Livingston County commissioners approved an intensely controversial new policy Monday night that directs the county sheriff to “document contacts with illegal immigrants regardless of the nature of the contact.”
That means that the sheriff’s office is now tasked with determining who may be in the country illegally and reporting that, regardless of whether it involves a larger criminal matter.
The meeting where commissioners approved the resolution was fiery, with a mix of residents both vehemently supporting and opposing the measure. Many supporters made dubious claims linking illegal immigration to crime in other U.S. cities, often echoing the rhetoric of former President Donald Trump, though many of Trump’s anecdotes about immigrants swarming cities and committing rampant crime have been specifically debunked.
Supporters also expressed concern that an influx of immigration could “strain the system” to the detriment of longtime residents. Currently, Livingston is one of Michigan’s safest counties and has a foreign-born population in the low single digits.
Commissioner Wes Nagakiri, who sponsored the resolution, admitted that he can’t quantify where Livingston County is now when it comes to what he calls “the criminal illegal activity.”
“But I want to know, because I'm concerned that if we see a trend going up, that we're going to have to make policy decisions potentially,” he said before commissioners unanimously voted to approve the resolution. “And I want to be proactive.”
Opponents argued that the policy is more of a politically-driven effort to promote scapegoating and division than it is an attempt to solve a real problem.
“The resolution cites only one instance in the past year of an illegal immigrant breaking the law. This does not indicate a rampant problem in Livingston County,” said Ronnie Harrow of Genoa Township. “Further, this resolution is profiling a specific group of people, which is a violation of their civil rights. Once we head down this road, what's to stop us from targeting any other group we don't like?”
Ellie Jordan, an attorney with the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center, worried that the measure will prevent crime victims from speaking out for fear of deportation.
“As an attorney with 13 years of experience working with survivors of human trafficking, domestic violence, and sexual assault, I see the chilling effect that these kinds of policies have,” Jordan told commissioners. “All of us are less safe when our friends and neighbors can't call the police.”
“Livingston County would be the first in Michigan to pass such an extreme measure,” Jordan added. “Most communities recognize the risks, including potential lawsuits. This policy would force officers to choose between upholding the resolution and supporting the constitution.”
Livingston County Sheriff Mike Murphy supports the measure. In a video recently posted to Facebook, Murphy pointed to a recent criminal sexual conduct case and a traffic offense he attributed to people who are in the country illegally.
“To say that it doesn’t exist, or we shouldn’t keep track … I think is insane,” Murphy said. “Because it does exist, and we do need to keep track, so we can better understand the problem.”
Murphy also addressed a recent Freedom of Information Act request from a county resident seeking information about criminal acts in the county attributed to people in the country illegally. The county couldn’t fulfill that request, Murphy said, because it currently doesn’t track immigration status.
The bulk of the research on the link between immigration status and crime doesn’t support the idea that an influx of immigrants, even those without legal status, pushes up crime rates.
“Numerous studies show that immigration is not linked to higher levels of crime, but rather the opposite,” said the Brennan Center for Justice in a brief reviewing that research.
“When looking specifically at the relationship between undocumented immigrants and crime, researchers come to similar conclusions. Numerous studies show that undocumented immigration does not increase violent crime; research examining crime rates in so-called sanctuary cities also found no discernable difference when compared to similarly situated cities without sanctuary policies.”
