Sen. Jerry Moran has asked DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin to establish a permanent USCIS field office in southwest Kansas and restore regular mobile services in Garden City, Dodge City and Liberal. The request seeks easier access to immigration services for agricultural workers and the employers who rely on them.
The proposal is not an announced office opening. The closest USCIS office serving the region is in Wichita, according to Moran's letter.
The letter also seeks consistent mobile appointments in the three cities. USCIS changed its mobile plan in May 2025, ending quarterly trips to Garden City, Dodge City and Liberal and naming Dodge City as the planned monthly service site.
Moran's letter says constituents reported that visits had not taken place in Dodge City for approximately nine months. It also says appointments can fill quickly and some urgent services are unavailable.
The latest plan shifted mobile visits to Dodge City
USCIS began mobile services in southwest Kansas in 2014, the letter says. Moran argues that those visits have not met continuing local demand, even as they have provided a way to reach some residents outside Wichita.
The May 2025 plan concentrated the mobile service in Dodge City, with monthly visits intended. Moran's letter says the arrangement replaced quarterly stops across all three communities. The senator is asking the department to restore consistent service in Garden City, Dodge City and Liberal while establishing a permanent location.
Moran links the request to agricultural work schedules
Moran grounds his request in the region's livestock, beef-processing and dairy industries. He wrote that southwest Kansas handles more than a fifth of the nation's beef-processing capacity and supports cattle producers in the region, including in Oklahoma.
He also pointed to dairy growth in western Kansas, describing the state as one of the fastest-growing states for the industry. Moran said agricultural employers have used and continue to use legal immigrant labor to supplement their workforces and sustain growth.
“For agricultural workers, traveling two to three hours from southwest Kansas to Wichita can mean missing one or two days of work,” Moran wrote. “The region's agricultural industry does not operate on a typical Monday-through-Friday schedule, making it especially difficult for workers to travel for appointments.”
His letter says a permanent location would make services more accessible to workers and employers. The trip can cost workers time away from the job.
Earlier mobile visits handled interviews but not urgent cases
A 2021 congressional letter described temporary mobile visits three times per year in Dodge City, Garden City and Liberal. It said the program had delivered more than 700 citizenship interviews and 1,800 biometrics appointments, and held naturalization ceremonies for more than 300 individuals.
Those visits did not include InfoPass appointments, the lawmakers wrote. They cited urgent needs including travel for a family emergency overseas, obtaining a travel permit and extending permanent residency.
The same letter used 2019 Census data to describe the region's immigrant population. It said 9 of the top 10 Kansas counties with the highest share of foreign-born residents were in southwest Kansas. In the region's three most populated counties, more than 1 in 4 residents were foreign born.
Garden City wants naturalization included in any new federal presence
Garden City separately asked Moran, Sen. Roger Marshall and Rep. Tracey Mann whether a DHS office was opening in southwest Kansas and what services it would offer. The city pointed to job postings and conversations among contractors about possible remodeling work, and said it worried a new federal presence could focus on immigration enforcement without providing naturalization services.
Mayor Tom Nguyen said Garden City residents traveling to Wichita for immigration appointments face a drive of about three and a half hours each way. He said time away from work can weigh on the local economy.
“The time it takes for them to go to these appointments and set this up, hurts the economy in some form,” Nguyen said.
He said the city has advocated for expanded federal naturalization services for more than 20 years. If a permanent site is established, Nguyen said, the city wants naturalization to be a priority for the wider region.
Garden City asked for monthly USCIS visits that include biometrics and interviews, more naturalization ceremonies, and continued support from southwest Kansas cities. That support could include staff, rent-free space and technology, according to the city's letter.
The city also backs bipartisan legislation to provide a permanent solution for people covered by Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, including a pathway to citizenship within a reasonable time frame. Nguyen, whose family immigrated from Vietnam, described the subject as personal.
“Even as myself, our family are immigrants, we came from Vietnam, and so this issue itself, it holds more weight, than I hope that even I realize”
The city submitted questions for public comment at the Oct. 6 City Commission meeting. It said it plans to share any responses from the congressional delegation at a future meeting.
A 2021 delegation letter cited demand across three states
A May 24, 2021, letter from Senators Roger Marshall, M.D. and Jerry Moran and Representative Tracey Mann went to USCIS Acting Director Tracy Renaud and District 15 Director David Douglas. It argued that demand exceeded services available through the USCIS District 15 field offices in Kansas City, Missouri, and Wichita, Kansas.
The letter cited the Wichita field office director's estimate that over 50 percent of its patrons came from western Kansas, Oklahoma and Colorado. It described the Wichita office as nearly a three and a half hour drive, on average, from two of southwest Kansas' largest cities. Kansas City's office was more than a six-hour drive away.
Moran's office accepts immigration casework releases
Moran's Senate office provides a Privacy Release Form for Immigration Casework. It authorizes USCIS to share case-status information with the senator and his staff.
The form can be returned to P.O. Box 249, Hays, KS 67601. The office lists 785-628-6401 as its phone number and 785-628-3791 as its fax number.
