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Wednesday, September 3, 2008- The Michigan Daily
I 6B The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, September 3, 2008
BIG TALK,
Ann Arbor resg
illegal immigr
short of j
"sanctuary
n an adult education course at the
United Methodist Church in Yp-
silanti, Spanish speakers gather
twice weekly in front of volunteer
teachers to practice English and
learnthenuancesofAmericanculture:what
to expect on Halloween, how to navigate
the bus system, what to do if a police offi-
cer pulls you over. "Conozco mis derechos,"
the teachers instruct their pupils to say
during that last lesson. "I know my rights'
For the county's undocumented immi-
grants, whose rights are the focus of an
impassioned national debate, that last les-
son is tricky. Local laws and policies that
either hinder or facilitate the work of U.S.
Immigration and Custom Enforcement
NO WALK
By JESSICA VOSGERCHIAN MAGAZINE EDITOR
mentedimmigrantslivinginAnnArbor and
Washtenaw County are starting to feel it.
olves to protectt
ON THIN ICE
ants, but falls
Staying out of custody comes down to
o ini n the avoiding the wrong place at the wrong
time and, most importantly, knowing
friend from foe. A network of activist or-
city" oster ganizations like the Washtenaw County
Interfaith Coalition for Immigrant Rights
have taken up the banner for undocu-
mented immigrants, staging several dem-
have cropped up in state and city legisla- onstrations against ICE here and in Detroit
tures across the country. In the first half during summer and spring, and lobby-
of 2008, 1,267 bills addressing illegal im- ing city government officials in Washt-
migration have been considered in 45 enaw County to enact protective policies.
state legislatures with at least 175 laws WCICIRmemberLauraSanderssaidthat
and resolutions having been enacted in ICE has taken action in Washtenaw Coun-
39 states, according to the National Con- ty more than 20 times since March, and
ference of State Legislatures. Some city that often several people were detained at
police forces have made enforcing fed- once when the agency set out to arrest. But
eral immigration law a local priority. Yet, those are just the cases that were brought
several cities on both coasts and every re- to the WCICIR's attention-the ICE doesn't
gion have also taken the opposite stance, record the number of arrests made in indi-
becoming "sanctuary cities" by enacting vidual counties or cities. Immigration ac-
policies to protect their illegal citizens. tivists, though, say ICE seems to be putting
Where does uberliberal Ann Arbor fall on the heat more than ever. "My own sense
on the spectrum? Not as left as you might is the right wing administration is trying to
think. And with ICE zoning in, undocu- further their agenda before they're out of
office" said WCICIR member Max Heirich,
a former University sociology professor.
ICE spokesman Gregory Palmore said in
an e-mail that the federal agency has upped
its efforts everywhere, and so has become
more visible even in counties where the
immigrant community it small. On the out-
skirts of Washtenaw County, where much
of the undocumented population lives in
trailer parks, ICE's looming presence is
like the boogey man. One day an officer
might come for you. Or he might come
for your friend, and take you, too. ICE of-
ficers have the power to interrogate any-
one about their identity and immigration
status, so setting out with a deportation
warrant for one person, they often end
up detaining the target's companions, too.
ICE's work in the county is wrapped in
stories of human rights violations. Sanders
said she has heard about front doors being
AP PHOTO broken down and parents roughed up in
front of their children. Whether fact or fear-
ful rumors is hard to say; when ICE makes
an arrest, Sanders said, the detainee's family
and friends generally don't stick around, let
alone report abuses and risk drawing ques-
tions about their own immigration status.
Palmore denied that violence occurs
during ICE arrests. "Under ICE, you will
find the most humane detention system
possibly in the world" Palmore added that
the agency adjusts the detainment war-
rant for immigrants with children, de-
taining only one parent, or in the case of
a sole-caregiver, allowing the family to
stay at home and ordering a notice to ap-
pear in front of an immigration judge.
NATIONAL
STAGEi
LOCAL DECISION
But the personal aspects of immigration
law enforcement, such as the breaking up
of families, doesn't bode well with a variety
of people, creating immigrant sympathiz-
ers among far-left liberals and conserva-
tive Christians alike. This contingency's
views are reflected in the more than 20
sanctuary cities with municipal policies
that flaunt federal law and extend citi-
zen rights to undocumented immigrants.
While Congress continues to vacillate
between immigration reform and tighter
regulation, state and municipal govern-
ments have skirted a lack of federal di-
rection by enacting laws that make clear
where they stand on the issue. Dallas and
Detroit, Los Angeles and Jersey City, all
have ordinances banning city employ-
ees and police from asking about immi-
gration status or collaborating with ICE.
Yale University's New Haven endorses
COURTESY OF WCICIR naturalization by providing municipal ID
cards regardless of immigration status. But
uber-liberalAnn Arbor, where many undoc-
umented immigrantswork, is conspicuously
missing from the list of sanctuary cities. In-
stead, Ann Arbor's policies are vaguely non-
committal to supporting immigrant inter-
ests, and leave the door open to a crackdown.
In the wake of the 9-11 attacks and en-
actment of the Patriot Act, Ann Arbor City
Council approved a civil liberties resolution
in 2003 opposing federal legislation that
broadened federal agencies' investigation
powers as a violation of civil liberties. Not le-
gaily binding, the resolution is still seen as a
stride forwardbyWICIRmemberswhohave
urged other city governments in the county
to adopt something similar, Snyder said.
The resolution, which rails against solici-
tation of library records and racial profiling,
contains strong language in support of the
city's immigrant community: "WHEREAS,
The Ann Arbor Police Department has un-
dertaken numerous efforts to build police
and community trust in its enforcement ac-
tions and the USA PATRIOT Act and its re-
lated executive orders and regulations as ad-
opted and implemented have the potential
to drive a wedge between immigrant com-
munities and the police who protect them."
City Council, it says, "strongly supports the
rights of immigrants and opposes measures
that single out individuals for legal scru-
tiny or enforcement activity based solely
on their country of origin and/or religion."
But for all its huff and puff about immi-
grant rights, the resolution stops short of
banning the Ann Arbor Police from assist-
ing ICE, reneging the section in the draft
originally proposed which ordered city
police to "refrain from participating in the
enforcement of federal immigration laws:'
The resolution city council approved
only discourages police involvement, say-
ing that police should "continue to limit
local enforcement actions with respect to
immigration matters to penal violations
of federal immigration law (as opposed to
administrative violations) except in cas-
es where the Chief of Police determines
there is a legitimate public safety con-
cern and in such public safety instances,
to report the situation to the City Council
no later than 60 days after the incident"
The question of what constitutes limited
enforcement arose last March when city
police responded to a request from ICE of-
ficers for assistance in arresting two men in
a car. Ann Arbor Police then observed the
ICE officers detain a man for whom they
had a deportation warrant and his acquain-
tance who had failed to prove his citizen-
ship, AAPD Police Chief Barnett Jones said.
This situation troubled members of
the Interfaith Coalition, who spoke in
front of city council last spring urging
for a stronger resolution to fully ban city
police from cooperating with ICE. The
Michigan Daily reported that Mayor John
Hieftje sided with Jones in agreeing that
a full out ban would not be in the inter-
est of the city's citizens, legal or illegal.
In an interview last week, Jones said
AAPD officers observe ICE arrests to as-
sure the situation doesn't get violent and
no human rights violations occur. "In-
side of the city of Ann Arbor, police ac-
tion is the responsibility of the Ann Ar-
bor Police," he said. "If we are there, we
can react to what happens. If we aren't
there, we can't respond to what happens:"
But Sanders said the presence of AAPD
officers at ICE raids leads the immigrant
community to associate local police with
ICE, making them unwilling to report
crime or solicit police protection at the
cost of their own safety. Public safety is
one of the reasons sanctuary cities give for
prohibiting police officers from asking im-
migration status. The logic goes that even
if part of a city's population is illegal, any
deterrence to call the police just means
See IMMIGRATION, Page 11B
'a0
COURTESY OF WCICIR
(ABOVE AND LEFT) Washtenaw County Interfaith Coalition for Immigrant Rights protested the detention of illegal
immigrants by Immigration and Customs Enforcement at Liberty Plaza last spring.
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