Roger Marshall Softens ICE Stance as Kansas Senate Race Tightens

Mark Schiefelbein / Mark Schiefelbein/Pool via Reuters Kansas Republican Sen.

Roger Marshall is drastically softening his stance on ICE as he faces the prospect of suffering a shock loss in the midterms.

Marshall, who is up against Democratic candidate Adam Hamilton in the Nov.

3 Kansas Senate race, has decided now is the time to express concern about the actions of masked federal immigration agents, with the potentially pivotal election less than six weeks away.

ICE agents swarmed parts of the Sunflower State this week as part of President Donald Trump’s hard-line immigration policies, targeting meatpacking plants and potential family members of local children, Kansas News Service reported.

In a post on X, Marshall appeared to distance himself from one of Trump’s signature policies, with the president recording dire approval ratings that could put Marshall’s own political future in the normally solid-red state at risk.

“When ICE operates in Kansas, it needs to coordinate with our local law enforcement.

Our sheriffs and police know these communities better than anyone, and working together keeps officers and residents safe,” Marshall posted.

“I’m closely following what’s happening in SW Kansas and have been in direct contact with Secretary Mullin and local law enforcement as ICE executes warrants in order to keep Kansans safe.” The post sharply contrasts with his previous stances on ICE.

In a January interview on Fox News, Marshall praised Trump’s immigration enforcement in Minneapolis while claiming the country is “grateful for all the ICE officers in there risking their lives.” Marshall has strongly defended immigration agents wearing masks while carrying out raids to protect their identities from doxxing and threats, as well as voting in support of providing tens of billions of dollars in federal funding to ICE.

However, he is now calling for accountability for ICE amid suggestions that his midterm opponent could become the first Democrat elected to the Senate from Kansas in nearly a century.

Last week, a poll from The Hill/Emerson College Polling found Hamilton leading Marshall by 2 percentage points, 45 percent to 43 percent.

The influential Cook Political Report offered another warning sign for Marshall after shifting the Kansas Senate race from “likely Republican” to “lean Republican.” Cook Political Report said the shift away from predicting a Marshall victory was due in part to factors affecting agriculture, such as the rising cost of beef, trade concerns, and soaring fuel prices affecting farmers in the rural state.

Intense voter backlash to Trump, which could hurt Republican candidates across the country in the midterms, is another factor.