculator, one could take nearly 10 months to process, the other more than 5 years. Under the Trump administration's tougher immigration stance, Carlos is placed in the ISAP program, an alternative to detention in May of 2025.

[00:11:52]He wears an ankle monitor, reports to ICE, shows up every month. By the end of that year, the administration revokes temporary protected status for Venezuelans. January 3rd, 2026, the US captures Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. By January 28th, the part of the story, you know, ICE detains Carlos at his check-in. King does not represent Carlos, but says she's seeing the same story with some of her local clients.

[00:12:20]>> They think, "Oh, I'm safe. I'm just here. Uh, I've been checking for 10 years. Nothing's going to happen.

[00:12:26]Nothing will ever happen. But then all things all of a sudden things changed, right? Because policies changed, priorities changed.

[00:12:31]>> Carlos and Christine ran out of time in a process they can't control.

[00:12:37]>> I tried to explain them that uh we get married and we file the papers that I already have my biometrics uh appointment and they still saying the same thing. So, you will be deported regardless.

[00:12:52]>> Sending Christine, a full-time paramedic, caregiver, and mom, on the road.

[00:12:57]>> Oh, I dropped everything the 29th and drove straight to Oklahoma with his bag.

[00:13:01]>> A day later, she says he was back in Kansas City, then in a detention center in Texas, followed by an airport in Mesa, Arizona for several days. It was on that tarmac Carlos says ICE rounded him up with other Venezuelans.

[00:13:16]>> And he said, "Oh, this flight go straight to Venezuela." And I said, I you guys cannot send me back to Venezuela. I my life is in risk. I have a withholding of removal and I can not go back.

[00:13:30]>> 15 minutes later, he says the ICE officer said this.

[00:13:34]>> So you will go to Cuba. And I say Cuba?

[00:13:38]What I will do in Cuba? I don't even know anybody there. I'm not Cuban. He laughed and he said like you are no Mexican and you will go to Mexico. At this point, Christine lost contact with Carlos.

[00:13:49]She says the government didn't help her find him. Airpods did.

[00:13:54]>> So, I tracked him all the way down into Tapachula.

[00:13:57]>> Ipso's polling shows there is both broad support to enforce immigration law and support for undocumented immigrants with no criminal history to gain legal status. The law, as it stands, doesn't reconcile those two things. For Carlos and Christine, that gap has a cost.

[00:14:15]>> Plan A is we are remaining in faith that God will use the lawyer and open the right doors and Carlos will be back. But honestly, home is just where we're together. A house is just an object. So, plan B if he can't come back is we find a a suitable place for all of us to go and uh I will not be a first responder anymore.

[00:14:41]I'll be looking at completely uprooting my whole career to just start over >> just to keep the music playing.

[00:14:56]At this time, Carlos is still in Mexico.

[00:14:58]Christine was able to visit him in April. She says their legal case is ongoing. In the meantime, she found a way to get a guitar back in Carlos's hands.

[00:15:08]Up next, we take you inside the Learning Club, connecting kids with high school tutors who once sat in their seat.

[00:15:16]You're watching Kansas City on the Record from KCTV 5.

[00:15:30]The heart of Kansas City is about compassion and connection. And those values shine at the learning club where underserved kids get tutoring right where they are in public housing developments across KCK. KCTV's Betsy Webster shows us how they are taking something good and multiplying it.

[00:15:48]>> Hi Anna, how are you? How was school?

[00:15:51]>> After school at the learning club, it's about more than just learning. It's about relationships.

[00:15:57]>> You're doing such a good job.

[00:15:58]>> High school senior Ari and seven-year-old Anna have been working together oneon-one for 2 years. I'm so proud. So proud of her. And I'm really proud of myself, too. Um, just for sticking just for sticking with it and showing up for her.

[00:16:12]>> At Learning Club, the tutor sitting next to you might be a high schooler who was once the kid being tutored. Someone like Choo Choo.

[00:16:19]>> It taught me how to not knock myself down if I'm feeling like I can't do it.

[00:16:23]I just have to remember my tutor, Miss Peeps. She She's proud of me.

[00:16:28]>> The Learning Club got its start in 2002 with one site and 14 kids. Today, nearly 600 students are served every semester at 15 locations.

[00:16:38]>> In a increasingly disconnected world, um this is a time and a moment and a space where you are looking someone in the eye and getting their undivided attention for a full hour. And if you look around, there's there's not as much of that happening. But here, >> what's your favorite thing about Mizari?

[00:16:59]>> That she's kind. Encouragement is contagious.

[00:17:03]>> Anna is so smart. She's the coolest kid ever and she tries so hard and I'm always so proud of her.

[00:17:10]>> The message board says, "See you later."

[00:17:13]>> Cuz it's our last day.

[00:17:16]>> Oh, you're going to knock me over.

[00:17:17]>> Ari is heading to UMKC in the fall to become a teacher.

[00:17:21]>> I love you, Miss Ari.

[00:17:23]>> I don't want to cry. I'm trying really hard not to. It's my last day and I'm very emotional. She's pretty sure she'll check back in now and then.

[00:17:31]>> Learning club is a big part of who I am.

[00:17:33]Um, and kind of who I want her to be in the future, too.

[00:17:36]>> Betsy Webster, KCTV 5 News.

[00:17:39]>> What a special bond they've created there and a special cause. If the learning club story moved you, here's how you can be part of it. You can volunteer just one hour a week. No teaching experience is required. Or you can donate or you can connect with them with a corporate sponsor. So to learn more, go to learningclubck.org and send us your stories of people doing good like this in Kansas City. You can email your ideas to hart at kctv5.com.

[00:18:10]When we come back, we'll have a look at a few events you can check out on Memorial Day and a big celebrity event making its return to Kansas City this week.

[00:18:32]Welcome back to Kansas City on the Record from KCTV 5.

[00:18:38]>> We are back on the record where we're looking ahead to this week's top stories. We start with tomorrow which marks Memorial Day. People across the Kansas City metro will take a pause to remember and mourn the veterans who gave their lives fighting for our freedom.

[00:18:53]There are multiple events you can attend, including the World War I Museum and Memorial in Kansas City. It'll hold a public program at 10:00 a.m. tomorrow with a keynote address from General Richard Meyers, a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Veterans and active duty military members can attend for free. Tickets start at $11.90 for the general public. The Kansas City Royals will also hold its own tribute with Memorial Day at the K. It'll host the New York Yankees. You can spend the day at the ballpark as players in the franchise mark the national holiday by recognizing the families of fallen soldiers. Tickets are still on sale starting at $39.

[00:19:34]And don't forget tonight you can catch a free concert and fireworks in this year's Celebration at the station. The KC Symphony will perform at 8:00, followed by the fireworks show at 9:30 from the roof of Union Station. It is the largest free Memorial Day weekend concert in the Midwest and generally draws a crowd of about 30,000 people.

[00:19:57]And to round out the week, the stars are coming to Kansas City for Big Slick Weekend. Jason Sudakis, Paul Rudd, Rob Wrigle, Eric Ston Street, Heidi Gardner, and David Kekner will come to town for the annual Children's Mercy fundraiser.

[00:20:11]This time, there will not be a celebrity softball game since the Royals are out of town. Instead, they'll hold a quote just this year event at Kaufman Stadium.

[00:20:21]You can buy tickets for an exclusive night with the host Friday night. On Saturday, they'll host the main show at the T-Mobile Center. It starts at 6:30 and tickets will start at $100.

[00:20:33]As always, we're looking forward to it.

[00:20:36]And that's a wrap for us here at Kansas City on the Record. We will see you same time next weekend. Have a great rest of your Sunday.

[00:20:57]Thanks for watching local live KCTV 5.

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