It would appear that the GR Chamber of Commerce doesn’t believe that the GRPD is collaborating with ICE

In their regular summary of local government happenings, the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce wrote something that really pisses me off. In their summary of the September 22nd Grand Rapids City Commission meeting the GR Chamber wrote that protesters shut down the meeting over the death of Mario David Coronado Juarez, a Guatemalan national who was being chased by ICE.

The GR Chamber then states, “Activist groups have continuously accused GRPD of supporting ICE.” Accusing someone of something means to make a claim without proof. If the GR Chamber of Commerce writer was actually paying attention they would know that Movimiento Cosecha and GR Rapid Response to ICE are not accusing the GRPD of collaborating with ICE, they have provided actual evidence of this collaboration at City Commission meetings and made available pictures and video on social media that clearly confirms the collaboration with ICE and the GRPD. I will provide three concrete examples with visual proof.

September 12th Example

People noticed that the GEO Group van was in the ICE parking lot, which was around 11am, when most of the people who were resisting ICE had arrived. The GRPD arrived just minutes after those protesting ICE were on the scene, although the GRPD had a presence in the area at least an hour prior to the protest.

Several GRPD cruisers pulled in the alley from the north entrance and blocked the alley right about where the ICE parking lot and the building begins. The GRPD cruisers parked diagonally in two different directions, making it nearly impossible for people to go north in the alley. At the same time the GRPD had cruisers near the south entrance of the alley.

Protesters engaged the GRPD with chants and by calling them out on their ongoing collaboration with ICE. This went on for 5 – 7 minutes, when all of a sudden the GEO Group van was spotted coming out of the ICE parking lots going north in the alley. ICE had loaded immigrants they had abducted in the morning into the GEO Group van, which was a completely different tactic than people had seen previously. Of course ICE used this approach because those protesting made it so difficult for them to get the GEO Group van into the ICE garage, which means they were using the GRPD to prevent people from stoping the van from leaving the 517 Ottawa NW deployment office.

You can see in the picture above that the GRPD had cops blocking the north entrance of the alley and the white GEO Group van coming out of the ICE parking lots. In the picture below you can see a GRPD cruiser acting as an escort for the GEO Group van to make its got away without interference from those protesting. For more details go here.

July 28th Example

GR Rapid Response to ICE showed up to the 517 Ottawa ICE office on July 28th. This was because they received a call about ICE abductions and the 517 Ottawa office is where ICE takes people to process while they are locked up in a holding cell ICE has on site.

Movimiento Cosecha was also on site and filmed part of what happened. Here is the video link. The first thing you see in the video is a white van pulling out of the ICE office garage and the white van is a GEO Group-owned vehicle to transport immigrants picked up by ICE to the North Lake Processing Center in Baldwin, Michigan, which is owned and operated by the GEO Group.

People who have been trained through GR Rapid Response to ICE stood in front of the GEO Group van, since they were transporting someone ICE had abducted. You can see GRPD cops on the scene about 1 minute into the video, which means ICE likely contacted the GRPD to assist them, in this case to prevent people from blocking the GEO Group van.

At about 1:40 into the video you can see the number of ICE agents present while they stood inside the 517 Ottawa ICE office garage to watch the GRPD assist the GEO Group van make a get away.

February 3rd Example

Byron Martinez was stopped by ICE agents on February 3rd in Grand Rapids, with the assistance of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the GRPD.

Witnesses reported that agents did not give Byron the opportunity to present valid immigration paperwork that he had in his possession, including documentation related to his asylum case. Instead, he was forcibly removed from his vehicle, pushed against it while pleading to identify himself, and then thrown face-first into a snowbank. Community members describe the incident as excessive, unjustified, and emblematic of a broader pattern of racial profiling and escalating immigration enforcement.

Cosecha organizers showed video of how Byron was treated by ICE agents, the ATF and the role of the GRPD in this arrest, video which you can see at this link.

There are numerous other first hand accounts from volunteer organizers with Movimiento Cosecha and GR Rapid Response to ICE where they witnessed direct cooperation between ICE and the GRPD at both the 517 Ottawa ICE office and the 545 Michigan ISAP office. In most of these cases there was no video or photo evidence, just the word of those who were present.

It is not surprising that the GR Chamber of Commerce would side with Grand Rapids City Officials and the GRPD on this matter, since the GRPD supported their campaign to get the City of Grand Rapids to adopt policies that would criminalize the unhoused and protect monied interests in downtown Grand Rapids. This is how systems of power have each others backs, especially when protecting the status quo.