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'I want my son back, dead or alive' – mother of missing Tanzanian ex-diplomat
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Tag: local police
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Advocates warn Michigan police against cooperating with ICE – Detroit Metro Times
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Advocacy groups are calling on police and sheriff’s departments across the state to avoid federal immigration enforcement, warning that cooperation with agents undermines public trust, threatens safety, and could expose local agencies to costly lawsuits.
In a letter recently sent to 83 law enforcement agencies, including police chiefs and sheriffs, the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan (ACLU) and the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center (MIRC) outlined legal and constitutional risks of cooperating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The updated legal guidance, the first issued in 2017, emphasizes that immigration enforcement is the responsibility of the federal government and that local departments are under no obligation to participate.
The 17-page letter points to two instances in which local law enforcement is getting involved with immigration enforcement. One is with ICE detainers, which are requests for local jails or police to hold people beyond their scheduled release so federal agents can take them into custody. The other is 287(g) agreements, which allow ICE to deputize local officers to perform certain civil immigration enforcement duties.
A bill introduced by Republicans in the state House this year encourages local law enforcement to work with ICE by signing 287(g) agreements. According to ICE, these law enforcement agencies in Michigan have signed the agreement: Sheriff’s offices in Berrian, Calhoun, Crawford, Jackson, and Roscommon counties, the Metro Police Authority of Genesee County, and the Taylor Police Department. In all, 287 agencies across the country have signed the agreement.
The ACLU and MIRC warned that the agreements can expose agencies to costly lawsuits and erode community trust.
On Wednesday, immigrant rights advocates, law enforcement leaders, and victims’ rights groups gathered at a news conference to highlight the issue and urge departments to heed the new guidance. Speakers included Washtenaw County Sheriff Alyshia M. Dyer, Washtenaw County Prosecutor Eli Savit, MIRC policy manager Christine Sauvé, YWCA of Kalamazoo Vice President of Victim Services Jessica Glynn, and ACLU senior staff attorney Miriam Aukerman.
The groups said Michigan communities are safest when local police focus on solving crimes, not on enforcing federal immigration law.
“I really think it’s extremely important that local police stick to local crime,” Dyer said. “If they don’t and they start working on these task force models, the trust we built gets eroded and victims of crimes don’t seek help when they need it. … We really need the community to trust us. We need to make sure we are not getting involved in these federal actions.”
Dyer and others said immigrants, even those in the U.S. on visas or green cards, are so afraid of deportation that they aren’t calling police when they are victims of a crime. They’re also less likely to cooperate with investigations or even attend school, religious services, or seek medical care.
“We have victims of crimes who are more afraid of the government than the people that have harmed them,” Savit said. “People are afraid to call 911 in the case of an emergency. People are afraid to talk to the police, and that is because they are afraid of their government right now.”
The letter also warned that honoring ICE detainer requests without a judicial warrant violates the Fourth Amendment and has led to multimillion-dollar settlements in other states. It noted that Michigan law already requires police to issue appearance tickets rather than make arrests for most low-level, nonviolent misdemeanors, an approach that avoids unnecessary fingerprinting and data-sharing with federal immigration authorities.
Aukerman said the Trump administration is pressuring local police to get involved in immigration enforcement.
“The Trump administration has an obsessive focus on driving out millions of non-citizens, many of whom have lived in our communities with their families for decades,” Aukerman said. “This administration is also trying to coerce local police into participating in the creation of a massive immigration dragnet that will separate families and tear apart communities.”
To help departments avoid legal pitfalls, the guidance recommends clear policies such as declining to prolong traffic stops to question immigration status, refusing ICE detainer requests without a judge’s approval, and ensuring noncitizens in custody are informed that ICE interviews are voluntary. It also urged agencies to adopt “welcoming policies” and provide transparency around visa certifications for crime victims who assist police.
Glynn said she sees too many crime victims who are afraid to call authorities.
“Survivors consistently report that fear of deportation keeps them from calling the police and the perpetrators know it,” Gylnn said. “Abusers use immigration status as a weapon. Survivors disappear in the shadows, and serious crimes go unreported. It makes all of us less safe.”
Although the city of Detroit is not helping enforce immigration laws, the police department is helping ICE agents by showing up as a form of crowd control. In June, Detroit police arrested three protesters and deployed pepper spray on residents.
The actions of Detroit police are undermining trust within immigrant communities, advocates said.
“It only makes community members feel less safe,” Sauvé said. “I would encourage local jurisdictions to decline to show up as backup because often when ICE is doing their operations, they have more than one vehicle. They have multiple officers available, and they don’t really need the local police to play an additional role there.”
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Steve Neavling
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ICE threatens lawsuits if Democratic states don’t hold migrants
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Washington — The Department of Homeland Security has escalated its clash with so-called sanctuary states this week, warning California, New York, and Illinois in letters obtained by CBS News that refusal to honor immigration detainers could trigger federal legal action.
In letters dated Sept. 10, Acting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Todd Lyons ordered the attorneys general of the three states to declare within two days whether they would comply with “thousands of ICE detainers” lodged against individuals in state custody, according to DHS. Immigration detainers are formal requests by ICE asking local jails and prisons to notify the agency before releasing an individual, and to hold them briefly so federal agents can take undocumented migrants into federal custody.
According to DHS, Illinois and New York formally declined to cooperate. California did not respond. On Sept. 18, Lyons sent follow-up letters obtained by CBS News accusing each state of obstructing immigration enforcement and vowing to enlist the Department of Justice in response. Senior DHS officials tell CBS News the department will tap the DOJ to sue states, blocking future federal funding.
In his follow-up letter to Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, Lyons wrote that the state’s refusal “will result in thousands of criminal aliens being released into Illinois communities,” adding that “ICE will engage with the U.S. Department of Justice and other federal partners to pursue all appropriate measures against you.”
Lyons wrote in his letter to California Attorney General Rob Bonta, “I take this lack of response to mean that you will continue refusing to honor ICE detainers, resulting in thousands of criminal aliens being released into California communities.”
New York Attorney General Letitia James received a similar warning after two aides to Gov. Kathy Hochul confirmed the state would not expand cooperation, according to DHS.
The Illinois attorney general’s office referred CBS News to a letter it sent to Lyons on Sept. 12, which argued ICE detainers are “requests” and state and local authorities cannot be forced to comply with them. The office also noted that it doesn’t oversee pre-trial detention in Illinois, so the office “rarely, if ever, receives ICE detainers,” and it can’t “unilaterally override state law” by forcing local police departments to honor ICE’s requests.
“Responding to an ICE detainer based on erroneous information could subject Illinois law enforcement agencies to liability for ICE’s mistakes,” the letter read. “And unfortunately, the number of erroneous detentions by ICE continues to grow at an alarming pace.”
CBS News has reached out to the California and New York attorney general’s offices for comment.
In a statement to CBS News, Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security Tricia McLaughlin wrote, “These dangerous sanctuary policies, often combined with cashless bail for serious crimes, allow criminal illegal aliens to be released back into American communities — threatening the American people’s lives and wellbeing.”
A DHS spokesperson tells CBS News that the agency has arrested roughly 400,000 undocumented immigrants since the start of the Trump administration, and 70% of those arrested by ICE have criminal charges or convictions.
Among those released by state authorities include undocumented migrants charged with sex crimes on minors, multiple assaults on police officers with a dangerous weapon, indecent assault and battery, as well as those with drug trafficking and weapons charges, a DHS spokesperson said.
Federal regulation dictates that immigration detainers instruct local jails and prisons to hold someone for up to 48 hours after their scheduled release so ICE can take custody. Historically, federal courts have ruled that these detainers are requests, with some local and state authorities outlawing compliance. Some courts have also found that holding people without a judge’s warrant can raise constitutional challenges, citing the Fourth Amendment’s protections against unlawful detention.
California, New York, and Illinois have each passed laws limiting compliance with ICE detainers.
California law bars local police from honoring detainers, except for individuals convicted of select serious crimes, while New York law restricts cooperation, requiring judicial warrants rather than administrative detainers to detain undocumented migrants. The New York attorney general’s office advises local police departments not to honor ICE detainers unless they are accompanied by warrants issued by judges. Illinois’ TRUST Act also prohibits state and local law enforcement from detaining individuals without a judicial warrant.
Supporters of city- and state-level “sanctuary” laws typically argue the policies lead to greater trust between local police and residents whose immigration status may make them reluctant to cooperate with law enforcement or report crimes.
But the Trump administration argues “sanctuary” policies make it harder for ICE to apprehend undocumented migrants, prompting the federal agency to send more law enforcement agents into American communities to conduct arrests on the streets. Those operations have drawn protests in major cities like New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles in recent months, leading to some clashes with ICE and several arrests.
In recent months, the Justice Department and other agencies have sought to cut off grants to cities and states that limit their cooperation with federal immigration authorities, drawing lawsuits.
In his warnings to state attorneys general, Lyons underscored that ICE prefers cooperation but will not allow what he calls “inadvisable and irresponsible obstruction” to continue, though he fell short of specifying exactly how the Justice Department will pursue lawsuits or other federal action in the coming weeks.
Saturday Sessions: Maren Morris performs “Running”
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Shooting mars start of high school football season in Western Kentucky
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A shooting at a high school football season opener Aug. 22 in far Western Kentucky left one person injured, according to local police, and sparked panic among hundreds in the crowd.
One person was hospitalized and later flown to Nashville for treatment following a shooting that occurred during Friday night’s game between Graves County and host Mayfield, the Mayfield Police Department reported in a social media post. The victim was an adult who was injured in the incident, which occurred in a parking area near the high school’s War Memorial football stadium.
No more information about their condition was immediately available. Detectives are investigating, the police department statement said — anyone with information is encouraged to call the department at 270-856-3721 or 270-443-8355, or reach out to the department’s tip line by texting “WKY” and details about the incident to 738477.
All additional Mayfield school activities over the weekend have been canceled, according to the local school district. Counselors will be on hand at Mayfield High School on Aug. 23 between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.
Hundreds of people appeared to be on site for the season-opening game, a video from local outlet WFCN shows, with the shooting causing panic in the crowd and a pause in the game, which was in progress at the time of the incident. The police department has not said whether a suspect was arrested.
Journalist Drayton Charlton-Perrin with Paducah-based WPSD was at the game and told the outlet he initially thought the shooting was a firecracker — “all the sudden I just heard this pop,” he said. “I look up, there’s kids running. … People seem to be pretty shaken up about this. This was supposed to be just a fun night of football.”
The shooting occurred in the fourth quarter of the game, which was recorded as a 40-7 win for Mayfield. The two schools are both located in Graves County, on the far western corner of the state, and were taking part in their annual Battle of the Birds rivalry game.
All Graves County High School students and staff are “safe and accounted for,” the school said in a social media post.
This story may be updated.
Reach Lucas Aulbach at laulbach@courier-journal.com.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Graves County vs Mayfield High School football game marred by shooting
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