Grand Rapids Institute for Information Democracy

Michigan Legislators have now proposed bills that would not only further criminalize undocumented people, it would punish those who assist undocumented immigrants in any way.

The bills that are currently being proposed are in many ways mimicking federal legislation from 2005, known then as the Sensenbrenner bill, but formerly known as the Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005. I bring this point up, not just because of the previously proposed federal legislation, but mostly because this legislation led to some of the most massive immigrant-led demonstrations across the US in April of 2006. Even in Grand Rapids, an estimated 10,000 marched in late April of 2006, a march I reported on.

There are currently 7 different bills that have been proposed, all of which punish immigrants, punish those offering any kind of assistance to immigrants, and municipalities that would limit or refuse to cooperate with federal agents, specifically with ICE. The following info comes from the ACLU of Michigan.

House Bills 4336 & 4337 create criminal penalties for individuals and organizations who knowingly assist or encourage immigrants without legal status in entering, residing, or being transported within the United States.

• These bills create harsh penalties for many vaguely defined activities that would put many members of the community–immigrants and citizens alike–at risk of criminal penalty. Under this legislation for example, a landlord who rents a home to someone who does not present certain documentation could be charged with a felony, as could a rideshare driver who gives a ride to an individual without legal status.
• Instituting criminal penalties that have such vast implications is dangerous, and puts many more of us at risk of being charged with a crime.
• All Michiganders could be at risk of being charged with a crime simply for being good neighbors—offering a ride, sharing a meal, or providing shelter to someone without legal status would be criminalized under this legislation. This not only discourages acts of basic human compassion, but also threatens to turn everyday community support into punishable crimes.

House Bills 4338, 4339, and 4342 prohibit a local municipality from enacting or enforcing any policy that limits communication or cooperation with federal officials concerning immigration. Any existing policy that governs how a municipality cooperates with federal immigration enforcement would be voided. Any municipality that violates these laws would have their state funding withheld.

• These bills are another example of recent attacks on cities and counties that have what are commonly known as “sanctuary policies”. These are policies that seek to protect immigrant community members by limiting local collaboration with federal immigration enforcement agencies. Municipalities sometimes consider passing these types of policies to prohibit their city’s law enforcement funding and resources from being shared with federal officers. This is well within the rights of a municipality to do, as it is not the role of a city, township, or county to enforce federal immigration law.
• These bills are a clear example of state government undermining local control. Whether or not a city decides to limit cooperation with federal immigration is completely under their jurisdiction, as local governments have a constitutionally protected right to decide for themselves how and whether to enforce immigration laws.
• With this legislation, our state government is issuing a threat to cities, townships, and counties that tells them to comply with the president’s deportation machine or risk losing funding. We will not put up with this bullying.

House Bills 4340 & 4341 prohibit any “non-qualified aliens” from accessing social welfare programs such as MI-Child Program (providing medical assistance for low-income individuals), TANF (“Temporary Assistance for Needy Families”), State Disability Assistance, and more.

• Social welfare programs provide necessary and often life-saving assistance to families who need it the most. They can be the sole reason why someone has food on the table and a roof over their head. Targeting certain groups of people who will be denied these benefits is inhumane and inconsistent with the purpose of such programs.
• The term “non-qualified aliens” generally refers to individuals who are already ineligible to receive public benefits, which includes immigrants who do not have legal status. We already have state and federal laws that restrict who is eligible to receive public benefits. As such, this legislation is unnecessary and duplicative.
• Ultimately, this is a performative measure designed to discourage families with eligible children from seeking assistance that could help them put food on the table. The result will be that people, including US citizens who need help and could be receiving it, will not apply for assistance out of fear of retribution.
  

Now, the ALCU and other groups are encouraging people to contact state legislators and pressure them to vote against these bills, which you can do through this toolkit that they put together.

However, these bills might be difficult to defeat, since the GOP controls the Michigan House and the Democrats only have a slight 19 – 18 control of the State Senate. Of course, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer could veto these bills, but on matters of immigration Whitmer has not been much of a champion. 

What we need is to be part of the existing immigrant-led movements like Movimiento Cosecha, which has circles (chapters) throughout Michigan, many of which have been around since 2017. We need to find out what the would like those of us who are allies, how we can best practice solidarity with them in the face of these newest threats.

What if these bills become law in Michigan?

In the event that these bills become law, what does this mean for undocumented immigrants and what does it mean for those of us who are allies/accomplices?

The reality is that the undocumented immigrant community has been living in an oppressive and brutal US immigration system for decades. If these new bills were to become law, it would not have a significantly different impact that the threat of arrest, detention and deportation that undocumented immigrants are already facing. 

What is different with these bills is that it would have greater legal consequences for allies/accomplices. While I personally am disgusted by these bills, it will not change my commitment and the work of GR Rapid Response to ICE in this community. 

What I believe, and what I have learned from the history of social movements across the globe and in Grand Rapids, is that when the carceral state increases the repression against immigrants and those who chose to stand in solidarity with them, allies/accomplices have always increased their resistance. 

Lots of people these days like to compare what is happening in the US to what was happening in Nazi Germany. So what did the resistance look like from Germans in the late 1930s through 1945? You had groups like the White Rose Resistance group or the Confessing Church. What we need from so-called Christians is to adopt the same kind of commitment that the Confessing Church did in Nazi Germany, which wrote the Bareman Declaration, publicly condemned Nazi policies and offered to provide sanctuary and hide jewish people that were being targeted. 

Or we could learn from the various Latin American resistance movements, like the Mothers of the Disappeared in Argentina, as known as the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo, or the Zapatista movement in Mexico. In fact, many of the undocumented immigrants in the US are from the countries that have these robust resistance movements.

Whether we are talking about resistance movements in Nazi Germany or Latin America, one thing they had in common was their willingness to take risks. I have been hearing from people and politicians who have been hesitant about offering sanctuary to the undocumented community, often saying it would put a target on our backs. So, here is the thing, the undocumented immigrant community has had a target on their backs for a long time. If we are going to practice real solidarity, then we have to be willing to be the targets of repression just like those in the affected community. There is no way around this, not if we claim to be allies/accomplices. You can start right now be showing up to the Movimiento Cosecha GR actions on May 1st through May 4th, listed in the graphic above.

In the words of the great Liberation Theology practitioner, Oscar Romero, he said, “We must not love our lives so much that we avoid taking the risks in life that history calls for.”