Residents urge Kalamazoo commission to refuse ICE cooperation, expand homelessness help and address police masking

During the Aug. 4 public comment period at the Kalamazoo City Commission meeting, more than a dozen residents and local leaders urged city leaders to adopt policies to protect immigrants, expand services for people experiencing homelessness and respond to neighborhood concerns about policing tactics and infrastructure.

Immigration and sanctuary requests: Several speakers asked that the city refuse to cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and to adopt policies to protect residents from deportation enforcement. An unidentified commenter delivering a Black Lives Matter grassroots statement urged the commission to "denounce 287(g) agreements" and to hold local agencies accountable for sweeps and roundups. Pearl Brown asked what policies the city has prepared and urged officials to "tell them no." Jane Ghosh (presenting earlier on a…