My response to a Phil Skaggs-endorsed mailer that insultingly cites GRIID to smear a campaign opponent
Editor’s note: GRIID regularly critiques local politicians specifically about the policies they promote or vote for. GRIID also monitor’s campaign financing in a very detailed fashion, since I believe that it says a great deal about a candidate. However, what GRIID does not do and will never do is endorse candidates, and this is primarily because I don’t put much faith in electoral politics and believe that history and work of social movements are the primarily way that change occurs.
I came across a recent political ad that was put out by the Phil Skaggs for State Senate campaign. My thoughts on political ads, especially attack ads are such that they are a despicable form of campaigning, as it often reveals the character of the candidate and team they are working with. The political ad was a mailer and the entity putting it out is Michigan Deserves Better.
When you receive a flyer from Michigan Deserves Better, you are looking at a product meticulously designed to deliver maximum political damage while shielding the actual corporate or private donors funding the operation from the public eye, since as a 501(c) (4) entity they don’t have to disclose their donors. Now, the Skaggs camp might say that they are not responsible for this smear ad, but they haven’t put out a statement says that they don’t support it. Michigan Deserves Better is a tool of the Democratic Party establishment and they will go after anyone who threaten the interests of that establishment.
Above is the front of the mailer that went out which attacks one of the two 29th District State Senate Democratic Party candidates Abbie Groff-Blaszak. Below is the back of the mailer meant to smear Groff-Blaszak. The back of the mailer – here below – includes a quote from a GRIID article, which is interesting and something that I will now respond to.
Ever since I first encountered Phil Skaggs in 2018, when he was a Kent County Commissioner, every interaction I have had with him informed the fact that I have nothing but contempt for him. Skaggs was one of several Democrats on the County Commission that would not support the demand from the immigrant-led group Movimiento Cosecha for Kent County to end their contract with ICE.
During the 14 month campaign, where Cosecha and GR Rapid Response to ICE would attended over a dozen Kent County Commission meetings, Skaggs would consistently ignore what immigrants and allies had to say. What was equally problematic is that he would gaslight immigrant organizers and even referred to some of the tactics used in the campaign as “Bolshevik Cosplay.” Equally outlandish is the fact that years later Skaggs tried to take credit for ending the contract with ICE, along with Sheriff Michelle LaJoye-Young. I wrote a rather length response to this bastardized account of what actually happened in that campaign, which you can read here.
I have also written several articles over the years about Skaggs as a politician. Phil Skaggs claimed that he came to a protest put on by Black organizers right after the City of Grand Rapids and the GRPD release body cam footage of the GRPD killing of Patrick Lyoya. Skaggs posted a paid statement, which I wrote about and provided numerous talking points about Skaggs as a politician that I want to include here.
- When a GRPD liaison (Captain VanderKooi) to Immigration and Customs Enforcement contacted ICE to have Jilmar Ramos-Gomez arrested, Skaggs never condemned the racist profiling of Jilmar, who was not only a citizen of the US, but had served in the US military.
- More than one African American who has served on the Kent County Commission with fellow Democrat Phil Skaggs, has often referred to him as being a bully and a racist. Commissioner Womack was threatened by Skaggs for challenging him to be the minority chair for the Democrats within the County Commission. According to Womack, Skaggs told him that he would ruin his political career if he ever challenged him again.
- After the Movement for Black Lives put out a toolkit on defunding police departments, I wrote an article about candidates that had received funding from the Grand Rapids Police Officer’s Association before 2020, which included Phil Skaggs who had received money from the GRPD union three times.
- In 2020, the Kent County Commission unanimously wanted to provide Care Act funding to Grand Rapids for the specific purpose of purchasing the ShotSpotter technology to be used by the GRPD, despite the overwhelming opposition from Black organizers and residents. Skaggs supported using $500,000 for the GRPD to purchase technology that would promote more government surveillance.
In 2022, Phil Skaggs was elected as the representative for the 80th House District in Michigan. In 2023 the Democrats had control of the Governor’s office, the Michigan Senate and the Michigan House. Despite this trifecta Rep. Skaggs and many of his fellow Democrats failed to pass progressive policies, many of which were promised. The Democrats still voted for increased police funding, maintaining the Prison Industrial Complex, massive subsidies to developers, plus they refused to adopt the policies that renters have been demanding.
Additionally, immigrant justice activists were told that if they supported Democrats in the 2022 Election, they would pass the Drive Safe bills, which would give undocumented immigrants the chance to obtain a driver’s license. The Democrats failed the immigrant community and even during the lame duck session could not get enough votes from their own party to win what they promised to immigrants.
On the matter of questionable sources of campaign finances Phil Skaggs doesn’t have a leg to stand on. Besides taking money from the GRPD union, Skaggs has taken money from the Michigan Realtors PAC and other corporate PACs while running as a State Representative. Skaggs also created his own PAC called PHILPAC, which has also taken money from corporate donors and PACs. We’ll have to wait until late July to look at who is contributing to Skaggs, but if his previous contributors are any indication it will include more corporate donors.
My other major response to the attack ad from Michigan Deserves Better has to do with the quote from GRIID used in the mailer. The source of the GRIID quote used is from an article I wrote in 2020, which looked at the groups that the Doug and Maria DeVos Foundation was funding, which included the West Michigan Leadership Academy. Specifically, I wrote:
The West Michigan Leadership Academy is actually part of the NYC Leadership Academy, which just has a subsection on their website for the West Michigan Leadership Academy. One of the major funders listed for the NYC Leadership Academy is he Doug & Maria DeVos Foundation.
The mailer uses the following language: The West Michigan Leadership Academy “is another front group for the DeVos family’s commitment to Neo-Liberal Education model.”
I didn’t use that language specifically referring to the West Michigan Leadership Academy, I never said they were a DeVos front group and the reference to a Neo-Liberal Education model was connected to the Education Network of Greater Grand Rapids. Therefore, the Michigan Deserves Better mailer took my GRIID article out of context and cut and pasted phrases that worked better for their ad smearing Abbie Groff-Blaszak.
Now, I have been tracking how the various DeVos family foundations have used their money over the past 13 years. One of the ways that the DeVos family foundations use their money is to fund non-profits, many of which provide social services or charity to individuals who are struggling. I call that money “hush money”, since it is primarily meant to prevent non-profits from criticizing billionaires like the DeVos family, specifically how they have used their wealth to get public policy adopted which benefits their interests, like the Three Towers Project.
I also recognize that there are many non-profits who take money from the DeVos foundations in order to fund their work, even if it means they have to hold their noses in the process. It is an unjust dynamic that is systemic in what is often referred to as the Non-Profit Industrial Complex. I would suspect that there are dozens of non-profits that Phil Skaggs supports that have taken money from one of the many DeVos foundations, like Baxter Community Center, Linc Up, ICCF or the Kent County Habitat for Humanity, but I doubt he has called them out on taking this money.
In the end, the Michigan Deserves Better mailer that smears Abbie Groff-Blaszak is designed to make Phil Skaggs look good. It doesn’t. In fact, it just makes Skaggs look desperate, since he is relying on mud slinging campaign tactics, which people have come to detest.
Big Tech and ICE: Understanding and resisting the Surveillance State in Grand Rapids and beyond
“At this moment, a dangerous convergence of two trends threatens democracy. The first is the Trump administration’s aggressive acceleration of the use of technology and artificial intelligence to rapidly expand immigration enforcement and military force. The second involves an unprecedented amassing of economic and political influence by a small group of tech oligarchs.”
The above comment is from a new report entitled, The Teach Behind ICE: Oligarchs, Immigration Enforcement, and the Threat to Democracy. The report was a collaborative project from Mijente, Just Futures Law and the Surveillance Resistance Lab.
The 86-page report provides excellent information and a robust analysis about the convergence of Big Tech with the Carceral State. In the report’s executive summary it states:
This report examines how DHS has laid the foundation for this authoritarian moment. We reveal how this moment creates an accelerated danger, as a power-hungry tech oligarchy becomes increasingly influential, and identify the major actors, corporations, monies, and mechanisms involved. This report also describes some of the most important strategies available to non-violently resist the entanglement of big tech, immigration enforcement, and militarism. Confronting this threat requires a clearunderstanding of the convergence of agendas and where their power can be disrupted.
The major sections of the report cover the following areas:
- The Architecture of Authoritarianism
- Follow the Money: Revolving Door to Corner Office
- Building the Militarized Police State
- Taxpayer-Funded Surveillance and AI
- Tools of the Surveillance State
- Organized Resistance
In Grand Rapids we have seen how the carceral state collaborates with ICE, with the GRPD assisting ICE in arrests, the Kent County Jail holding immigrants for ICE, and local cops sharing Flock camera information with ICE. These dynamics are a major reason why Movimiento Cosecha and GR Rapid Response to ICE have been pushing the City of Grand Rapids and Kent County to adopt the 6 sanctuary policies they are demanding. This new report can provide those resisting ICE in Kent County with better analysis and additional ways to fight back against ICE and other forms of the Carceral State.
According to the report, since June of 2026, the world’s 10 richest individuals, nine of them based in the United States,81 held a combined wealth of roughly $2.9 trillion —an amount more than the GDPs of all the countries in the world. Nine of the richest 10 are tech oligarchs.
The report provides lots of information on how Big Tech is partnering with the US military to increase its reliance on AI, specifically through companies like Palantir and Anduril. However, most of the Big Tech companies are also expanding their relations with the Carceral State in the US, in Michigan and in Grand Rapids. In addition, this new report makes it clear that Big Tech companies and their owners have become some of the largest campaign contributors to candidates and are also spending tens of millions on lobbying Congress each year.
A second major area in this new report looks at the relationship between Big Tech, ICE, local and state law enforcement agencies. The report notes:
While local police have been found to arrest people for routine traffic violations, for example, in order to turn them over to ICE, 287(g) further empowers police by giving them authority to arrest people for suspected immigration violations. A February 2026 study found participation in 287(g) has grown by 900% under the new Trump administration. This effectively means upwards of 15,800 police officers and sheriff’s deputies nationwide can participate directly in ICE surveillance and arrests. The June 2026 budget reconciliation bill pushed through by the Trump administration—the second such bill to increase DHS funding in less than a year—included $350 million specifically for ICE operations in cities and states that do not participate in 287(g) agreements.
Based on this analysis it is likely that there will be an increase in ICE activity in Grand Rapids and other parts of Kent County, since there are no 287(g) agreements with ICE.
ICE and AI
As the relationship between ICE and Big Tech has deepened, there is a greater reliance on the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI). On this growing relationship the report states:
Inside the federal government, Congress has passed several laws aimed at advancing US leadership in artificial intelligence, including the implementation of AI across federal agencies. Vendors providing ICE and CBP with AI applications include Anthropic, Palantir, Anduril, Microsoft, Dataminr, Clearview AI, and many others. DHS use of AI now covers areas including generative AI, computer vision, natural language processing, machine learning, and agentic AI. These procurement expenses are part of an IT budget at DHS that amounted to more than $10 billion in 2025.226 The White House Fiscal 2027 budget shows DHS will hold the third highest IT investment in the federal government—$11.7 billion, which includes AI. The Department of Defense holds the highest investment in AI, seeking $58.5 billion for “continued American dominance in AI-enabled warfare.
The increased use of AI by the Department of Homeland Security partly correlates to the increase in proposed data centers across the country and right here in West Michigan. All of the amazing public opposition to data centers over the past year in Kent County has been important, but they can now add ICE surveillance to the list of reasons to say no to data centers.
The last section of the report is on resisting ICE and its relationship with Big Tech. The report states:
The surveillance and deportation systems described throughout this report were built through political choices, public investments, and corporate partnerships. They can be challenged in the same way. The technologies that power modern immigration enforcement depend on local government cooperation, private sector participation, taxpayer funding, and public legitimacy.
The report states that local government should be doing the following to resist what DHS/ICE is doing in communities like Grand Rapids:
1) Dismantle data sharing with ICE;
2) End expansion of surveillance technology;
3) Strengthen privacy protection.
These suggested actions certainly fit within the 6 sanctuary policy demands that Cosecha and GR Rapid Response to ICE have been demanding since the beginning of 2025.
The report also suggests exposing and disrupting the companies that have contracts with ICE in every community. GRIID did some research into companies with ICE contracts and posted a story back in early April, which could also provide opportunities with expanding the scope of resistance to ICE. However we engage in organized resistance to ICE, this new report provides important information that could lead to the development of new resistance strategies.
Movements resisting surveillance and immigration enforcement must develop a much deeper understanding of the technologies we are confronting, and the power that circulates through them. The current fusion of state and corporate power driving technologies that foster authoritarianism and exclude and repress everyday people, requires that we challenge oligarchs and the ways that they are fundamentally changing the way our democracy operates.
For anyone who is concerned about the relationship between Big Tech and ICE, this report is an important tool. If you want to then get involved in resisting ICE in Kent County you should definitely be part of the important work of Movimiento Cosecha GR and GR Rapid Response to ICE.
Late last week State Representative Kristian Grant stated:
Housing affordability remains one of the biggest challenges facing communities across Michigan, and we have to use every single tool available to address it.
That’s why I’m proud to sponsor House Bill 5806, which establishes and administers a state-level tax credit program to help keep new construction affordable while preserving and upgrading existing affordable housing. This is a practical, proven tool that helps move projects from concept to construction and makes every investment go further.
House Bill 5806 does provide tax credits for new housing construction, but lets be clear it benefits developers, not the people who can’t afford a place to live in the current housing market.
If you read through HB 5806 you will see that there is no language about how these tax credits will benefit those seeking to buy a home or those who rent.
HB 5806 is similar to what Rep. Grant said during an April 2024 interview on WOODTV8. Similarly, when the state wide The Rent is Too Damn High coalition was in Lansing to try and get nine housing bills passed that would benefit tenants, Democratic lawmakers were not siding with the people. In an article from November of 2024, I wrote:
There were a few tenant activists that met with Rep. Kristian Grant (Grand Rapids), since she chairs the Housing Committee. One of the persons who met with Grant told me that she felt that it would only be possible to pass 2 or three of the nine bills that were introduced over the past 12 months. Part of the problem, according to Rep. Grant, was that there were several Democratic Party lawmakers that were not showing up legislative sessions, specifically the ones who lost in the November 5th Election.
There seems to be a pattern with Rep. Grant, which makes sense since she owns several rental properties herself, along with consistently taking campaign money from the Realtors PAC of Michigan.
There is also another housing related bill that also doesn’t really benefit people who are housing insecure. According to an article on Crain’s:
The state House-passed legislation, now pending in the Senate, does not propose a blanket ban on large institutional investors purchasing houses. Instead, it would prohibit such a transaction unless it adds new housing stock, substantially rehabilitates an existing home or is part of a program to create a pathway to ownership for a renter.
House Bill 6074 defines a large institutional investor as an investment fund, corporation, general or limited partnership, limited liability company, joint venture, association or other for-profit entity that directly or indirectly has investment control of more than 100 single-family homes in the state and manages or has a net value of $375 million or more.
So, a large investor, corporation or LLC could continue to own up to 100 single family homes. However, if the large investor, corporation or LLC would add new housing stock, substantially rehabilitate an existing home or is part of a program to create a pathway to ownership for a renter, then the cap on controlling 100 single family homes doesn’t apply. The House version of this bill passed with a vote of 102-3 in favor.
Call me silly, but this piece of legislation still seems like a pretty sweet deal for large investors, corporations or LLCs and does nothing to really protect families who are struggling to purchase a home or pay the high cost of rent.
For those who read my blog you know that I monitor systems of power and repression based in the Grand Rapids area. I do this because it is important that we not only understand why they do what they do, but how they often interact with other players in the Grand Rapids Power Structure.
I recently came across a post on the iCI Nation Facebook page, where the leader of that group was talking about how much fun she had while attending the Acton Institute’s annual Acton University Conference here in Grand Rapids. The head of iCI Nation wrote:
We met inspiring local leaders – Nate Gillespie, JC Huizenga, Rabbi Krishef along with learning from international leaders from Venezuela, Brazil, Japan, Pakistan, India and France.
Nate Gillespie is the Executive Director of the Anchor Institute, which is a non-profit that promotes business interests and provides direct equity investments in area businesses that embrace their vision. JC Huizenga has been a member of the Grand Rapids Power Structure for decades and is the founder of National Heritage Academies, a charter school company that has 100 schools across the US, and he is the chairman of the Huizenga Group.
It is also important to point out that when Jennifer Franson (iCI Nation founder) says she met international leaders from Venezuela, Brazil, Japan, Pakistan, India and France, she was meeting with people from those countries that embrace the same ideological framework that drives the Acton Institute, which is capitalism.
The fact that the head of one of the major police apologist groups in Grand Rapids, the iCI Nation, attended the Acton Institute’s annual Acton University Conference makes perfect sense. Policing formed in lockstep with the development of the capitalist system and its political form in the capitalist state, according to Brian Bean, the author of Their End is Our Beginning: Cops, Capitalism and Abolition.
A major function of policing is to hold the capitalist order together, which mean also means controlling the public who dares to question this order. Bean also states:
“Seeing the police as a key instrument of the capitalist class, rather than just as a subsidiary, has profound implications for the strategy and tactics of abolition. We can’t take on the cops without taking on the state.”
I believe this to be true in Grand Rapids, where the GRPD’s union has tremendous influence with City officials, plus the GRPD consistently shows up to protect the interests of businesses, both their place of business and those who want to spend their money at those businesses.
Remember what the cops did during the 2020 uprising in Grand Rapids, they primarily sought to protect property. If you look at every protest that has happened in Grand Rapids since then the GRPD shows up to make sure that people don’t disrupt business as usual, meaning the cops will make sure that capitalist transactions will not be disrupted, which includes the flow of traffic. We all know that traffic is primarily generated by people who are going to work or to spend their money at a place of business.
The social media message from iCI Nation is important in that it makes clear the connection and relationship between policing and capitalism. As writer and abolitionist Mariame Kaba states, “We’re not going to abolish the police, if we don’t abolish capitalism by the way! It ain’t going to happen.”
Grand Rapids Office of Oversight and Public Accountability has a new portal to promote more accountability???
In a recent MLive article Bandon Davis, managing director of the Office of Oversight and Public Accountability (OPA), stated, “As an office created in partnership with the community in 2019, OPA has always been committed to making public safety oversight transparent, accessible and responsive.”
Davis went on to say, “This new portal strengthens that commitment by bringing multiple pathways into one clear front door. Whether a resident wants to file a complaint, request a workshop, seek expungement assistance or offer a compliment, they can now do it in a way that is simple, consistent and easy to navigate.”
First of all it is important to note that the local media pretty much just used the Press Release from the OPA, without any new information or questions on how the new online portal benefits the community.
I also think it is important to point out that since the Office of Oversight and Public Accountability was created in 2019, they haven’t really done anything to hold the GRPD accountable, like the multiple times the GRPD has killed civilians in Grand Rapids in recent years, dozens of known assaults on civilians, or the numerous times that the GRPD has engaged in repressive tactics against activists and organizers in the city. After seven years one would think that they might actually hold the GRPD accountable in some fashion. Honestly though, it was never designed to do that kind of work.
As for the new portal, you can access it by going to this link. https://grandrapidsopa.siviltech.com/ There are six different categories:
- Compliment Form
- Complaint Form
- Expungement Fair
- Appeal Form
- CIT Request Form
- Know Your Rights Workshop Request Form
So, information on the Expungement Fair is someone useful, but most of these options are not going to lead to any real accountability of the GRPD.
The Compliment Form will most like be filled out by people are already police apologists. You can find these people on social media all the time, either as individuals or groups like iCI Nation or Voice for the Badge.
The CIT Request Form link states, “Community Informed Law Enforcement Training (CIT) is a joint initiative between Grand Rapids’ Office of Oversight and Public Accountability and the Grand Rapids’ public safety departments that allows the community to submit proposals for trainings it would like public safety to participate in.” Are we honestly supposed to believe that the GRPD is going to participate in any sort of training that the public wants them to take, especially trainings that would challenge the very nature of policing itself? Maybe we can do what Mayor LaGrand suggests and do a ride along with the GRPD so we can see the city through their eyes.
Then there is the Know Your Rights Workshop Request Form where people/orgs can submit requests for the OPA to tell them about their rights. People would be better off going to the ACLU for such trainings or another grassroots group that is not an extension of the GRPD, like the OPA is.
Then there is the Complaint Form, where people can submit complaints about the GRPD. Just to be clear these complaints are reviewed internally, meaning cops reviewing complaints about cops. Not to worry, there is an Appeal Form link, which allows you to appeal the outcome of a complaint. However, here you are once again sending your complaint to another part of the GRPD, the Internal Affairs Unit (IAU), thus we are to believe that police are going to police themselves.
Several decades ago I filed formal complaints on the GRPD, when there was no Office of Oversight and Public Accountability. I got no where and it all essentially came down to my word against the cop’s word. The only thing that seems to have changed is that the OPA facilitates complaints, but the GRPD still has the final say.
The anti-racism writer Paul Kivel calls groups like the Office of Oversight and Public Accountability buffer organizations, since they ultimately are protecting the GRPD and the City of Grand Rapids from a growing public that is angry at and disillusioned by the Grand Rapids Police Department. Not only does the OPA acts as a buffer for the GRPD, they function to re-direct people away from a structural critique of the GRPD, thus controlling the public that wants to change how we can actually have real public safety.
Where candidates for Michigan’s 29th District state Senate seat stand on immigration policy and ICE
MLive just posted an article on 4 policy positions for the three Democrats running for the 29th District state Senate seat.
As has been their practice in recent years MLive election coverage is not journalism, rather they are merely providing a platform for candidates without any investigation or verification on immigration policy stances or where they stand on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). All of these candidates have been elected and two are currently acting as elected officials, both Groff-Blaszak and Skaggs. However, all three have had an opportunity to vote on matters that are related to ICE and immigration matters.
I am re-posting how each candidate responded to the question – What is your position on due process, First Amendment, and Fourth Amendment rights for all Michigan residents, including noncitizens, and what changes, if any, would you support? After each of their responses I will include my own response and analysis in italics.
Diaz: I am against the Laken Riley Act, everyone deserves and has a right to due process and legal representation. We need state laws and Constitutional amendments that safeguard these rights.
It is good to know that candidate Diaz is against the Laken Riley Act, but that is federal policy, not state policy. Having Due process and legal representation are certainly important, but ICE doesn’t care about these things and is arresting and detaining immigrants practically every day in the 29th District. Candidate Diaz doesn’t provide concrete actions or policy that would put an end to ICE terrorizing people in the 29th District. Lastly, when candidate Diaz was a Kent County Commissioner did he oppose funding for the Kent County Sheriff’s Office and the Kent County Jail, since these entities have consistently collaborated with ICE and continue the practice of ICE holds?
Groff-Blaszak: State government has a responsibility to protect the civil rights of all residents, regardless of immigration status. I support prohibiting collaboration between federal immigration agents and state and local law enforcement without a judicial warrant, strengthening habeas corpus protections in the Michigan Constitution, prohibiting immigration detention centers in Michigan, and protecting certain spaces from immigration enforcement to prevent the suppression of 1st Amendment rights. I also support the prosecution of any and all persons for the violation of individuals’ rights under these expanded state laws to the fullest extent possible.
Candidate Groff-Blaszak says she supports “prohibiting collaboration between federal immigration agents and state and local law enforcement without a judicial warrant”, which is a good start, but just because ICE agents obtain a judicial warrant doesn’t make it right and it certainly doesn’t protect the majority of undocumented immigrants who have not committed crimes. I was delighted to see that candidate Groff-Blaszak state that they would prohibit immigration detention centers in Michigan, but wondered it that would mean they would work to shut down the largest ICE detention center in the midwest, the North Lake Processing Center in Baldwin, Michigan? Lastly, it is important to note that as an East Grand Rapids City Commissioner she was one of two commissioners that proposed a resolution that would prohibit the East GR police from cooperating with ICE. The proposed resolution was defeated.
Skaggs: At our best, West Michigan welcomes New Americans, immigrants and refugees. We encourage them – Bosnians, Mexicans, Congolese, Bhutanese, Vietnamese and many more – to put down roots, share their strengths, and thrive here.
Trump’s ICE is breaking the law, killing people and terrorizing communities. In Michigan, legislators should establish safe zones in schools, prohibit masked officers, and ban racial profiling.
The federal government should defend the Constitution and abolish ICE. No more warrantless arrests or home invasions. Instead, Washington must deliver comprehensive immigration reform with a pathway to legality and citizenships.
While the Trump administration is terrorizing immigrants in the 29th District, so did the Bush, Obama and Biden Administrations, since all administrations have approved funding for ICE since 2003 when ICE was created.
When candidate Skaggs says that Michigan “legislators should establish safe zones in schools, prohibit masked officers, and ban racial profiling,” such actions won’t stop ICE from terrorizing immigrants. In fact, what Skaggs, other candidates and elected officials are proposing wouldn’t abolish ICE it would mere implement optic reforms that would do nothing to stop ICE from arresting, detaining and deporting immigrants.
Also, for Skaggs to say he wants to abolish ICE seems rather shallow and performative, since as his time as a State Representative he did not get Driver’s Licenses for All passed, which would have allowed undocumented immigrants to obtain a drivers license in Michigan. As a Kent County Commissioner Skaggs not only opposed the immigrant-led group Cosecha’s demand to get Kent County to end their contract with ICE. In fact, Skaggs repeatedly mocked these efforts. Years later Skaggs tried to take credit for the ICE contract being ended, which I wrote about here.
Lastly, it is worth mentioning that none of these candidates mentioned the work that Movimiento Cosecha and GR Rapid Response to ICE are doing, which is to push for local sanctuary policies, disrupt the efforts of ICE to arrest and detain immigrants, and to provide a wage range of Mutual Aid resources to families affected by ICE. Also, none of the candidates center the lived experiences of the families and communities most affected by ICE.
In the late Spring/early summer of 2018 people all across the US were outraged at the fact that immigrant families were being separated and the immigrant children were being detained in makeshift cages. Cosecha tapped into this anger right here in Kent County by letting people that immigrant families were being separated right here and that Kent County had a contract with ICE, which began in 2012 during the Obama Administration.
The contract that Kent County had was that whenever an undocumented immigrant was brought to the Kent County Jail, the Kent County Sheriff’s Office would notify ICE and ask if they wanted the jail to hold that person for ICE. The benefit for Kent County was that they would be financially compensated for every undocumented immigrant they held for ICE per day. The Kent County Jail would get $85 per person, per day to hold immigrants for ICE, according to the contract.
Organizers didn’t find out about the ICE contract with Kent County until March of 2018. After several months of meetings and planning, Movimiento Cosecha GR and GR Rapid Response to ICE began a campaign to end the contract that Kent County had with ICE on June 28th, 8 years ago.
The first public action was at the Kent County Commission meeting, where 250 showed up, which is the most that have ever showed up to a county commission meetings, since they are held at 8:30am on Thursdays. The action was amazing, which you can read about here, with so many people essentially shutting down the meeting and then 7 people were arrested for blocking the intersection of Michigan and Ottawa near the ICE deployment office.
Over the next 7 months Cosecha and GR Rapid Response to ICE took the following actions in an effort to end the contract with ICE.
- We held dozens of strategy meetings, which always resulted in planning future actions.
- We attended every Kent County Commission Meeting to continue to make our demands, to offer testimony on family separation that was happening by ICE in Kent County and to monitor any comments made by commissioners about the contract.
- Some of the people involved in the campaign met with individual commissioners
- We ran a petition campaign to End the Contract, which we delivered at one of the Commission meetings.
- We held a protest outside of Chairman Saalfeld’s home the night before one of the commission meetings.
- We organized several protests at the Kent County Jail.
- We organized several protest outside of the various ICE offices in downtown Grand Rapids.
- We organized a disruption protest during ArtPrize, on their main stage, drawing attention to family separation in Kent County.
- We created educational materials, which we distributed.
- We created artwork and had sign making parties.
- We spoke to community-based groups about the campaign.
- We utilized social media to education and get the word out about the End the Contract Campaign.
- We held a People’s Commission action during one of the Kent County Commission meetings.
- We worked with the Western Michigan branch of the ACLU and MIRC, who not only obtained their own FOIA documents, but offered their legal expertise on why Kent County was not legally obligated to cooperate with ICE.
In late 2018, an off-duty GRPD Captain, who was also the police department’s ICE liaison, saw on the news a Latino man attempting to start a fire at one of the downtown hospitals. What was really happening is that the person was a former US Marine who was suffering from PTSD after being in Iraq and Afghanistan. The GRPD cop who was the ICE liaison engaged in racially profiling by calling ICE, which led to this story getting national attention.
In January of 2019, the Kent County Sheriff announced that they were requiring ICE to have a judicial warrant to hold immigrants at the Kent County Jail. Both the ACLU and the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center representative (Hillary Scholten) that met with Cosecha and GR Rapid Response to ICE felt that this was a sufficient victory and there was no real need for Kent County to end the contract with ICE. Cosecha was not satisfied with this idea, since they didn’t agree with any immigrant being held for ICE at the jail, regardless if there was a judicial warrant or not. Immigrant families were still being separated.
The End the Contract campaign continued with many of the same tactics and strategies, but with an increased effort to pressure the City of Grand Rapids for allowing the GRPD Captain to continue acting as the department’s liaison with ICE with no consequences for the racial profiling he did with the former US Marine Jilmar Ramos Gomez.
Cosecha never revived their demands, they were still demanding an end to the contract and continued to do so until late August of 2019, even holding an action outside of the Kent County Jail just days before ICE decided to not renew the contract with Kent County. You read that correctly…..ICE decided to end the contract, not the Kent County Sheriff nor the Kent County commission, despite what one former County Commission claimed about the end of the ICE contract.
The campaign to end the Kent County contract with ICE took 14 months of planning, strategy and tactics and ICE ended the contract because they were confronted with a public relations problem from all of the negative press.
Cosecha’s campaign to get the City of Grand Rapids and Kent County to adopt 6 sanctuary policies
Fast forward to 2025 and Cosecha and GR Rapid Response to ICE have once again organized a campaign to get the city and the county to adopt 6 sanctuary policies, policies that will prohibit both governing bodies from collaborating or cooperating with ICE in any way and these policies will effectively reduced the harm that ICE is inflicting on immigrants in Kent County.
The current campaign has also resulted in numerous meetings, strategy sessions and actions, such as:
- Marches
- Actions outside the homes of City and County officials
- Attending City and County Commission meetings
- Disrupting City and County Commission meetings
- Street Theater
- Civil Disobedience
- Education on the 6 sanctuary policies
- Online letters writing
- An organized boycott campaign
- Press Conferences
- Live-streaming of actions
The campaign to get the Grand Rapids and Kent County to adopt the 6 sanctuary policies has already taken longer than the End of the ICE Contract campaign that was begun in 2018. However, the sanctuary policies campaign involves six demands as opposed to just one demand.
Another major difference is the fact that ICE has roughly ten times the amount of money per year than it did in 2018-2019. ICE has increased the number of agents in Grand Rapids and has increased the number of arrests and detentions compared to what was happening when the End the Contract campaign was in full swing. There are also more ICE contracts in Kent County now than there were before.
Despite the challenges that are faced with the current sanctuary policy demands in Grand Rapids and Kent County, both Cosecha and GR Rapid Response to ICE are committed to winning these demands. Movement work always takes time and is never immediate.
If you want to get involved in this important work then you should contact Movimiento Cosecha movimientocosechagr@gmail.com and GR Rapid Response to ICE info@grrapidresponsetoice.org. There is a great deal of work to be done and we need lots of people with lots of passion and skills to get the 6 sanctuary policies adopted. The immigrant justice movement needs all of us!
Tell Michigan Legislators to not provide funds to the Michigan Israel Business Accelerator right now
According to an article from Electronic Intifada, “in November 2025, Michigan activists achieved a significant victory: the State of Michigan Retirement System no longer holds any Israel Bonds.
The decision followed more than a year of organizing by Michigan Divest, a statewide coalition of residents, public employees and human rights advocates who pressured state officials to end pension investments tied to Israel during its genocide in Gaza.”
However, the Michigan legislature wants to include $1 million for the Michigan Israel Business Accelerator (MIBA) in the 2027 state budget. Budget negotiations are happening NOW and could be finalized by July 1st.
This request for MIBA is called a “Legislatively Directed Spending Item” (LDSI). More than 1,000 LDSIs, totaling over $2.6 billion, have been requested. There won’t be votes by all legislators on each of the LDSIs. Rather, decisions about which LDSIs will be included in the budget will be made by legislative leaders behind closed doors. Michigan Divest has identified five legislators as key players in the budget negotiations who need to hear strong opposition to including MIBA in the budget from Michiganders across the state.
You can sign the petition to support the demands of the MI Money Out of MIBA Campaign. The petition is addressed to both the legislature and to the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC), demanding that they terminate their contract with MIBA and commit not to renew funding or award funding to MIBA in the future.
The Michigan Israel Business Accelerator (MIBA) has only been around since 2017, involving both business representatives and state officials. The Grand Rapids-based group The Right Place Inc. has always had an involvement with this group and still has a seat on the MIBA Board of Directors.
GRIID first noted that the Right Place Inc. assisted an Israeli military company set up shop in West Michigan in 2015, which also led to an activist campaign to expose the Right Place for their role in supporting Israeli Apartheid.
Since Israel began it’s genocidal campaign against the Palestinians in 2023 GRIID discovered that the Israeli company Plasan North America has been sending military vehicles to Israel for use in the ongoing assault on Palestinians.
The work of groups like the Michigan Israel Business Accelerator and The Right Place Inc. makes them complicit in genocide. Please sign the petition to support the demands of the MI Money Out of MIBA Campaign.
Yesterday on social media I saw a political endorsement that was both confusing and infuriating.
Grand Rapids City Commissioner Lisa Knight wrote a statement endorsing Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed. The statement reads:
“Abdul El-Sayed embodies a rare, profound love for humanity that shines through every aspect of his leadership. His visionary approach to Michigan’s future does not just anticipate the challenges of tomorrow – it actively builds a more just, healthy, and equitable state where no community is left behind.
I am proud to endorse Abdul because he leads with deep empathy, unwavering integrity, and a bold commitment to elevating the lives of all Michiganders.”
The statement is very nice, positive and upbeat, but it leaves out actually policy proposals from Abdul, such as his position that ICE should be abolished, that he emphatically opposing US military aid and weapons sales to Israel, and he wants to see Medicare for All become a reality.
I say this not so much to champion Abdul, but to make a point about these political position and where Grand Rapids City Commissioner Lisa Knight stands.
The Israeli genocidal campaign being waged against the Palestinians began in October 2023, which was the first year that Commissioner Knight was in office. There were constant calls from the community to get the Grand Rapids City Commission to adopt a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. Those demanding solidarity with the Palestinians also pressured the City of Grand Rapids on other aspects aspects of the genocide, even pushing for a divestment campaign that the Community Relations Commission endorsed. Commissioner Knight did not support a ceasefire resolution or the divestment effort.
Since January of 2025 Movimiento Cosecha and GR Rapid Response to ICE have demanded that the city of Grand Rapids adopt 6 sanctuary policies, policies that would not allow the city to collaborate or cooperate with ICE. Commissioner Knight has refused to support these demands.
In addition, there have been organized efforts to reduce the amount of money going to the GRPD because of killing of residents by the GRPD. Beginning with Patrick Lyoya, followed by Hank Wymer and more recently Da’Quain Johnson. Commissioner Knight has refused to support the demands for justice around the GRPD killings and broader GRPD practices in mostly Black and Brown neighborhoods.
I found out about this endorsement as it is on Abdul’s Facebook page. Abdul wrote above the endorsement images, “Grateful to earn the endorsement of Grand Rapids City Commissioner Lisa Knight!” Really? My question would be why would Abdul be grateful for Commissioner Knight’s endorsement when they don’t share some of the same stances on major issues?
Another question to ask is, are there people on Abdul’s team in Grand Rapids that aren’t communicating this information about the policy positions that Commissioner Knight has refused to take, positions that are being asked by affected communities, activists and organizers?
Are the people in Grand Rapids who are part of Abdul’s campaign encouraging him to talk with the mother of Da’Quain Johnson or groups like Movimiento Cosecha or GR Rapid Response to ICE, the very people who are on the ground and in the streets doing the hard movement building work?
Candidates should never accept endorsements for endorsement sake, but treat them as a principled measuring stick around the political stances and policy positions they claim to stand for. Accepting endorsements from questionable candidates helps create the lesser of evil kind of political culture that we have to stop participating in.
Politicians who run for higher office often show their real colors when it comes to critical issues of the day.
Take for instance Kent County Commissioner Katie DeBoer. She represents District 4 in Kent County, but is also running to be a State Senator for the 33rd District.
DeBoer, like the rest of the Kent County Commission has been either silent or dismissive of the Cosecha campaign to get Kent County to adopt the 6 sanctuary policies the immigrant-led group has been demanding since the beginning of 2025.
Throughout the past 18 months DeBoer has been one of the commissioners that has remained silent on the sanctuary policy demands, along with not sharing her thoughts on the federal agency known as ICE.
However, now that DeBoer is running for a State Senate seat she has made it clear where she stands on ICE and immigration. Now, you won’t find anything on her campaign page , but she does mention where she stands on undocumented immigrants in a recent political video her campaign created.
At the 20 second mark in her video DeBoer says, “I will deport every criminal illegal immigrant.” The image that shows up in the video is what is included here above. Clearly, Katie DeBoer sees all undocumented immigrants as illegal, and like the current administration wants to deport them all.
Equally instructive is the fact that listed on the endorsements section of her campaign page, in fact second on her page is Michelle LaJoye-Young, Kent County Sheriff. This makes complete sense since Sheriff LaJoye-Young has been collaborating with ICE for years, even before she became sheriff.
After the embarrassment of what happened to Jilmar Ramos Gomez in 2018/2019, Sheriff LaJoye-Young was forced to save face and say that the Sheriff’s office will require ICE to have a judicial warrant if they want someone held at the Kent County Jail. However, as Cosecha and GR Rapid Response to ICE have discovered back in 2025, the Kent County Sheriff’s Office is not following their own rule and is holding immigrants in the jail for ICE, where they are eventually transported to the North Lake Processing Center in Baldwin, MI.
In this sense Kent County Commissioner Katie DeBoer and Kent County Sheriff LaJoye-Young are on the same page regarding ICE and immigration policy. They are both in favor of criminalizing and deporting all undocumented immigrants.
Grand Rapids Institute for Information Democracy 