Nearly three weeks ago, we posted an article about the Jerry & Marcia Tubergen Foundation. Jerry Tubergen is the CEO of RDV Corp, sits on the board of directors of every DeVos family foundation and essentially manages all of the family investments through Ottawa Private Capital LLC.
Today we want to look at the last three years of the Dick & Betsy DeVos Foundation, with the three most recent 990 documents the foundation has submitted being 2015, 2016 & 2017. We also want to see if there has been any major changes, since Betsy DeVos became the Secretary of Education in early 2017.
While there are dozens of entities that received funding from the Dick & Betsy DeVos Foundation between 2015 – 2017, there are a few causes that received larger sums of money. The major groupings to receive substantial funds from the Dick & Betsy DeVos Foundation were conservative think tanks, pro-Charter School/private education groups, christian entities and pro-capitalist/entrepreneurial groups. These four sectors demonstrate Dick & Betsy DeVos’ commitment to radically altering the education landscape in the US, plus their deep ideological commitment to the religious right and neoliberal capitalism.
Think Tanks push a far right neoliberal agenda
The Dick & Betsy DeVos Foundation has always supported conservative think tanks, since these organizations develop neoliberal platforms and then push neoliberal policy at the state and federal level.
At the federal level, the think tank that has consistently received the most money from the Dick & Betsy DeVos Foundation is the American Enterprise Institute (AEI). In 2015, AEI received $1,750,000 from Dick & Betsy, $750,000 in 2016 and $1,000,000 in 2017.
At the State level, there are two main think tanks that have received support from the Dick & Betsy DeVos Foundation. First, is the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. This neoliberal think tank received $75,000 in 2015 and $900,000 in 2017. Then there is the Acton Institute, based in Grand Rapids. The Dick & Betsy DeVos Foundation contributed $305,000 in 2016 to the Acton Institute and $150,000 in 2017.
Pro-Charter School/Education Privatization groups
A second major area the Dick & Betsy DeVos Foundation has contributed to is an area that they have been deeply committed to since the Reagan years. One group is the Alliance for School Choice, which received $100,000 in 2015, $290,000 in 2016 and $1,000,000 in 2017.
Another group fighting for Charter Schools and the privatization of education is the Great Lakes Education Project (GLEP), which Betsy DeVos founded. Dick & Betsy gave GLEP $56,000 in 2015, $200,000 in 2016 and $100,000 in 2017.
A third group in this sector is a group called Partnership for Education Justice. The Partnership is essentially an organization dedicated to providing legal defense and legal support to families and groups within the public school system that wants to bring religion into school or push Charter School-like agendas within public schools. The Dick & Betsy DeVos Foundation contributed $400,000 to this group in 2015.
Conservative Christian organizations
The DeVos family has a long history of financially backing the religious right, specifically the Christian Right. In Grand Rapids, some of the main groups they have contributed to are Potters House School, where the Dick & Betsy DeVos Foundation gave $200,000 in 2015, $1,200,000 in 2016 and $200,250 in 2017.
The Dick & Betsy DeVos Foundation also contributed money to the Grand Rapids Christian Schools, giving $300,000 in 2015, $350,000 in 2016 and $300,000 in 2017. Another conservative Christian entity the DeVos family loves is the Willow Creek Association. In 2015, the Dick & Betsy DeVos Foundation contributed $600,000, in 2016 another $600,000 and in 2017, just $500. The reason for the major drop in funding was the news about Willow Creek founder being caught in a sex scandal.
Giving Money to Make Money
The last major sector that the Dick & Betsy DeVos Foundation has contributed to is the neoliberal capitalist entrepreneurial groups. These are organizations that invest money into start up companies or projects that not only get them great PR, but allows for them to profit off of these new start ups.
In 2015, the Dick & Betsy DeVos Foundation contributed $1,875,000 into the Xprize Foundation, along with an additional $3,750,000 in 2016. Then there is the Grand Action Foundation, which received $50,000 in 2016 and $2,550,500 in 2017. Lastly, there is the group E-merge (which is now part of Start Garden – founded by Dick & Betsy’s son Rick), which received $200,000 in 2016 and another $150,000 in 2017.
Like the other DeVos family foundation, the Dick & Betsy DeVos Foundation gives a great deal of money to organization that promote right wing and neoliberal capitalist policies that hurt working class families and communities of color. Many of the same people who are negatively impacted by these negative policies often seek out the charity services of organizations that the Dick & Betsy DeVos Foundation contributes to (although in smaller contributions), without being aware of the fact that the DeVos Foundation funding was part of the root cause of their suffering.
Herein lies the beauty of foundations. The rich members of the capitalist class get to place millions of dollars into tax-free entities called foundations and then they are allowed to contribute to organizations which promotes class warfare to benefit themselves.
The public relations and advertising industries are more often than not, just straight up propaganda. The father of the PR industry, Edward Bernays, once said:
The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society.
Bernays, before he began working on ad campaigns, was part of the Creel Committee. The Creel Committee was tasked with convincing the American public that the German’s were evil and that the US needed to get involved in World War I. The propaganda campaign that the Creel Committee deployed worked and public opinion shifted in a short period of time.
A recent advertising campaign that has been airing on the radio in the West Michigan market, is an ad from Huntington Bank. You can watch the ad online, at this link, but essentially what Huntington Bank wants us to believe is that they are looking out for us.
You read that right, a bank wants us to believe that they are looking out for us. The ad shows little acts of kindness between people. Early on in the ad, the narrator asks us how we ever lived without it…….looking out for each other. I’m sorry, but human kindness is as old as humanity. Does Huntington Bank really think want us to believe that human kindness just now came on the scene, with their quaint little ad campaign? And, does Huntington Bank really want to look out for us?
The function of banks is hold on to people’s money, supposedly keeping it safe. However, the reality is that banks invest in all kinds of things, using our money, generally to fund projects that will make the rich more money. Banks invest in things like the Dakota Access Pipeline or the Enbridge Pipeline that runs through Michigan, known as Line 5.
Those who sit on the board of directors of banks are also those who represent big business, thus making sure that there is an interlocking system of financial power. Then there is the issue of how banks are always seeking to influence federal and state policy. According to OpenSecrets.org, the banking industry has contributed a little over $388 million to political campaigns in the US and commercial banks spend on average $60 million a year lobbying Congress.
Huntington Bank is no different, they just are not as big as other banks. However, since 1990, Huntington Bank contributed a little over $3.5 million to political candidates and they have contributed millions to lobby members of Congress on financial legislation.
So, when Huntington Bank tells us that they are looking out for us, don’t be fooled by their quaint ads. Huntington Bank is looking out for themselves, because that is what corporations within a capitalist system do……they look out for themselves and their shareholders.
During the April 25th Kent County Commission meeting, a policy was adopted that will allow the board chair to decide whether or not a person’s public comment needs to be translated. The current board chair is Mandy Bolter, who was quoted in an MLive article stating:
“I would commit to do that at any time that we need to do that, and at any request.”
There was a proposed amendment to this policy, which would make it policy for translation of all public comments during County Commission meetings and not leave it up to the discretion of the board chair. You can watch the video of that conversation between Kent County Board Commissioners at a link that was posted on the Latino Community Coalition. The Latino Community Coalition was encouraging people to attend last night’s commission meeting to speak out on the weak application of translation for content during commission meetings.
If you want people to actually participate in local government, then providing translation of all content being discussed and public comment is absolutely necessary. Kent County is an ethnically and linguistically diverse community, and that diversity grows every year. This is especially true for the Spanish speaking population, which comprises 10% of the population in Kent County. If one out of every 10 people identify Spanish as their first language, then providing translation during Kent County Commission meetings should be required and not left up to the discretion of the board chair. However, it should be policy that the county provides translation of all content and comment during the commission meetings regardless if 10% of the population speaks a certain language or if .01% of the population does. If you want people to be able to participate in local government, then you need to provide these kind of basic services.
Commissioner Robert Womack said since the county would not make it a requirement, he has committed to paying for translation services for those who speak Spanish, according to MLive. While I can appreciate the intent of offering to pay, Comm. Womack and those who supported the amendment should have taken a different approach to making the necessary policy changes. Those who supported the amendment, should have reached out to the Latino/Latinx community, the Asian American community, the Arab American community, those who are from the varying African countries that live in Kent County, the indigenous community, those who speak Portuguese, Creole, Mayan, Slavic languages or any number of the languages that people speak in Kent County, and invited them to attend the meeting, to speak their language and make it clear to the commission that not only do residents of Kent County speak a multitude of languages, but demand to have the content of all commission meetings translated.
Imagine what the discussion that began last June about the Kent County’s Sheriff Department’s contract with ICE would have looked like, if those from the immigrant community would have known that their voices, in their languages, would have been heard during the months that Movimiento Cosecha GR and GR Rapid Response to ICE had been pressuring the county to end that contract?
However, too often local politicians and local governments are content with the idea that their meetings are open to the public and if people want to participate, they can. This is an elitist position to take, because it not only doesn’t take into consideration that people speak other languages, but that the times that commission meetings are held do not take place at a time when most people would even be able to attend.
Then there is the issue of representation. Of the 19 Kent County Commissioners, seventeen are white, with only two African Americans and no latino, Asian American, Arab American or indigenous representation on the commission. What would the Kent County Commission look like and act like, if the make up of the commission was more reflective of the county? Imagine what kind of perspectives would be represented? Imagine if the lived experiences of the multicultural communities that make up Kent County were taken seriously about the issues and concerns that they face on a daily basis?
Lastly, while we are imagining possibilities……..what would it look like and feel like if we didn’t have a representative form 
of government, but a governance structure that allowed for direct, participatory democracy. Image if everyone who lived in Kent County could vote on every policy decision that was proposed? Imagine what it would look and feel like, especially for communities who are the most marginalized, if they had direct control over their lives?
Let us all push the county to provide translation for all content and public comment of commission meetings as a good first step. Once that is won, then we can imagine and demand more. Another world is possible!
I make it a point to monitor the Facebook pages of the Grand Rapids Police Department, the Grand Rapids Police Officers Association and Friends of GRCops.
I do this for a variety of reasons. First, they monitor my FB page and the pages of numerous other organizers and autonomous community groups. Second, I think it is important that we are aware of how they present themselves to the public, since there is a clear propaganda war being waged by the police, their supporters and those in the community that are critical of police. Lastly, I think it is important to track what they are posting, since it can help us dismantle the idea that policing as it currently exits is normal and necessary. It is to this last point that wanted to address a recent post of the page Friends of GRCops. I found this post the other day:
This post is instructive in some many ways. Such a statement is not only misleading, it presents the world through a binary lens, where you only have the good guys (cops) and the bad guys (criminals) in society. Presenting police in this binary fashion also serves to remove all historical context, thus erasing the origin and history of policing in the US.
In Kristian Williams’ important book, Our Enemies in Blue: Police and Power in America, we discover that the origin of policing in the US has its roots in the organized violence of slave patrols. The function of slave patrols was to police slaves, and if necessary, capture and return them to the slave plantations. After the Civil War, police forces spent a great deal of their time forcing newly freed blacks into subservient economic and political roles. During the Jim Crow period, local police departments made it their business to enforce Jim Crow laws as well as to either participate or stand by as white people lynched black people.
In addition, if anyone is even remotely familiar with the history of labor organizing in the US, then you would know that in almost ever instance, local police departments sided with robber barons and bosses, often beating and arresting workers who were on strike or engaged in other militant tactics to win worker demands. (see Jeremy Brecher’s book Strike!)
Another way to look at the real function of police departments is to look at any social movements in history – civil rights movements, indigenous movements, environmental, animal rights, LGBTQ or anti-war movements – then ask yourself how the police interact with these movements. Overwhelmingly, the function of police is to subvert, harass, intimidate and arrest those who participate in social movements. In other words, the police protect power and maintain the status quo.
A second major reason that the Friends of GRCops meme is instructive, it that it also dismisses the lived experience of those who have been the targets of police, those who have been harassed and those who have been abused. Black and brown communities have suffered the most at the hands of the police. This does not mean that people “want to make war” against the cops, it simply means that the police have a long history of targeting communities of color. As Alex Vitale, author of the recent book, The End of Policing, says:
Well-trained police following proper procedure are still going to be arresting people for mostly low-level offenses, and the burden will continue to fall primarily on communities of color because that is how the system is designed to operate – not because of the biases or misunderstandings of officers.
The Friends of GRCops meme is ridiculous and arrogant, even if we just look at what has happened in the past few years in Grand Rapids. The anger and frustration with the GRPD is completely understood when we think about the fact that the police have been pulling guns on black youth, latino youth, beating people who do not comply and the fact that the most recent study conducted once again demonstrates that the GRPD racially profile black and brown motorists.
One additional reason why the Friends of GRCops meme is instructive, is that it wants us all to believe that the police are the only one who can provide public safety. Again, such a notion is ridiculous, since the function of the police has not historically been about public safety. However, even if we accept that notion, there are plenty of examples where communities provided their own safety.
For instance, during the famous 1919 General Strike in Seattle, which saw over 100,000 workers actively striking, labor organizers actually patrolled the streets to keep people safe. In the south in the 1950s, Robert Williams and other military veterans, responding to white nationalist violence, organized gun clubs to defend the black community. This same tactic was expanded to many other black communities in the south, where eventually groups formed for self defense, called the Deacons for Defense and Justice. We often forget that the Black Panthers were called the Black Panther Party for Self Defense, since one of their primary goals was to provide safety for their communities.
In 1970, the Black Panthers hosted the Revolutionary People’s Convention, which included delegates from the American indian Movement, the Brown Berets, the Young Lords, the Gay Liberation Front and the Students for a Democratic Society, One of the proposals that came out of this convention was that the existing legal system would be replaced and that policing would be done by each community, utilizing volunteers in what Huey Newton called a community-controlled “peace force.”
More recently the Movement for Black Lives continues this tradition, with more community control and accountability, stating that they want:
Direct democratic community control of local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies, ensuring that communities most harmed by destructive policing have the power to hire and fire officers, determine disciplinary action, control budgets and policies, and subpoena relevant agency information.
In fact, there are more and more groups that are advocating that when a problem arises, groups are advocating that people shouldn’t call the cops, rather they should seek out other sources, of which there are many.
Lastly, there was a fabulous example of how people can keep each other safe, which took place during the May 1st A Day Without Immigrants march. Movimiento Cosecha allies have been offering crowd safety trainings over the past 2 years so that immigrants feel safe coming to actions. People learn skills and tactics on how to practice community safety, especially for marginalized populations. Those of us who have white privilege can leverage that privilege to benefit the safety of immigrants in any number of ways and the May 1st march was a great example of this, as can be seen in the meme here, which is a perfect counter to the meme at the top from Friends of GRCops.
Two weeks ago we raised the question about who would be profiting off of the sale of marijuana in Grand Rapids, once the City had conducted a lottery process to determine who would get permits to sell the newly legalized substance.
On April 26, the City had their lottery drawing, where 80 applicants had applied and are now eligible to sell marijuana in the city once the Planning Commission has conducted a reviewed. To see the list of 80, go to this link and click on View Draw Results.
While there were 80 applications, there were only 27 separate entities. Below is a listing of the 27 entities that applied, followed by a number, which represents how many locations they have applied for.
As you can see, some of these businesses could control a significant percentage of the marijuana sales in Grand Rapids. Humble Roots LLC, which has 18 applications in, is listed as being based in Battle Creek, but in reality it was founded in California and Colorado and has numerous dispensaries all over Michigan.
Green Skies – Healing Tree LLC, which has 17 dispensary applications submitted, is owned by Leafly and has dispensaries all over Michigan, as well as other states in the US. Leafly is a subsidiary of a much larger company, Privateer Holdings, which owns numerous other businesses within its portfolio.
Greenstone Michigan LLC, which has 7 dispensary applications in to the City of Grand Rapids, appears to be the same entity which has numerous dispensaries already in Ann Arbor and Lansing.
Oak Flint LLC, which has 3 dispensary applications submitted, also has applications submitted in Lansing.
Green Bronco IV LLC, which also has 3 dispensary applications, already has operations in Battle Creek and in Lansing.
In fact, virtually every applicant that is seeking a dispensary in Grand Rapids, has either obtained a permit in other cities – Lansing, Ann Arbor, Detroit, Kalamazoo, Battle Creek – or the applications are pending.
It would appear that most of the applications in Grand Rapids and businesses who are not from Grand Rapids and most of the same applicants are businesses operating in numerous cities, some even in other states.
Now, the applicants have not yet been approved, until they go before the Grand Rapids Planning Commission, but it appears that these businesses will not be operated by African Americans. Therefore, Michelle Alexander’s observation about who will be profiting off of marijuana sales, now that they are legal, will be white businesses.
This is the result of capitalism, the free market system, where profits come before justice and where white supremacy silences black liberation. The swiftness of the dispensary applicants appears to be drowning the belief that black people who have been incarcerated for marijuana possession or distribution, will somehow get justice and be paid reparations for the time they have done in the prison industrial complex.
We will continue to follow this story, once the applicants have gone before the Planning Commission.
On the day that millions of people celebrate International Workers Day (May 1), Betsy DeVos was the recipient of the Alexander Hamilton Award from the Manhattan Institute in New York City.
The Manhattan Institute is a far right think tank, similar to the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, based here in Michigan. The Manhattan Institute is a member of the State Policy Network, the American Legislative Exchange Council and a recipient of significant funding from the Koch Brothers.
The Manhattan Institute is a climate change denier and they think that bi-lingual resources are a waste of money. Charles Murray, author of the white supremacist diatribe, The Bell Curve, was a fellow at the Manhattan Institute. David Frum, who was the speechwriter for President George W. Bush and coined the term “Axis of Evil,” went to the Bush White House from the Manhattan Institute.
However, one of the main issues that the Manhattan Institute has invested their analysis and financial resources on, is to dismantle the public school system in the US. In fact, the Manhattan Institute has been involved in the current “education reform movement,” the one that Betsy DeVos and her family have spent millions on as a counter to public education.
Betsy DeVos gave a speech, sharing her thoughts on winning the award from the Manhattan Institute, even posting the speech on the US Department of Education’s website. It’s instructive to note that if you look at the archives of her posted speeches, since becoming Secretary of Education a little more than 2 years ago, you notice that many of her speeches have been at annual far right think tank events or conferences put on by groups that promote charter schools and the privatization of education and educational services.
So what pearls of wisdom did Betsy DeVos share with those attending the Manhattan Institute’s Annual Dinner?
DeVos began her comments talking about the wisdom of Alexander Hamilton and then used her brief referencing of Hamilton to claim that only, “15% of America’s students have a reasonable understanding of American History.”
The Secretary of Education then went on to dismiss the amount of money that the City of New York was spending on public education as “wasteful” and stated:
Education spending, Milton Friedman said, “will be most effective if it relies on parental choice and private initiative.”
However, the main thrust of DeVos’ comments were framed by this statement:
“a cabal has rooted itself between students and their education to protect “what is” at the expense of what could be. Their fingers are in their ears, too, refusing to hear the chorus of voices demanding better. Instead of pursuing innovations for students, they pursue protections from politicians for themselves.”
What DeVos refers to a cabal, she means teacher unions.
Betsy DeVos then goes on to say that her department is “breaking the stranglehold Washington has on America’s students, teachers, and schools starting with all the social engineering from the previous administration.”
For Neoliberal capitalist like Betsy DeVos, all social programs, like Title IX are nothing more than a form of social engineering and must be dismantled at all cost. DeVos and her fellow ideologues believe that the market, not social programs, will provide people the freedom they need to be successful in life.
DeVos continues to criticize public education spending and then counters that spending with her own spending scheme known as Education Freedom Scholarships. The Education Freedom Scholarships are essentially a way for the federal government to subsidize states which will then offer the money to students to attend charter schools instead of public schools.
DeVos ends her comments with some nationalistic sentiments that border on the bizarre:
American education must lead the world because America must lead the world. America is still the beacon of hope for freedom-loving people. And more freedom at home means Lady Liberty’s torch shines even brighter abroad.
When people like Betsy DeVos mean that the US should lead the world, she means the US should be in charge, both economically and militarily. However, there is great irony in the last sentence about freedom and the state of liberty, especially for an administration that is hell-bent on arresting, detaining and criminalizing millions of immigrant families to the point of locking them in cages. DeVos’ concept of freedom here is straight up Orwellian and should be a clear indication to how she and her family view the world.
On Thursday, it was announced that the private prison corporation, known as the GEO Group, will begin a 10-year contract to run the former North Lake Correctional Facility in Baldwin, Michigan.
The headline from MLive reads, Private prison to reopen to house ‘non-U.S. citizen criminals’, which is a line taken directly from the GEO Group Press Release. It’s unfortunate that MLive chose to use the language from GEO Group about who would be incarcerated at the North Lake Correctional Facility, since it frames undocumented immigrants as criminals. To be fair, the GEO Group Press Release also used the term “aliens.”
The MLive article cites a GEO Group spokesperson and a Lake County Commissioner, Howard Lodholtz, who is quoted as saying about the GEO Group contract, “This is just going to be a super thing.”
The only other person cited in the article was a spokesperson with the Michigan Department of Corrections, basically saying that the State of Michigan has no jurisdiction over the private prison industry.
The MLive article ends by using more content from the GEO Group Press Release, and providing no counter perspective on what this new contract between and the GEO Group will mean moving forward.
So, a private prison corporation will now be able to provide “housing” for approximately 1,800 people through a contract with the Federal Bureau of Prisons. The facility that will now be run by the GEO Group will not be an ICE detention facility, rather a prison for immigrants who have been charged in criminal cases in federal court.
I spoke with immigration attorney Richard Kessler, who told me, “most of the immigrants who will be held in the GEO Group prison will be people who are convicted on non-violent crimes, such as re-entry.” This means that those who have re-entered the US a second time without documentation are being charged with federal crimes. Kessler said,
“My biggest concern is that this will further the criminalization of immigration. These are essentially status crimes, because people are here to be with family and most of the people who will end up in this detention facility are those coming from the south and the southwest, making it extremely difficult for families to visit those being held in Baldwin.”
What the MLive article didn’t tell about the GEO Group coming to Baldwin, MI
The State Senator from the 35th District, Curt VanderWall, also released a statement on the GEO Group announcement that they would be running a private prison in Baldwin, saying:
“To hear that the former Michigan Youth Correctional Facility is going to be reactivated is wonderful news for the community. This contract will create up to 320 permanent jobs in the village of Baldwin — a remarkable number for a town with a population under 1,500. I look forward to Geo Group establishing the prison and becoming a valuable member of the community.”
According to the Center for Responsive Politics, the GEO Group has contributed nearly $4 million to political candidates since 2004 and spent just over $9 million on lobbying during the same amount of time. However, the money the company has spent on lobbying has increased significantly since 2017, when the Trump administration took power, as can be seen in the graph below.
In June of 2018, Human Rights Watch released a report, Code Red: The Fatal Consequences of Dangerously Substandard Medical Care in Immigration Detention, which documents the poor medical treatment for inmates in private detention facilities (GEO Group and other corporations) in the US and an increase in inmate deaths.
From an In These Times article on who is profiting from the increased ICE activity in the US:
According to data from the Urban Justice Center’s Corrections Accountability Project, 72 percent of all migrants under ICE’s control sleep in privatized detention beds, mostly managed by private prison behemoths Geo Group and CoreCivic (formerly Corrections Corporation of America). In 2017, Geo Group and CoreCivic together earned $985 million from ICE contracts, more than a third of what ICE spends each year on custody operations. The corporations get paid whether the beds are full or not, arguably providing government an incentive to seek out prisoners so as not to “waste money.”
Data and analysis from the American Friends Service Committee provides us with a much larger picture of the various ways that GEO Group is profiting from the Prison Industrial Complex:
The GEO Group (GEO) is the second largest private prison corporation in the United States, and the largest provider of “community corrections” and electronic monitoring services in the world. As of July 2018, GEO manages or owns 96,000 beds within 141 prisons and detention facilities in the United States, Australia, South Africa, Canada, and the United Kingdom.
In 2017, GEO reported $2.26 billion in revenue, an increase from $2.18 billion in 2016. The majority of GEO’s revenue is derived from federal contracts with the Bureau of Prisons (BOP), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and the U.S. Marshals and continues to increase. In 2014, federal contracts accounted for 42 percent of total revenue, and, in 2017, it accounted for 47.3 percent. The increase has come primarily from ICE, which accounts for 23.9 percent of total revenue in 2017, an increase from 18 percent in 2015.
The AFSC information on the GEO Group and their ankle monitoring or e-incarceration capacity is instructive and reflects the insidiousness of the company’s desire to make a profit:
In 2011, GEO Group purchased BI Incorporated for $415 million dollars. With this acquisition, GEO Group “ensured that whether ICE is expanding detention or expanding alternative forms of detention, they’re getting paid”. While the “Alternatives to Detention Program” is designed to focus on people with serious criminal histories or pose a threat to public safety, 89 percent of individuals in ISAP are not considered “dangerous or violent” by ICE’s own criteria. In 2015, immigration attorneys from Texas filed a formal complaint to the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, documenting how asylum seekers were deliberately misled and/or coerced into agreeing to wear ankle bracelets in order to be released from detention. The complaints included charges that personnel threatened to withhold medical care for their children if they chose to seek bond hearings instead of agreeing to wear the ankle monitors.
This is just a sampling of the information on the GEO Group, but it should be enough to concern anyone about the announcement that the GEO Group will now be operating a private prison in Baldwin through a contract with the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
(Photo credit goes to Luis Fonseca)
It is important that I let those who read this that I was one of the crowd safety people who was at the May Day march, assisting Movimiento Cosecha GR to help keep people safe from those who wished to do harm to immigrants – both individual racists and the police, which have demonstrated their allegiance to state violence by cooperating with Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Many of us gathered early at Garfield Park and wondered what kind of a turnout we would get. The rain was coming down steady at 11am, which would no doubt deter some from marching with us. However, the main reason we would have smaller numbers this day was due to the GRPD and the City of Grand Rapids insistence that we walk on the sidewalk or risk arrest. The GRPD put out a message on Tuesday, which stated in part:
Without a permit, any participant who enters the street or uses a bullhorn, sound truck or other electronic sound amplifying device may be cited by police and/or arrested.
This threat against the immigrant community kept some from participating in the march yesterday. We know that in recent months that there has been increased ICE activity, with more people being detained and more families being separated. Our brother Brandon Reyes, a bright and passionate DACA student will be taking a voluntary departure this Friday, as the US legal system has determined that he in not worthy to stay in a country he has know for most of his young life.
Despite the weather and despite the levels of state violence that the immigrant community has endured, there was no indication that those who were slowly gathering at Garfield Park would be anything but intimidated by the threats of arrest. Movimiento Cosecha GR organizers and volunteers did an amazing job preparing for this march, making connections with people and following the lead of those in the community who have told them over and over again that the ability to obtain a drivers license would be a huge win.
The insurgent hope that grew as we got closer to noon could be felt in the crowd that was gathering, it could be heard in the excitement in people’s voices as they began to chant and urge each other on in this struggle and it could felt in the deep affection and solidarity being exchanged in the embraces 
people gave each other.
My job for the day was to talk to the cops and convey whatever they were telling us to the organizers. The GRPD arrived early, with cruisers parked around the perimeter of the park, then with a whole team of cops of bicycles who waited in the distance. Eventually, two officers approached us in order to communicate the “plans they had for us.” Frustrated that they could not get information from us, the two police officers made it clear to us that if we attempted to walk in the street at any point, that we would be arrested. In addition, they stated that they were going to use their own amplification system to let those gather at Garfield Park know that there would be consequences if people walked in the street.
Despite the police presence and the threats made against people, it did not deter people from their excitement as the marchers began walking around 12:30. The rain had also stopped at this point, which we took as a positive sign. As we began walking along Burton Street, the cops on bikes rode next to us making sure that people would not enter the street.
The energy was high as lead marchers used megaphones to begin chants, chants that animated to crowd throughout the march. There were families who marched, the young, the old, those who sang, those who prayed and those who demanded justice. As we made our way down Division people came out of their homes and some out of businesses to greet us, some even joined the march as it made its way through the mostly Latino/Latinx business district of Burton Heights. One business owner came out and pointed to the sign she put up show that they would be closed for the day in support of Cosecha’s call to not shop, to not go to work and to not go to school. It was a beautiful demonstration of solidarity and those marching let her know how grateful they were by cheering and touching her outstretched hand signifying the mutual love that was so evident throughout the day.
At one point we realized that the Michigan State Police also had their own bicycle squad. While walking south on Division, not only did we realize that the State Police were there, but that even more GRPD officers were present in cruisers blocking roads. As we approached 28th street, the number of police grew even more, as the Wyoming police now joined the already excessive police presence, mostly in cruisers. At this point there were easily more than 100 cops present to make sure that we did not march in the street.
One of the legal observers there said to me, “I wonder how much money these three police departments are spending today in their attempt to control the march?” It was an important question and I don’t think it would be unreasonable to think that tens of thousands of dollars were spent of taxpayers money to attempt to manage the demonstration. I thought to myself, imagine how many people who were currently being detained by ICE, could be bonded out on the amount of taxpayer dollars that were being wasted on policing a march being organized by those who practice non-violence?
The police kept saying that they didn’t want us to interfere with motorist’s ability to move about during the march. The irony is that it was the decision of the police to stopped traffic all along the route, blocking intersections and highways exits all along the route. The fact is, it was the police who disrupted traffic and provided us a larger public audience to communicate with throughout the day. There were some who expressed their frustration with those marching, but the overwhelming response was one of support, with cars and semi-trailers honking horns, signaling to the crowd that they too were with us in the struggle.
As the march made its way west on 28th Street, we soon approached Roger’s Plaza. The plaza is home to numerous retail stores and restaurants, but it also has a Secretary of the State office. Now walking on the far end of the parking lot of Roger’s Plaza, the space provided people with the opportunity to widen the march, which re-energized the crowd. Sensing the electricity of the people, Cosecha organizers stopped in the parking lot, right at the spot that was parallel with the Secretary of State Office. Cosecha organizers then used this opportunity to once again talk about the importance of the campaign to obtain Drivers Licenses for All and how it would provide those in the immigrant community greater freedoms and lessen the chance of being detained by police and ending up in the custody of ICE.
The timing of the group pause in front of the Secretary of State Office was amazing. Just as the march began again, the sun appeared in the sky and we turned off of 28th street in the final stretch of the march.
As we moved along the road to our final destination, we passed the Wyoming Police Department, which now included GRPD and Michigan State cops in such large numbers that would have thought there was a police convention being held that day. However, no amount of police presence, nor the threat of arrest, was ever going to dampen the spirits of those marching.
As we made our way into the park, we gathered in a large circle in order to hear from a few of the Cosecha organizers who expressed their gratitude for everyone who made this day possible – those who made signed, those who did crowd safety, the businesses that closed for the day, the churches that donated supplies, the medics, the businesses who donated food, the people who set up the amazing feast we were about to partake in and the countless volunteers who gave time and energy over the past few months. There were also members of Brandon Reyes’ family who spoke, sharing their gratitude and communicating Brandon’s deep affection for everyone who has supported him and the ongoing fight for immigrant justice.
Just as the march had begun, people again began to embrace each other as they moved through lines in the area set up for getting food. There was a great deal of laughter and story telling going on. People sat at the tables in the park and some sat on the ground, eating tamales and tacos and fresh fruit that was available. I sat with friends, Mexicanos, who language shifted from Spanish to English and back again, sometimes switching in mid-sentence. Once we were done with our food, we embraced and said our goodbyes.
Today was a powerful display of community and even though we have not yet won Drivers Licenses for All, one got the feeling that it was an inevitable outcome that you could see on the faces of those who spent the last 5 hours chanting, marching and sharing food. This is the same spirit that was embodied in those who gathered in Haymarket Square in Chicago in 1886, where workers were demanding an 8 hour work day. People showed solidarity on that original May Day gathering, they engaged in mutual aid, they fought for justice and they believed in revolutionary love. The same spirit of resistance and love was demonstrated today and I was grateful to both witness and be a part of it. La Lucha Sigue y Sigue.
Catholic Charities West Michigan announced recently that they will be filing a lawsuit against the State of Michigan because of the decision by Attorney General Dana Nessel to overturn previous legislation in Michigan that allowed adoption agencies the ability to deny same sex couples from adopting children.
HB 4188 was passed in 2015 and often framed as a religious freedom bill. The legislation allowed adoption agencies in Michigan the ability to deny LGBT couples/partners/families from adopting because it violated the “sincerely held religious beliefs” of most of the adoption agencies in Michigan, like Catholic Charities West Michigan.
We reported on this piece of legislation in 2015, since the bill was introduced by Rep. Andrea LaFontaine (R). Rep. LaFontaine received $8,100 in campaign contribution in 2014 from the DeVos family, as did many of the cosponsors of HB 4188.
Now that the Michigan Attorney General has reversed this policy, there is pushback from some adoption agencies. Catholic Charities West Michigan filed a lawsuit last Thursday in the State Court of Claims arguing that the Attorney General’s decision discriminates against religious institutions and puts Catholic Charities adoption and foster care ministry at risk of closure.
According to an MLive article, the head of Catholic Charities West Michigan declined to comment and he referred any media inquiries to the Alliance Defending Freedom Group, which is based in Arizona and will be representing Catholic Charities in the lawsuit.
What the MLive article did not reveal is that the Alliance Defending Freedom was an entity that was founded by some 30 different Christian ministries that make up a large part of the Religious Right in the US. The Alliance Defending Freedom was started in 1994, with the backing of people like Bill Bright (Campus Crusade for Christ), James Kennedy (Coral Ridge Ministries) and James Dobson (Focus on the Family). The intent of the Alliance Defending Freedom was to provide the religious community with legal representation that was counter to what the ACLU provides.
According to a statement released on Friday by Alliance Defending Freedom:
“Adoption and foster care providers exist to serve children and for decades Catholic Charities has done that well,” explained ADF Senior Counsel Kate Anderson. “Michigan law already affirms that faith-based ministries provide essential services to the state and may continue to serve children in a manner consistent with their beliefs. The state has no business ignoring the law, implementing Attorney General Nessel’s hostile political agenda, or punishing a religious organization because of its Catholic identity and beliefs. Children in Grand Rapids, throughout Michigan, and across the country will suffer if this hostility toward faith-based adoption providers becomes the status quo.”
The Southern Poverty Law Center lists Alliance Defending Freedom as a Hate Group on the Hate Map, with the following list of grievances:
- Supported the recriminalization of homosexuality in the U.S. and criminalization abroad
- Defended state-sanctioned sterilization of trans people abroad
- Linked homosexuality to pedophilia
- Claims that a “homosexual agenda” will destroy Christianity and society
The Southern Poverty Law Center also states that the, “ADF also works to develop “religious liberty” legislation and case law that will allow the denial of goods and services to LGBT people on the basis of religion. Despite its regular defamation of LGBT people, the group has managed to win special advisory status at the United Nations, in the European Union, and with the Organization of American States. Since the election of President Donald Trump, the ADF has become one of the most influential groups informing the administration’s attack on LGBT rights.”
It is unfortunate that the news media in Michigan has omitted any serious contextual information about Alliance Defending freedom, specifically it longstanding anti-LGBTQ positions.
We will continue to report on this legal battle as it plays out in the coming months, but it is important that people fully understand who is legally representing Catholic Charities of West Michigan.
On Friday, the Internal Affairs Unit of the Grand Rapids Police Department announced that Captain VanderKooi, who has been put on administrative leave since February 28 of 2019, would now be reinstated.
The GRPD released a statement saying:
The investigation has concluded and, based on the evidence, Captain VanderKooi was not in violation of the impartial policing policy. As a result, Captain VanderKooi has been reinstated to full duty effective Monday, April 29. The complainant in this matter previously filed an appeal, and that appeal will move forward and be heard by the Civilian Appeals Board on May 15.
We understand the sensitivity of matters involving ICE and the concerns of our community. Upon review of the U-visa certification process, I have determined that it is better served as a function of the Records Unit rather than the Investigations Division. The change means Captain VanderKooi will no longer have direct involvement in that process as the Investigations Division Commander.
Our department is sensitive to the nature of citizenship status and we remain committed to developing a new policy that clearly defines expectations for how our officers interact with federal authorities, including ICE. The policy is expected to be completed in the near future. At that time, it will be shared with the community and be available on the City’s website along with our other policies.
Since this matter is under appeal, we do not plan to make any further comments on it at this time.
The ACLU and the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center (MIRC) have appealed this decision and will speak before the Civilian Appeal Board on May 15, at a hearing specifically for this case.
The ACLU and MIRC have also provided us with new information, based on the Internal Affairs report and e-mail communications between the GRPD and ICE, which they have posted on the ACLU website at this link.
There are several major issues here that need further elaboration, with the first having to do with Captain VanderKooi’s role with the U-visa program. While we are glad to know that Captain VanderKooi will no longer have a role in the U-visa program, we believe it is important that people know exactly why he was so dangerous in this position.
Based on the e-mail communication between ICE and the GRPD, documents which were obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, here are the most egregious:
p. 81: “With my new assignment as Division Commander of Investigative Services, I am the U-visa gatekeeper.”
p. 43 – VanderKooi volunteers last known address of U-Visa applicant to ICE.
49: describes a situation where someone is applying for a U visa as “one of those comical situations” where a person gets arrested for DV and the couple gets back together.
42: VanderKooi and ICE officer Klifman discuss a U visa application which appears to be related to the abuse of 12-year-old victim. The exchange is redacted, but the two discuss whether to issue the requested U visa, and VanderKooi indicates that it will be denied because the person’s attorney did not return a phone call. The last email in the exchange has Klifman indicating that he has an arrest warrant and will be attempting to locate the person.
There is a great deal of arrogance and callousness demonstrated in these e-mails between ICE and Captian VanderKooi, along with clear indication that VanderKooi was assisting ICE to track down individuals the agency was targeting.
A second major issue, it the significant cooperation between the Captain VanderKooi and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that is also revealed in the internal communication that is separate from the U-visa program. Here are a few of those communications:
From Internal Affairs Report
p. 14: “Information pertaining to place of birth, country of origin, lack of English proficiency, or immigration status, although tied to national origin, can appropriately be considered … in making a decision to contact immigration officials.”
5, # 23: Email from ICE Agent Klifman to Cpt. VanderKooi requesting a “good address”
From FOIA Release
p. 19: appears to be forwarding anonymous tips about undocumented people to ICE.
p. 103: VanderKooi asks Klifman to check on someone’s status. Then the two email about the fact that the person is a minor. Kilfman says there was no guardian present, and since “I could see an attorney having a field day with that one,” he wants to wait to see if the youth is convicted or until he turns 18.
p. 106: After giving VanderKooi an immigration status update on someone ICE had been unable to deport, Klifman writes “Please let me know if I can be of any more assistance.” VanderKooi responds “One plane ticket?” Kliffman replies “I’ll see what I can do.”
p. 136: After VanderKooi requests status check on a suspect, ICE emails saying that they are now looking into his parents.
Again, the use of language is revealing and the cavalier attitude about deportation is appalling. More importantly, the first example here from page 19 demonstrates that the GRPD are tipping off ICE about undocumented immigrants.
The last issue that these new documents reveal has to do with the organized efforts to resist ICE in Grand Rapids. On Pages 170 – 172, there are screen shots (one here on the right) of a Facebook event page for the GR Rapid Response to ICE Training from May of 2017.
Captain Vincent Reilly (GRPD Commander – South Service Area) says:
Notice that in the e-mail Subject line it says, Interference with ICE Training.
Lastly, in one of the screen shots of the GR Rapid Response to ICE event, there is a tab open for Equity Drinks.
With all of this new information it should be clear that the GRPD (not just Captain VanderKooi) is sharing information with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), even thought the GRPD has denied that at least since people in the community began to challenge then-Chief Rahinsky during a meeting in December of 2016.
It also should be clear that the GRPD and ICE know about the work of GR Rapid Response to ICE and are monitoring the work of that group.
Most importantly, it should be clear that the GRPD, especially through Captain VanderKooi, plays an integral part in the efforts of ICE to arrest, detain and deport members of the undocumented community. In other words, the GRPD is actively involved in the separation of families right here in Grand Rapids.
Grand Rapids Institute for Information Democracy 