County allocates $145,000 
to immigrant assistance 

Proposed 
budget to 
cut funding 
for student 
loans, EPA

Resolutions passed 
by County Board of 
Commissioners 
by 

five vote margin

By ALON SAMUEL

Daily Staff Reporter

The Washtenaw County Board 

of Commissioners pledged support 
for the county’s immigrant and 
refugee populations last week, 
approving three resolutions which 
provide protections and allocates 
$145,000 to services for immigrants 
and 
undocumented 
residents. 

The resolutions, which have faced 
resistance on their road to approval, 
passed the board by a vote of 6 to 1.

Two of the three resolutions 

serve to declare the county as 
a 
welcoming 
environment 
for 

immigrants, bar county officials 
from asking for an individual’s 
immigration 
status 
unless 

absolutely necessary — similar to 
an ordinancepassed by Ann Arbor 
City Council in April — and call 
on Congress to make immigration 

policy that “creates clear and 
reasonable immigration sanctions 
short of deportation for noncitizens 
convicted of crimes.”

The final and most controversial 

resolution appropriates $145,000 in 
taxpayer funds, with $70,000 going 
to the Barrier Busters program and 
$75,000 to the Michigan Immigrant 
Rights Center.

MIRC is a resource center 

for immigrants and immigrant 
advocates in Michigan, providing 
legal 
resources 
as 
well 
as 

community services. 

Sara Cusack, an LSA alum who 

now works for MIRC said the new 
allocation is “incredibly useful,” 
speaking for herself and not as a 
representative of MIRC.

“The grant that Washtenaw 

just agreed to give to MIRC… will 
hopefully in the future allow us to 
have an attorney who focuses on 
immigration matters specifically 
in Washtenaw County, whereas 
right now we serve all of Michigan 
broadly and have really limited 
resources,” Cusack said. “We have 
to be very stringent about what 
types of cases we can take, and so 
what Washtenaw county is kind of 

saying by giving this donation to 
MIRC is that they’re investing in 
the wellbeing of immigrants and 
their community.”

Barrier Busters is a coalition 

of 
agencies 
providing 
short-

term human services support in 
Washtenaw county for citizens 
and immigrants alike, though 
$25,000 of the total allocation has 
been specifically earmarked for 
immigrant support.

In early May, when the board had 

initially approved the resolutions, 
commissioner 
Kent 
Martinez-

Kratz was especially enthusiastic 
about funding the Barrier Busters 
program, citing its support for 
families.

“Originally the resolutions were 

written up to support families who 
might be going through difficult 
times due to increased immigration 
enforcement, and we envisioned 
that the money would go to 
supporting them,” Martinez-Kratz 
said.

The possible deportation of 

undocumented Ann Arbor resident 
Jose Luis Sanchez-Ronquillo has 
become a rallying point around 

DESIGN BY MICHELLE PHILLIPS

ONE-HUNDRED-TWENTY SIX YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM
Thursday, May 25, 2017
Ann Arbor, MI

Weekly Summer Edition
michigandaily.com

INDEX

Vol. CXXVII, No. 74 | © 2017 The Michigan Daily 
michigandaily.com

NEWS ....................................
OPINION ............................... 
ARTS ......................................
CLASSIFIEDS.........................
MiC.........................................
SPORTS................................

NEWS
Chemistry

University chemists create 

semiconductor films.

>> SEE PAGE 3

NEWS
Martha Jones

History professor discuss-

es time at the University, 

before joining faculty at 

Johns Hopkins. 

>> SEE PAGE 2

OPINION
Jeff Sessions

“Sessions is undoing 

Obama’s progress on drug 

policy...”

>> SEE PAGE 4

ARTS
Artist Profile: 
StudioWOS
Austin-based artist 
discusses work.

>> SEE PAGE7

SPORTS
Betsa’s legacy

The ace right-hander 

leads Michigan into the 

postseason.

>> SEE PAGE 12

inside

2
4
6
8
9
10

Cuts would result in 
termination of over 
two dozen programs

By JENNIFER MEER

Summer Managing News Editor

President Donald J. Trump’s 

revised — and first complete — budget 
proposal, released Tuesday, sparked 
controversy among state officials and 
students, particularly with regard to 
spending cuts in higher education 
and environmental protections.

In terms of education, the proposal 

calls for a $9.2 billion spending cut, 
down 13.5 percent from 2017 — the 
same as in the March proposal.

According to The Atlantic, the 

cuts would terminate more than two 
dozen programs.

In a statement, Secretary of 

Education Betsy DeVos said the 
budget “reflects a series of tough 
choices we have had to make when 
assessing the best use of taxpayer 
money,” and “ensures funding for 
programs with proven results for 
students while taking a hard look 
at programs that sound nice but 
simply haven’t yielded the desired 
outcomes.”

The budget would eliminate the 

Federal Supplemental Educational 
Opportunity Grant program, which 
provides need-based aid to 1.6 million 
undergraduates each year, though is 
sometimes considered subordinate to 
the Pell Grant program — the largest 
federal grant opportunity for low-
income students — which is being 
extended through a year-round Pell 
program.

LSA senior Enrique Zalamea, 

president 
of 
the 
University 
of 

Michigan’s chapter of the College 
Republicans, does not view the cut 

GOVERNMENT

See IMMIGRATION, Page 3
See TRUMP, Page 3

