A response to Mayor LaGrand’s statement on the death of Mario David Coronado Juarez

Last Sunday Mario David Coronado Juarez died while ICE was pursuing him along Century, near the US 131 exit for Burton St. SW.

On Tuesday, just prior to the Grand Rapids City Commission meeting a representative of the local Guatemalan community, Movimiento Cosecha, GR Rapid Response to ICE and No Detention Centers in Michigan held a Press Conference about the death of Mario David Coronado Juarez. During the Grand Rapids City Commission dozens of people demanded justice for Mario during public comment, along with calls to ban Flock cameras and for the City to adopt the 6 sanctuary policy demands that Cosecha has put forth since the beginning of 2025.

I say all of this to provide context for the fact that Mayor LaGrand did not release a statement about the death of Mario David Coronado Juarez until Thursday, September 24, days after immigrant justice groups had already done so with very clear demands listed here above.

What follows is Mayor LaGrand’s statement is italics, with a response after each paragraph in bold.

Earlier this week, we lost a valued member of our community, Mario David Coronado Juarez, in a vehicle crash. Mario was a member of our Grand Rapids community, but he was also the breadwinner for his family back in Guatemala, who will have to mourn him from afar. We mourn with them. His life deserves to be remembered with dignity, and his family deserves compassion, answers, and justice. The first paragraph might seem sincere and heartfelt, but the reality is that it is anything but sincere. Mayor LaGrand has been been dismissive of Movimiento Cosecha and GR Rapid Response to ICE since he first took office in 2025. Mayor LaGrand has ignored the demands around sanctuary policies and has outright refused to implement them.

This tragedy is under investigation. While there are many unanswered questions, it is clear that Mario fled from ICE agents prior to the crash. GRPD officers were not involved in this pursuit and only arrived on scene in response to the reported crash. While we don’t know what Mario was thinking and feeling, we know that his death happened in the context of a national effort to create fear among our immigrant neighbors. The elevated activities of ICE across our country have been central to this increased fear. It is true that the Federal Government has created the climate of fear and terrorism perpetrated by ICE, but Mayor LaGrand has refused to acknowledge that this fear and terror has been ongoing. Movimiento Cosecha and GR Rapid Response to ICE has been telling him and the City Commissioners about what ICE has been doing in Grand Rapids and that it has exponentially increased in recent months. Equally important is the fact that the GRPD has assisted and collaborated with ICE agents in the abduction of immigrants and their transport to the detention center in Baldwin Michigan, a fact that Mayor LaGrand and Chief Trigg continue to deny.

City Manager Washington, Police Chief Trigg, and I decided that in order to push for answers about this tragedy, we should request that Michigan State Police be engaged in the investigation, and I want to thank our Governor for directing our State Police to provide assistance in the investigation. Involving the Michigan State Police will not bring about any meaningful notion of justice in this instance. Mayor LaGrand should follow the lead of affected communities which are demanding the release of all available videos, emails, radio communications, and cellphone communications to the fullest extent, so the public and the victim’s family can know what transpired.

The reality is, we cannot keep Federal agencies out of our city, however they act. But let me be clear: no law enforcement entity that traffics in fear is welcome here. ICE’s national pattern of intimidation, harassment, and killing has to stop. This is a moment when we all have to stand for justice and real work for public safety. When government agencies cause harm instead of reducing harm, they are worse than useless. They cannot be allowed to continue unchecked. First, the Mayor throws his hands up and says there is nothing the city can do. This is utter bullshit, since the sanctuary policy demands from Cosecha and GR Rapid Response to ICE would make it so that the City would not provide information, Flock camera images and make sure the GRPD will NOT cooperate or collaborate in any way. Second, Mayor LaGrand fails to mention that Cosecha and GR Rapid Response to ICE are not giving in to ICE terrorism in Grand Rapids and are actively resisting ICE and providing a whole range of Mutual Aid resources for families that have been directly impacted by ICE. Third, the GRPD has engaged in a pattern of intimidation and harassment of BIPOC residents and activists for years. If there Mayor wants to critique government agencies he needs to include the GRPD as engaging in harm as well.

My colleagues and I work every day to help every resident feel safe and supported. We want everyone living in our city to trust our City, to feel like they can ask for help when they need it, and to know that they are valued and wanted. All of us are safer when everyone – regardless of their status – in our community feels safe and is safe. I call on the federal government to take steps similar to those we’ve done locally, including body-worn cameras, civilian oversight, and appeals processes in the pursuit of becoming more transparent and safe. These reform ideas are supported by our members of Congress – Senators Peters and Slotkin, and Representative Scholten, as well as many of my colleagues in the U.S. Conference of Mayors. Every law enforcement agency operating in our city should share our commitment to making our community feel safe and to community-oriented transparency. First, Grand Rapids City officials do NOT work everyday to make sure that everyone living in this city feels safe. Again, BIPOC residents, immigrants, unhoused people, along with queer and trans people do NOT feel safe in this city. Second, calling on federal officials that represent Michigan will not benefit those most affected by ICE, since Peters, Slotkin and Scholten have all been terrible of responding to ICE violence in Grand Rapids. Third, calling for ICE to use body-worn cameras and other weak reforms will not create more transparency, but more importantly it will not do what so many people are currently demanding, which is to Abolish ICE!

Helping our neighbors feel safe isn’t something City government can do alone, and government action isn’t enough. I call on all of us to continually renew our commitment to keeping our neighbors safe, with all the tools we have available to us at all levels of government, and in partnership with everyone willing to join us in this ongoing work. Here Mayor LaGrand could have shared the GR Rapid Response to ICE hotline 616-238-0081 so that trained people can respond to ICE activity in Grand Rapids. The Mayor could encourage people to get trained through Cosecha and GR Rapid Response to ICE so that people could respond to calls, participate in patrols and accompaniment for immigrants living in fear. The Mayor could tell people that GR Rapid Response to ICE provides transportation for immigrants for fear of driving alone, along with providing food and other household items on a weekly basis and assisting with financial support for immigrant families who can’t afford rent and other costs because the main income earner has been abducted, sent to detention or has been deported. The Mayor could also have told his constituents that there are sanctuary spaces in this city for people in fear of being the next target of ICE.

We will get through this moment in our country’s history. We will do so by building trust, by acting in unity, and in courage. We mourn Mario’s death. We can honor him by resisting fear and hate, and building a better, safer, more open community every day. We will not get through this moment in history if people follow the actions of the City of Grand Rapids. People can mourn Mario’s death by donating to a fund that would cover the costs associated to have his body send back to Guatemala and allow his family to bury him their village. Here is the link for those wanting to contribute https://chuffed.org/project/202891-justice-for-mario-david-coronado-juarez.

It must be said that Mayor LaGrand did come to the vigil for Mario David Coronado Juarez on Thursday night, but several people stated that he spent a fair amount of time on his phone, thus not being present in the moment of signifiant community grief, nor the words share by a pastor, representatives of the Guatemalan community and a spokesperson for Movimiento Cosecha. 

Lastly, if Mayor LaGrand truly wants to build a better, safer, more open community then he needs to start listening to members of the affected community and to do what he can as Mayor of Grand Rapids, which would be to adopt policies that would prevent the city from assisting, cooperating or collaborating with ICE and in any way.

Justice for Mario!