Immigration

The Trump administration wants Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to raid worksites in the agriculture and hospitality industries, despite an initial reprieve this month. Experts say the policy could hurt businesses that rely on immigrant workers.

Protesters oppose the reopening of the North Lake Correctional Facility, which is now operating as a federal immigration processing center under GEO Group. Activists call the facility a profit-driven system that exploits vulnerable communities, calling for its closure.

North Lake Correctional Facility, near Baldwin, accepted its first immigration detainees Monday, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Bethany Christian Services ran the controversial refugee center in Alma for a little over three years until they closed last month. Public officials in Alma say they still have not been given an explanation why it shut down seemingly overnight.

The North Lake Correction Facility in Baldwin is owned by the private prison company GEO Group. Documents obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union show the company proposed the site to ICE last year.

Michigan’s Department of Education and Catholic leaders are responding to federal guidelines allowing immigration officials to make arrests at schools and churches.

The ACLU of Michigan is suing the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) over what it calls a “legal loophole” that lets those agencies keep immigration detention records “completely secret.” The lawsuit focuses on people who are detained for immigration violations in county jails.

As President-elect Donald Trump prepares for his return to the White House, advocates for immigrants say his mass deportation plan threatens to disrupt Michigan's vital migrant workforce. They say local protections may provide some safeguards, but say many immigrants in Michigan, both documented and undocumented, are anxious about the future of their families and livelihoods.

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 Michigan Court of Appeals has dismissed lawsuits challenging a state policy that denies on-the-job injury benefits to many undocumented workers.