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NEWS

Thursday, June 1, 2017

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Campus and city leaders reflect on immigration events 
in Ann Arbor community, discuss action moving forward

Leaders on campus 
and the city of Ann 
Arbor affirm strong 
intent to protect the 
immigrant populace

By JENNIFER MEER

Summer Managing News Editor

In the aftermath of incidents 

involving immigration spanning 
several months, campus and Ann 
Arbor leaders affirm a strong intent 
to protect immigrants in the area, in 
reaction to the new political climate 
created during President Donald J. 
Trump’s first 100 days.

Earlier this month, the Washt-

enaw County Board of Commission-
ers pledged $145,000 in taxpayer 
funds to services for immigrants and 
undocumented residents. The board 
passed three resolutions by a vote 
of 6 to 1 — one of which affirms the 
funding, while the other two pre-
vent county officials from asking for 
an individual’s immigration status 

under most circumstances and ask 
Congress to modify immigration 
policy such that it “creates clear and 
reasonable immigration sanctions 
short of deportation for noncitizens 
convicted of crimes.”

The funds are to be split between 

the Barrier Busters coalition — sev-
eral agencies that provide short-term 
support for citizens and immigrants 
— and the Michigan Immigrant 
Rights Center, a resource for immi-
grants and immigrant advocates in 
Michigan.

In a May interview, Sara Cusack, 

an LSA alum who now works for 
MIRC said the funding will be very 
useful, speaking for herself and not 
as a representative of MIRC.

“The grant that Washtenaw just 

agreed to give to MIRC… will hope-
fully in the future allow us to have an 
attorney who focuses on immigra-
tion matters specifically in Washt-
enaw 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 Washt-
enaw County is kind of saying by 

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

In Ann Arbor, the city council is 

no stranger to immigration support 
either.

In an interview, City Coun-

cil Member Chuck Warpehoski 
(D–Ward 5) reflected back on the 
work the council has done in recent 
months to protect immigrants.

“I think, in broad strokes, Ann 

Arbor is a diverse community and 
immigrants are important members 
of our community — both document-
ed and undocumented,” he said. “We 
want to make our community safe 
and welcoming for everybody.”

In January, the council passed 

a resolution urging then-President 
Barack Obama to protect students 
who applied to the Deferred Action 
for Childhood Arrivals program.

Established by Obama in 2012, 

DACA allows undocumented immi-
grant youth, under certain circum-
stances, to receive a deferral from 
deportation as well as a work permit.

At the council meeting, Jessica 

Provinski, a member of BAMN — 
the Coalition to Defend Affirmative 

 
 
 
 
COURTESY OF KEVIN BIGLIN

New DPS Superintendent Nikolai Vitti discusses major changes he plans to 
implement in the school district next year.

Action, Integration and Immigrant 
Rights and Fight for Equality By Any 
Means Necessary — said she hoped to 
see Obama sign one last order before 
he left office.

“(Obama) must use his executive 

power to do everything he can to 
defend young immigrant recipients 
of the DACA program,” Provinski 
said. “If we are to defend each other 
and our society from a dark future, 
we must protect the most vulnerable 
of us.”

One day prior to the passage of the 

resolution, on Martin Luther King Jr. 
Day, the University Michigan chap-
ter of BAMN organized a protest 
against the inauguration of President 
Donald Trump, specifically oppos-
ing his plans to change immigration 
reform.

The week prior, Central Student 

Government passed a resolution ask-
ing Obama to protect undocumented 
students by a vote of 26 to 4 with 7 
abstaining. The policy, introduced 
by BAMN, asked CSG to send a state-
ment to the White House in support 
of DACA students. A similar resolu-
tion, authored by memeber of the OG 
execuvtive board, had, in fact, passed 

CSG last December, though at the 
time only served to express solidarity 
with undocumented students.

Additionally, in late January, Uni-

versity President Mark Schlissel 
released a statement to affirm the 
University’s commitment to inter-
national students and faculty. The 
statement was written in response to 
an executive order signed by Trump 
banning immigration and travel of 
people from many Muslim-majority 
countries. 

Despite 
all 
such 
measures, 

undocumented students at the 
University still worry for their 
futures under the Trump adminis-
tration. In February, four undocu-
mented individuals were detained 
by U.S. Immigration and Customs 
Enforcement during a raid in Ypsi-
lanti.

In a March interview, a female 

student, who asked to remain anon-
ymous due to concern for the safety 
of herself and her family, described 
the fear associated with living as 
an undocumented resident.

Duggan said. “We can do this. And 
we can keep people downtown.”

On the topic of economic 

segregation, Duggan said the 
city will not help finance any 
housing development unless they 
allocate at least 20 percent to 
being affordable units. The mayor 
turned to successes of this policy 
with the Strathmore apartments 
in midtown. They were renovated 
over the last three years and now 
offer 40 percent of their units to 
lower-income renters.

“I’ve got 20 separate projects 

across 
the 
downtown 
and 

midtown 
area 
with 
1,000 

guaranteed 
affordable 
units,” 

Duggan said. “Instead of being 
stuck over here in six towers, 
with the poor in one place, and 
everybody else somewhere else, 
we spread the affordable housing 
across downtown and midtown 
because this is what we believe as 
a city.”

Another principle for Duggan 

over the past three years has been 

blight removal. While restoring 
as many houses as possible and 
removing those deemed unsafe, 
Detroit has been able to increase 
property values.

“The 
homesale 
prices 
are 

up 50 percent,” Duggan said. 
“If you listen to the media, you 
would think it’s in downtown 
and 
midtown, 
and 
nothing’s 

happening in the neighborhoods. 
In the neighborhoods, they know 
that the great majority of the 
neighborhoods have seen home 
improvements of more than 50 
percent in the property values.”

The city is removing urban 

blight at an unprecedented rate, 
with 4,000 houses being torn 
down per year, which is four 
times faster than any other U.S. 
city. Duggan said 1,500 formerly 
vacant houses are now fully 
restored and another 1,500 are in 
the process of rehabilitation.

“People thought Detroit had no 

future,” Duggan said. “When you 
take out the burned down houses 
on the block, people will buy the 
other houses.”

HOUSING
From Page 1

said. “It can’t just be babysitting. It 
has to be deep intervention and 
literacy development. I think the 
opportunity for the school district 
is to have curriculum that’s directly 
aligned to the standards. We can’t 
wait until third grade to make sure 
students are on grade level.”

A 
major 
factor 
inhibiting 

educational 
development, 

according to Vitti, is poverty. 
This, he said, leads to social and 
emotional distress, which wears on 
many students’ ability to learn.

“We 
can’t 
talk 
about 
our 

children and our school system 
without talking about poverty,” 
Vitti said. “There has to be ways 
of overcoming literacy challenges 
at young ages, early learning 
opportunities, access to address 
social and emotional needs, mental 
wellness needs — those are real 
factors that get in the way of being 
on grade level in reading, math 
science and social studies.”

DETROIT
From Page 1

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