ICE took a community member yesterday while they were at their scheduled appointment at the 545 Michigan ISAP office in Grand Rapids

Yesterday, I, and several other volunteers with GR Rapid Response to ICE, were accompanying two different people that requested we go with them to their appointments at the ISAP office. ISAP stands for Intensive Supervision Appearance Program.

At about 11:45am we noticed a vehicle on the narrow road right behind the ISAP office, a vehicle that was facing west. I pointed out to another GR Rapid Response to ICE volunteer, when the card started moving slowly and I said, “It looks like the cars has tinted windows.” Two seconds later ICE came through one of the exit only doors with someone they had just arrested, with their hands zip tied behind their back. I moved towards the ICE vehicle when all of a sudden another ICE vehicle came from behind me, made a sharp right turn, almost hitting me.

Being cut off from a clear view of the other car I could not get pictures, but another volunteer was able to video tape both cars and get their license plate numbers. This all happened in less than 30 seconds, since ICE likes to – in their own words – snatch and grab people.

On June 4th, of last year, the public awareness around the existence of the ISAP office in Grand Rapids has increased, since ICE agents arrested and detained immigrants who were coming to their scheduled appointments at 545 Michigan St.

Since then, GR Rapid Response to ICE has been providing accompaniment to people who have appointments at that office, along with those who go to the ICE office at 517 Ottawa NW, just north of the 196 overpass. Today was the fist time that ICE took someone from the ISAP office since GR Rapid Response to ICE began providing accompaniment to immigrants during scheduled appointments.

What is instructive about the ISAP office in Grand Rapids, is that it is run by BI Incorporated, which is a subsidiary of the GEO Group. The GEO Group is one of the largest private prison entities in the world, which also runs prisons that are specifically ICE Detention Centers.

In addition, BI Incorporated also sells location tracking devices, such as ankle bracelets or wrist bracelets that people have to wear, so that ICE or other cops can monitor their whereabouts.

Think about it this way. The people who come to appointments at the ISAP office in Grand Rapids, are in the ICE system. They have to access the BI SmartLINK app, which allows “for real-time communication between officers and clients,” according to the BI Incorporated page. If they have a wrist or ankle bracelet, that is also provided by BI Incorporated. When they come to an appointment at the ISAP office in Grand Rapids, that is owned by BI Incorporated. Lastly, if they are detained by ICE agents while coming to their appointments, which is what happened on June 4, they will be sent to detention, which will soon mean that they will be sent to the GEO Group ICE detention facility in Baldwin, Michigan.

This is what Capitalists call a perfect loop, since every step in the process is owned and operated by the same company, the GEO Group. Not surprising, in 2024, the GEO Group contributed $3,718,518 to political candidates and they spent $1,380,000 lobbying Congress to adopt laws that would make them even more money. To top it off, all of these contract that the GEO Group has, along with their subsidiary BI Incorporated, are government contracts through ICE. This means that taxpayers foot the bill for the hellish systems used to track, monitor, manage, arrest and detain immigrants.

Last December The Intercepted reported that BI Incorporated has a new contract with ICE to use bounty hunters to track down immigrants for ICE. The article states:

Records show ICE has already paid BI $1.6 million, with the potential for the contract to grow to as much as $121 million by the time it concludes in 2027.

After ICE kidnapped an immigrant who had come to their appointment at the ISAP office, volunteers with GR Rapid Response to ICE stayed to make sure that other people coming to their appointments got in and out safely. If you know people who have appointments at either to 517 Ottawa NW ICE Office or the 545 Michigan ISAP Office let them know that volunteers with GR Rapid Response to ICE can accompany them during those appointments. To schedule accompaniments call the GR Rapid Response to ICE hotline: 616-238-0081.