Mayor LaGrand’s response to a question about ICE and Cosecha should piss you off

On a recent GRTV show Mayor David LaGrand was asked to respond to a question regarding President Trump’s threat to send the National Guard to Chicago, the Chicago Mayor’s response and why LaGrand has not done more to support the demands of groups like Movimiento Cosecha to protect undocumented immigrants from abduction? You can watch the Mayor’s response here. 

LaGrand made several comments, which I want to share at this point, along with responses to his comments. LaGand’s first response was to say that there are a number of people who are at risk in this community and Cosecha has a voice on this matter, but they don’t have a monopoly over speaking on behalf of the community. 

This is an instructive response on the part of the Mayor for several reasons. First, Movimiento Cosecha GR has never said they were the only voice in this matter, plus LaGrand omits the fact that GR Rapid Response to ICE is a partner in demands that have been presented, what those groups are calling Sanctuary policies. Second, it is important to note that Cosecha is mostly made up of undocumented community members and are deeply rooted in the affected community. Movimiento Cosecha and GR Rapid Response to ICE are actually doing the work of being in solidarity with undocumented immigrants, which the Mayor either knows nothing about or even acknowledges.

Third, members of Cosecha and GR Rapid Response to ICE were part of a meeting with Mayor LaGrand in January regarding responding to the Trump Administration’s Executive Order on mass deportation. Most of the people in the room were not from the affected community. A Cosecha representative told the Mayor that night that if he really wanted to know what the undocumented community was thinking and feeling then he should meet with them and listen to their concerns instead of making decisions without following their wishes.

The next comment from LaGrand was to say that his main concern is to not put the people who are most at risk by doing things that are counter productive or giving them a false sense of security. LaGrand has been saying that he doesn’t want to give people a false sense of security, which translates into not wanting to adopt the Sanctuary policies that Cosecha and GR Rapid Response are demanding. On the matter of not wanting to do things that are counter-productive, Mayor LaGrand is specifically referring to the demands, which he considers counter productive. The demands from Cosecha and GR Rapid Response to ICE are: 

• Policies restricting the ability of state and local police to make arrests for federal immigration violations, or to detain individuals on civil immigration warrants. 
• Policies restricting the police or other city workers from asking about immigration status. 
• Policies prohibiting “287(g)” agreements through which ICE deputizes local law enforcement officers to enforce federal immigration law. 
• Policies that prevent local governments from entering into a contract with the federal government to hold immigrants in detention; 
• Policies preventing immigration detention centers from being established in Grand Rapids. 
• A policy that will not allow the GRPD to share Flock camera images or any other information gathered by the city of Grand Rapids with ICE or any other law enforcement agency seeking to arrest, detain and deport immigrants.

LaGrand then goes on to say that he has looked the existing policies of the City of Grand Rapids regarding immigration and ICE and he thinks that they are sufficient, specifically regarding what the GRPD will and will not do. Mayor LaGrand is referring specifically to the Foreign National’s Policy. This policy clearly states:

The policy allows officers to provide assistance to federal immigration authorities when there is an emergency that poses an immediate danger to public safety or federal agents.  

Seems rather clear to me that the GRPD will cooperate with ICE when public safety is at risk. Now we all know that public safety is a broad term, so the GRPD would get to determine when public safety is at risk as they have repeatedly don’t over the years. More importantly, Cosecha and GR Rapid Response to ICE have witnessed that whenever they are making public demands regarding ICE or doing accompaniment and community patrols with members of the affected community the GRPD shows up to harass people who are doing the accompaniment, along with threatening to arrest them, and in one case in July actually arrested 2 GR Rapid Response to ICE volunteers who were following ICE agents.

LaGrand then addresses the Trump Administration’s threat against Chicago and the Chicago Mayor’s response. However, instead of saluting what Mayor Johnson is saying and doing, LaGrand criticizes Chicago for not being more cautious with the possibility that, as LaGrand said, “going to war against 3rd largest city in the country.”

LaGrand then says that the core value and core issue is “do we want to keep everyone safe”, and his answer was yes. The Mayor then says that Cosecha asked the City to do things that don’t make any sense, using one of the Sanctuary policies listed above, “Policies preventing immigration detention centers from being established in Grand Rapids.” In an arrogant and dismissive tone LaGrand says that Cosecha asked them to adopt a policy which will not allow money to be used to build a federal detention center in Grand Rapids. Not only is LaGrand’s response dismissive, it is inaccurate. The demand is, preventing immigration detention centers from being established in Grand Rapids. This could mean using the Kent County Jail as a federal detention facility or using other existing buildings to do the same. Despite misrepresenting what the demand was from Cosecha, the Grand Rapids Mayor calls it a silly and bizarre hypothetical. 

LaGrand ends his comments by saying he is laser focused on figuring out what ICE is doing in Grand Rapids, how best to protect those most at risk, making sure that the GRPD is not cooperating with ICE, not giving a false sense of security, simply because one group stands up and say, “we speak for everyone.” Here is my response to the Mayor’s little rant:

• Movimiento Coecha and GR Rapid Response to ICE know better than Mayor LaGrand what ICE is up to, because of those groups do on a daily basis with their ICE Hotline, with accompanying people who have ICE appointment, doing patrols in neighborhoods at greater risk, providing legal, financial and material aid to those affected by ICE, and working in the community to provide sanctuary spaces for those most at risk of ICE arrests, detention and deportation.
• There is no evidence that LaGrand or any aspect of City policy is actually protecting those who are at risk of ICE abductions. 
• The GRPD is cooperating and collaborating with ICE, as Cosecha and GR Rapids Response to ICE has methodically documented. 
• Adopting the Sanctuary policies listed above would not give a false sense of security, but it would defy the Trump Administration’s mass deportation plan, it would send a strong message to the affected community and those policies would provide greater guarantees that the City of Grand Rapids would not be complicit in ICE abductions.
• Again, Cosecha is not speaking for everyone, but they sure as hell know what the affected community wants regarding ICE terrorism better than LaGrand does, partly because they are members of the affected community and they are deeply involved in practicing solidarity with those who live in constant fear of ICE. 

Lastly, it should be noted that Movimiento Cosecha GR and GR Rapid Response to ICE have invited both City and County Commissioners to a forum to have a real conversation about the sanctuary policies listed above. The forum is also an opportunity for elected officials to hear from individuals and families who have been directly impacted by ICE arrests, detention, and deportation. The forum will take place on Saturday, September 27, at 12:00 p.m. at the SECOM Resource Center (1545 Buchanan Ave. SW, Grand Rapids, MI).