More than 30 pro-immigrant activists packed the Erma Henderson Auditorium on the 11th floor of the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center Tuesday to support a memo forwarded by council member Gabriela Santiago-Romero.
Santiago-Romero’s memo to Detroit Police Chief Todd Bettison dated Jan. 8 asks the city’s legislative policy division to answer key questions related to the Detroit Police Department’s involvement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The answers to Santiago-Romero’s questions should paint a clearer picture showing exactly how ICE is being supported in Detroit by city taxpayers.
Activists and advocates who came to council to speak Tuesday said they’ve seen ICE agents put Detroit residents in dangerous situations like dragging them out of their cars across broken glass from damaged windows.
“We’ve seen DPD threaten to call ICE on a 17-year-old high school student,” Noelle Bellinger said.
Bellinger’s comments prompted city council president James Tate to send a member of his staff to learn more about her claims.
Elana Harrada, an activist who has assisted detainees taken to the North Lake ICE facility in Baldwin, Mich., said the rights of undocumented immigrants are being violated everyday while they are detained in inhumane conditions.
Santiago-Romero’s memo asks what city resources are going toward ICE activities, and how many times DPD officers or city owned space like parking lots or the storage of unmarked vehicles have assisted federal immigration agents.
The Southwest Detroit council woman has urged her fellow council members to support ordinances limiting ICE activity in the city. Santiago-Romero last year said she agreed with former Mayor Mike Duggan, who said he wouldn’t formally declare Detroit a “Sanctuary City,” to not draw unnecessary attention to the city.
But that didn’t stop activists for calling for the declaration that would prevent the police department from working with ICE agents in any way.
Some who came to council Tuesday spoke against the mostly younger crowd of pro-immigrant activists. At one point, one anti-immigrant public commenter was escorted out of the room after a shouting match began between himself and some of the activists.
Since President Donald Trump took office on Jan. 1, residents in Southwest Detroit have reported more aggressive tactics from ICE agents.
“Beyond ICE requesting assistance, how often has DPD initiated contact with ICE for identification, interpretation, or other law enforcement support in 2025? Provide the dates and purpose for these requests,” Santiago-Romero’s office wrote in her memo.
Victoria Camille, a board of police commissioner representing District 7 said she supports Santiago-Romero’s efforts to limit the abilities of ICE to operate throughout the city.
“We must not allow a Renee Good here in Detroit,” Camille said.
Activists across the country have ramped up activity in the days since ICE agent Jonathan Ross shot and killed a 37-year-old mother, Renee Good.
Claude Norwood, the Grand River Community Block Club president, said during public comment that residents’ rights should not be violated.
“We know this is a big issue, we just want some transparency on this issue,” Norwood said. “We know it exists, we need more people in power to investigate. Why isn’t their body cam on? It should come on for the people. The first words in the Constitution say, ‘We the Poeple.'”
Omar Santana, US Army veteran in District 5 assisting newcoming migrants, said he’s moved families from home to home because they are worried they’re being stalked by unmarked agents.
“It might not be your reality, but it’s the reality of many Detroit residents right now. These people are newcomers… The system is corrupted, it is corrupted against Black and Brown people. They are weaponizing against us. This administration terrible.”
Cassandra Rodriguez said new Detroit Mayor Mary Sheffield has an opportunity to set a precedent for the type of mayor she wants to be, she could follow in the follow in the footsteps of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and other progressive mayors.
“When I see Spirit of Detroit, I see a beacon of hope, not a symbol of compliance,” said Jackson Robak of the Detroit Anti-War Committee.
District 4 council member Latisha Johnson said she has also heard ICE activity impacting residents in her district on the city’s east side.
“I do know that there is a growing percentage of immigrants moving into District 4, I want to be able to support them as well,” Johnson said.
Coleman Young II suggested ICE infringing on resident’s rights was an issue he heard about years ago as a state legislator.
“This is serious,” he said. “I think part of this…. There is a spirit of Latino hatred, islamophobia… These are the folks who tend our farms, pick our fruits, build our houses. These are the folks who maintain America. I think it’s disgusting for us to turn our back on the very people who have maintained this country for so long… We need to vote on this in the utmost.”
He urged council members to act out of a moral and humanitarian obligation.
tSantiago-Romero thanked residents who came to council to support her memorandum.
“We have to be working together,” Santiago-Romero said. “We have to figure out what we can do legally to protect residents. the government is not here to save us, what is the next step? It is mutual aid, it is organizing.”
Santiago-Romero said Detroit does not see ICE activity the same way residents in Chicago or Los Angeles are experiencing sweeping raids.
“But ICE is coming into our neighborhoods at 3am, 4am. They are fast, they are quiet, they are targeted. They look differently thatn they do in other cities…
You can be on call if things happen. Building the infrastrcutre of care and response that we need. I hope the mayor and DPD can share what the city already has in place. DPD is not allowed to ask anyone for immigration status, we are not supposed to be using any resources for immigration enforcement.
“There is real consequence that if we do something formally that state or federal funding that can be cut. I do believe we have a mayor who wants to protect residents.”
