Detroit braces for more ICE enforcement
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Local officials who haven't yet seen increased immigration enforcement efforts are anticipating a crackdown soon.
Why it matters: Expectations are high in Detroit, a border city with a significant immigrant population, that President Trump's promises of mass deportations will be carried out in the metro area.
- The city's approximately 630,000 residents are 8% Latino and 6% foreign-born, per Census data.
What they're saying: Mayor Mike Duggan said this week that Detroit hadn't seen increased ICE presence yet but that enforcement activities are nothing new.
- "I do anticipate in the coming weeks you will see the (Trump) administration dedicate more people to ICE, so I think you will see detentions pick up," he told reporters on Monday at the grand opening of La Joya Gardens in Southwest.
- "I suspect it's just a matter of time until we see increased activity here."
State of play: The city's position on enforcing immigration laws has not changed with the new president, Duggan said. Detroit will cooperate with ICE, as it does with every federal agency.
- Police do not ask people for immigration papers, Duggan said, but the city does not shield people who are here illegally.
- When anyone is arrested in the city, their fingerprints are cross-referenced with ICE's records. If there's a match, ICE typically asks the city to transfer custody of that individual.
- DPD wrote to Axios in an email Wednesday that it does not in any way engage in immigration enforcement because it's a federal responsibility.
Zoom out: Trump has already acted on his campaign promise to crack down on undocumented immigrants through large-scale deportation. With more arrests and detainments to come, ICE's tactics are becoming clearer.
- Trump declared a national emergency on the U.S.-Mexico border hours after being sworn in as president. The administration also announced it's ending the policy of avoiding arrests in churches, schools, hospitals, funerals, weddings and public demonstrations.
Zoom in: Many local church and school leaders are already taking a proactive approach to protecting their immigrant communities.
- "This district, through its sanctuary district policy and its evolution of that, is not going to let ICE in our buildings without a warrant," DPSCD Superintendent Nikolai Vitti said this week, per the Detroit News. "We are not going to give records to the federal government, to immigration officials. We are going to be true to our core values — students first."
Go deeper: How ICE could operate and conduct arrests during Trump 2.0