job pays in cash that matches a 
college degree? That’s the biggest 
discrepancy.”

U.S. Immigration and Customs 

Enforcement generally does not 
focus its activity in universities 
because 
they 
— 
along 
with 

hospitals and places of worship 
— 
are 
considered 
“sensitive 

locations.” Once students graduate, 
however, they are generally more 
susceptible to ICE detainment or 
deportation.

Workplaces are not afforded 

the same protected status. Over 
the summer, ICE inquired about 
the citizenship statuses of the 
employees 
of 
the 
restaurant 

owners at Café Zola and at Sava’s. 
In July, hundreds of Ann Arbor 
workers and residents gathered to 
condemn ICE’s increased activity.

Despite the fact that universities 

are mostly avoided by ICE, the 
agency’s activity can sometimes 
occur on the border between 
“sensitive locations” and the rest 
of the world. The Washtenaw 
Interfaith Coalition for Immigrant 
Rights works to confirm ICE 
activity and posts these alerts 
on their Facebook page. On Feb. 
5, WICIR posted about the Jan. 
31 ICE detainment of a Latino 
man outside his place of work 
the corner of Willard Street and 
Church Street — just across the 
street from East Quad Residence 
Hall.

ICE did not respond to request 

for comment.

In addition to worrying about 

ICE, undocumented immigrants 
in Washtenaw County have to face 
federal immigration enforcement 
by U.S. Customs and Border 
Protection because Ann Arbor 
is less than 100 miles from the 
Canadian border.

While jurisdictions like the 

University and the City of Ann 
Arbor have procedures in place 
prohibiting their law enforcement 

agencies 
from 
soliciting 

immigration status, according to 
Jim Baird, chief of the Ann Arbor 
Police Department, ICE often 
prefers not to involve local law 
enforcement 
in 
investigations 

anyway. AAPD and ICE stick 
to their own duties, Baird said, 
explaining how the inability of 
local law enforcement agencies to 
verify citizenship is a key reason 
why ICE does not want their 
interference.

“If we come in contact with 

somebody, I have absolutely no 
way to know if that person is here 
legally or illegally,” Baird said. 
“There’s no way for me to even 
figure that out. So we don’t do the 
investigation, we just don’t care. 
It’s not relevant information for us 
all whether somebody is a citizen 
or not.”

The 
only 
instance 
AAPD 

inquires 
about 
citizenship, 

Baird said, is when they arrest 
someone. This is because that 
person has the right to make their 
country’s embassy aware of their 
arrest. If the person is arrested 
for a felony or misdemeanor 
punishable by 93 or more days in 
jail, they are fingerprinted. ICE 
receives a notification from the 
fingerprinting database after a 
number of hours. ICE can then 
request a “detainer” of this person, 
asking the county jail to keep them 
two days after their jail sentence 
terminates. But, Baird said AAPD 
would not hold a person longer 
because of a detainer. 

Despite 
the 
amplified 

national presence of ICE and 
CBP, 
Baird 
emphasized 
local 

law enforcement’s unwavering 
commitment to protecting the 
safety of all Ann Arbor residents, 
including 
undocumented 

immigrants.

“From a local law enforcement 

perspective, there has been no 
change whatsoever,” Baird said. 
“In Ann Arbor, we have enacted 
an ordinance and a policy, but it 
really didn’t change anything, it 
just kind of codified what we were 

already doing and the way we’ve 
been doing it for decades. It really 
is a federal issue.”

The 
ambiguous 
future 
of 

immigration policy generates a lot 
of media attention surrounding 
the 
safety 
of 
undocumented 

immigrant 
populations. 

AAPD also works to confirm 
immigration enforcement activity 
by contacting ICE directly when 
they receive reports. The work 
of these organizations helps to 
verify rumors, which quickly 
circulate through undocumented 
immigrant 
populations 
when 

there is suspected ICE activity.

Baird explained how AAPD has 

asked ICE to notify the department 
when they are working in the local 
area. Yet, these notifications have 
lately become more infrequent, 
which Baird speculates could be 
for multiple reasons.

“I’ve actually seen a significant 

reduction in the times they’ve let 
us know,” Baird said. “I don’t know 
if that’s necessarily because a 
reduction of activity in Washtenaw 
County or if they’re just less strict 
about when they let us know.”

The 
Michigan 
Immigrant 

Rights Center, based in Ann Arbor, 
also serves the undocumented 
immigrant population providing 
legal counsel, education about 
immigrant rights and training for 
attorneys working on immigration 
cases pro bono.

Sarah Schoettle, Washtenaw 

staff attorney for MIRC, has 
observed the barriers that prevent 
undocumented immigrants from 
realizing their rights and helps 
her clients navigate the confusing 
nature 
of 
immigration 
law. 

Schoettle cites a host of reasons 
that discourage undocumented 
immigrants from pursuing legal 
pathways, 
including 
language 

barriers, unfamiliarity with the 
U.S. legal system and lack of 
knowledge regarding their rights. 

“In some ways, we need 

to bust a mystique that only 
a certain type of person can 
be involved at a higher level 
of engagement, and not just 
politics, but on community 
boards and things of that 
nature,” Campion said.

The panel emphasized the 

importance of civic involvement 
not only on a national scale, but 
also at a local level, such as in 
city council elections and even 
in public schools and libraries. 
Several panelists indicated a 
crucial step in increasing civic 
engagement in Ann Arbor was 
to increase accessibility to such 
involvement.

“I think we are in some 

ways purposefully complex in 
the way that we do business 
at even a very local level, 
and that again is a barrier to 

entry for a vast number of 
people,” Campion explained. 
“If you don’t understand how 
civic codes work, you can’t sit 
through a city council because 
you won’t know what they’re 
talking about 80 percent of the 
time. That’s intimidating to 
people.”

Another 
suggestion 
to 

increase 
accessibility 
was 

to improve the standard of 
living for Washtenaw County’s 
impoverished 
populations. 

Neel 
Hajra, 
president 
and 

CEO of the Ann Arbor Area 
Community Foundation, said 
ensuring basic needs such as 
food security and childcare 
would 
give 
underprivileged 

individuals more opportunities 
to pursue municipal interests.

“Twenty-five 
percent 
of 

households 
in 
Washtenaw 

County don’t make enough 
to meet their basic needs,” 
Hajra said. “When you live in 
a vibrant community with so 

much good going on, it’s pretty 
easy to miss all the challenge.”

Several 
attendees 
were 

actively involved in community 
organizations 
working 
to 

increase 
civic 
engagement. 

Jeffrey Smeargle, a member of 
the League of Women Voters 
of Ann Arbor, spoke of his 
efforts to energize Ann Arbor 
residents before the upcoming 
2018 midterm elections.

“We need for the next eight 

months to beat this like a 
drum,” he explained. “We have 
to get really obsessive about big 
turnout in the election.”

The forum was the third 

part of a four-event series 
being presented by the City 
of 
Ann 
Arbor. 
The 
series 

aims to facilitate discussion 
about sustainability and civic 
involvement. The first two 
forums focused on electric 
vehicle usage and ways of 
tracking 
environmental 

sustainability goals.

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Friday, March 9, 2018 — 3

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concerned,(by) the least the market 
will allow them to pay.”

LEO is demanding the starting 

lecturer pay to be increased to 
$60,000 for Ann Arbor. The 
organization also wants a $1,000 
pay increase per year for lecturers 
and an increase in annual salary 
increases. On a non-salary side, 
LEO is also asking for increased 
diversity 
within 
faculty 
and 

financial support for lecturers that 
want to make their classes more 
inclusive and promote community 
service efforts with students.

Robinson 
also 
specifically 

addressed a recent counteroffer 
from the University regarding 
salary increase, which he said was 
insulting to LEO’s efforts.

“I’m not sure if (the counteroffer) 

even covers inflation,” Robinson 
said. “It’s a complete blow-off. 
They’re basically saying, ‘You must 
be joking. We aren’t even going to 
give you a serious counter.’… This is 
not their final offer obviously, but 
it’s such a low and insulting one. 
I certainly think they do not get 
that we are committed to making a 
paradigm shift this time.”

LEO will be bargaining in 

Dearborn on Friday, and in Ann 
Arbor on March 16. During the 

Ann Arbor bargaining session, the 
group plans to host a march around 
campus beginning at noon. A LEO 
staff member, who asked to be 
anonymous due to the nature of her 
job, also stated a strike will occur 
on April 9 and 10 if bargaining 
demands are not met.

Art & Design sophomores Miles 

Honey and Katie Lacroix came to 
the event after attending a poster-
making workshop held by Art & 
Design lecturer Andrea Cardinal. 
Honey said she felt the University 
does not treat its lecturers the way 
she believes they should.

“I’m not interested in being part 

of a University that doesn’t treat 
its (foundational) staff and faculty 
well,” Honey said.

Lacroix also said she wanted 

to support LEO after becoming 
close with her lecturers and seeing 
what they do to continue educating 
students despite low wages.

“When you start to get to know 

your 
teachers, 
and 
especially 

getting to know lecturers, you 
become friends with them during 
class and after class,” Lacroix said. 
“You get to know their personal 
stories and then when you start 
to learn that so many of your 
lecturers literally have three jobs … 
You realize they’re doing their best 
to teach you in class but they’re 
dealing with all of these stresses 
outside … I can’t not do anything.”

with silence,” Taylor said. 

This 
silence, 
she 
argued, 

leads to an acceptance of racist 
ideologies, contributing to the 
rise and acceptance of “alt-right” 
figures such as Richard Spencer.

In terms of implicit racism 

through economic policy, Taylor 
noted how on his campaign 
website, Trump promised to help 
working-class African Americans 
by using money from deporting 
illegal immigrants to help support 
inner-city communities. She said 
both Republicans and Democrats 

have been guilty of blaming and 
exploiting the most vulnerable 
population 
for 
social 
issues, 

specifically through the lens of the 
2016 presidential candidates.

“Racism is in the service for a 

larger agenda,” Taylor said. 

In an analysis of the 2016 

presidential 
election, 
Taylor 

explained the majority of Trump’s 
support came from wealthy white 
Americans, not the working class 
–– hence his strategic comments 
targeting the “alt-right.”

LSA junior Kevin Ashwood 

reflected on the similarity between 
the Democratic and Republican 
parties, especially with regard to 
their ideas about wealth and its 

distribution.

“A lot of the time we often 

identify Republicans with being 
the one percenters and Democrats 
with being definitely against it, 
when that’s really not the case,” 
Ashwood said.

Over 100 million eligible voters 

did not vote in the 2016 election, 
and Black voter turnout fell for 
the first time in over twenty years. 
Taylor attributes this to failures of 
both candidates to offer a serious 
attempt to fight inequality in the 
country.

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