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.