The Grand Rapids Power Structure and ICE in Kent County: Part II

In Part I the focus was on how the Grand Rapids Power Structure provided roughly $100,000 in campaign finances to Kent County Sheriff Michelle LaJoye-Young. The Sheriff wasn’t even being challenged in her bid to win re-election in 2024, but those with the most political and economic power in Kent County want to make sure that the Kent County Sheriff would protect their interests, which includes the Kent County Sheriff’s Office cooperation with ICE, specifically by engaging in ICE detainers at the Kent County Jail.

In today’s post I want to focus on Kent County Commissioners that are receiving campaign contributions from the Grand Rapids Power Structure.

The decisions regarding cooperation with ICE in Kent County not only comes from the Sheriff’s Office, but other Kent County officials, like the Kent County Commission.

The GR Power Structure and Kent County Commissioners

Like the Kent County Sheriff, many of the Kent County Commissioners have been bought and paid for by members of the Grand Rapids Power Structure. What follows is a list of Kent County Commissioners that have received campaign funds from members of the Grand Rapids Power Structure during the 2024 election.

Kent County Board Chair Ben Greene

• Doug DeVos – $1,225
• Dick DeVos – $1,225
• Daniel DeVos – $1,225

Commissioner Elizabeth Morse

• Maintain Our Majority (Charlie Secchia) – $4,000
• Friends of West Michigan Business PAC ( GR Chamber of Commerce) – $500

Commissioner Jennifer Merchant

• Grand Rapids Chamber PAC $500

Commissioner Dave Hildenbrand

• Dan DeVos $1225
• Doug DeVos $1225
• Richard DeVos $1225
• Grand Rapids Chamber PAC $500

Commissioner Stan Stek

• Grand Rapids Chamber PAC $7000
• Betsy DeVos $1225
• Daniel DeVos $1225
• Doug DeVos $1225
• Maria DeVos $1225

Commissioner Stan Ponstein

• Maintain Our Majority PAC (Charlie Secchia) – $5000
• TGIF Victory Fund (Dan Hibma) – $2,500
• Kent County Republican Committee – $1000

Commissioner Dan Burrill

• TGIF Victory Fund (Dan Hibma) – $12,250
• The Friends of West Michigan Business PAC – $7000
• Mark Bissell  -$1225
• Betsy DeVos – $1225

Commissioner Robin Halsted

• Maintain Our Majority (Charlie Secchia) – $10,000
• John/Nancy Kennedy – $2450
• Grand Rapids Chamber PAC – $2000
• Mark/Mary Bissell – $1225
• Betsy DeVos – $1225

Commissioner Lindsey Thiel

• TGIF Victory Fund – $12,250
• Maintain Our Majority PAC (Charlie Secchia) – $10,000
• Sidney Jansma Jr – $2450
• Grand Rapids Chamber PAC-  $1500
• Mark Bissell – $1225

In exchange for the thousands of campaign contributions to the above Kent County Commissioners the Grand Rapids Power Structure expects the Kent County Commission to vote in their interests. For example, in 2024, the Kent County Commission voted nearly unanimous to put the Hotel Tax on the August Primary Ballot, which would provide even more funding for the Amphitheater and other entertainment venues. The GR Power Structure spent nearly half a million dollars to convince voters to adopt this ballot initiative.

Then there is the matter of funding the Kent County Sheriff’s Office, the Kent County Jail, the Kent County Prosecutor’s Office and the Kent County Courts. Last year, the Kent County Commission voted 16 – 4 in favor of the FY2026 budget, which was $668 million. 43% of the county’s budget – just over $300 million – goes towards Kent County Sheriff’s Office, the Kent County Jail, the Kent County Prosecutor’s Office and the Kent County Courts. Abolitionists like Angela Davis have been referring to this system as the Prison Industrial Complex.

What is instructive is that all 9 of the Democratic members of the Kent County Commission voted for the $668 million FY2026 Annual Budget, while 7 Republican members of the County Commission also voted for the budget. Four Republican Kent County members voted no, but not because too much money was allocated towards the Prison Industrial Complex in Kent County. The four dissenting Republican members (Merchant, DeBoer, Burrill, and Bujak) voted no because they think the Kent County government is too big and their constituents are over taxed.

Despite some GOP member opposition, the majority of the Kent County Commissioners voted for the massive amount of funds that go towards the Prison Industrial Complex in Kent County – the Sheriff’s Department, the jail, the court system and the prosecuting attorney’s office. Voting for the Prison Industrial Complex in Kent County means they voted for the arrest and jailing of a disproportionate number of BIPOC residents and residents who live in poverty.

This also clearly demonstrates how the Kent County Commission annual approval of county’s budget supports ICE, since the Sheriff’s Office, the Kent County Jail, the Prosecutor’s Office and the Kent County Courts all have a hand in cooperating with ICE and at the very least are complicit with ICE violence by doing and saying nothing to end immigrant family separation in Kent County. This is what the Grand Rapids Power Structure is paying for when they contribute campaign dollars to Kent County elected officials.