Ann Arbor city and state leaders talk bills and policies limiting ICE operations
Several efforts to address U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations locally and on a state level are coming from Ann Arbor.
Ann Arbor City Council is discussing its policy on non-cooperation with federal civil immigration enforcement, as lawmakers representingthe city also introduce a bill to hold ICE agents accountable for potential Fourth Amendment violations.
City and state leaders say they have issues with how the federal government is carrying out immigration enforcement across the country. They say these policies and bills will keep ICE and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security from going unchecked.
"The purpose of the ICE crackdown is to delegitimize Black and Brown people. It is to reserve America for what they call 'heritage Americans', white citizens. It's inhumane, and it's wrong," said Ann Arbor Mayor Chris Taylor.
It's why Taylor and council members are reaffirming a policy set back in 2017 of non-cooperation with federal civil immigration enforcement. He says ICE won't be able to use any of Ann Arbor's jail or law enforcement resources, the department won't have access to any information from city departments that could reveal one's immigration status, and ICE will also need a judicial warrant to perform any operations on non-public city property.
He also said he wants to condemn and create a resolution that unmasks ICE agents.
However, he says they can't stop ICE from operating on public city property, which would include city parks, and they don't have the legal power make Ann Arbor completely free of operations.
He says that won't stop the council from doing everything in their power to resist ICE and continue with non-compliance.
"We are here for the immigrants among us. We know they are central to our community. They comprise our community, and we're doing everything we can in our power to provide for them and support them," Taylor said.
Ann Arbor State Rep. Carrie Rheingans proposed House Bill 5495 to hold ICE agents accountable for violating the Fourth Amendment.
"What I'm hearing day in and day out from my constituents is they want to see their elected representatives trying to protect them. Our constituents deserve to see that we are fighting for them, and that's why I do it," said Rep. Carrie Rheingans, D-Ann Arbor.
Rheingans says her proposed bill will prohibit stops, detentions or arrests based solely on personal characteristics, require federal officers to follow the Fourth Amendment in order to enforce state law in Michigan, and reiterate that officers may not forcibly enter anybody's homes without a judicial warrant.
"We have separation of powers and checks and balances for a reason and that's to make sure no branch of government overreaches the way this executive branch has been," said Rep. Rheingans.
We haven't heard back from ICE yet on Rheingans' claims of forceable entry into homes to conduct operations without a judicial warrant. The White House released its own survey results, which found 54% of respondents support ICE enforcing America's immigration laws.