Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce is now using Mayor LaGrand’s talking points about Cosecha and GR Rapid Response to ICE demands

The primary goal of the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce is to represent the interest of the Capitalist Class, but that also often includes marginalizing those who threaten the interests of those who have economic power.

Last week I wrote about the GR Chamber of Commerce and how they equate people who challenge policing in this city with being anti-public safety activists. Now the GR Chamber of Commerce turns their attention to immigrant justice activists in their September 4 post on what is happening in local government.  

The Chamber states: GR activists hosted a “Mayor LaGrand Accountability Forum” this week. It is true that Cosecha and GR Rapid Response to ICE held an accountability forum centered on Mayor David LaGrand. The hyperlink they use above is to a WOODTV8 story about the forum that was held. That channel 8 story fails to mention that the whole reason for the forum was because Mayor LaGrand has refused to meet with members of Cosecha and GR Rapid Response to ICE, even though the Mayor stated in June he was willing to meet with them.

The GR Chamber of Commerce could have used the live streamed video from Cosecha about the accountability forum, which would have provided a more accurate accounting of what actually was said.

The GR Chamber of Commerce listed three bullet points (below), but since they relied on the WOODTV8 story these three points are only part of what was discussed at the accountability forum, which I want to discuss further.

• Their demands include prohibiting any coordination between local authorities and ICE, and have expanded their focus to flock surveillance and any other systems that could be used for identification/tracking.
• The City has a very strict policy around surveillance technology, and it took several years to even authorize the deployment of drones to assist in specific public safety matters.
• Elected and executive city leaders have communicated frequently about these policies and responded to the demands repeatedly.

The demands from Cosecha and GR Rapid Response to ICE have been 6 sanctuary policy demands since they began this campaign in January of 2025, demands which are not reflected in the GR Chamber bullet points. One of those demands has been that the City of Grand Rapids/GRPD NOT share Flock camera images with ICE, even though the Chamber’s comment suggests this is new. What is new is that Cosecha and GR Rapid Response to ICE, along with Grand Rapids DSA, are now calling for Flock cameras and any other ALPR technology to be banned from use in the city.

The second bullet point from the GR Chamber of Commerce suggests that the City’s surveillance policies are strict and the reason they believe this is because it took years for the GRPD to use drones for so-called public safety reasons. This is a bot of hyperbole, since the city’s surveillance policies are not that strict and the reason the GRPD could even buy drones or use them is because there was significant public pushback against allowing the GRPD to even purchase drones in 2023.

The last bullet point used by the GR Chamber of Commerce is also inaccurate. When Cosecha and GR Rapid Response to ICE began their campaign to get the city to adopt the six sanctuary policies in January of 2025, for the first year City officials outright dismissed them. In 2026 Mayor LaGrand decided to take a new approach which was to say that they are already doing most of the demands, despite the fact that the Mayor has never provided concrete evidence. Equally important is the fact that both Cosecha and GR Rapid Response to ICE have documented evidence of the collaboration between the GRPD and ICE on numerous incidents, with the most recent being this past Saturday.

It’s funny how the GR Chamber of Commerce talks about issues they have no direct involvement in, meaning they have no involvement in resisting ICE violence in this city. However, the GR Chamber of Commerce is involved in this matter, since they contributed to Mayor LaGrand’s campaign in 2024 and the Mayor has represented their interests well. Lastly, it is worth noting that the three bullet points that the GR Chamber of Commerce used are essentially the same talking points used by Mayor LaGrand himself.