Residents urge Kent County commissioners to adopt six "sanctuary" policies; administrator warns board of legal limits

Dozens of Grand Rapids residents told the Kent County Board of Commissioners on Jan. 8 that the sheriff’s office has cooperated with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in ways they said separate families and traumatize communities and asked the board to adopt six sanctuary policies to stop local cooperation.

“ICE has been operating in Kent County,” said Jeff Smith, who said protestors were arrested at the sheriff’s office after confronting the sheriff about ICE holds. “People who were in for minor offenses ... say they can’t [be released] because ICE wants us to put a hold on them so we can take them to the detention center, which means they’re gonna be separated from their families.”

Advocates and multiple speakers listed the six-policy package requested of the board: limit local arrests for federal immigration violations and civil immigration warrants; prohibit county employees from asking about immigration status; bar 287(g) deputization agreements; prohibit county contracts that would hold immigrants for federal authorities; prevent establishing immigration detention centers in Kent County; and block sharing of county camera images or other information with ICE. “We want them to be implemented,” said Sharon Hickox, who said she was arrested at a peaceful protest at the sheriff’s office.

Speakers urged transparency about current practices. “What is the Kent County Sheriff’s Office policy on holding immigrants for ICE? What are they doing with our taxpayer dollars?” asked Hickox. Commissioner Womack later told the board she would check whether funds previously tied to an ICE contract (which one commissioner described as an $85 payment in prior years) have been redeployed to county taxpayers if detentions are occurring.

County Administrator Al Vandenberg (identified by a commissioner during the meeting) responded in the administrator’s report by clarifying the board’s legal boundaries. He told commissioners that under the Michigan Constitution the board does not have operational authority over elected officials such as the city of Grand Rapids or the Grand Rapids Police Department and that, by longstanding standing rules, the board does not adopt nonbinding resolutions on matters beyond its jurisdiction.

“Kent County does not have any authority over Grand Rapids or the Grand Rapids Police Department,” the administrator said, adding that immigration law and policy are set at the federal level and that the board’s role is to “concentrate on matters within its legal jurisdiction.” He cited standing rule 3.10c, which the board has followed historically to avoid considering nonbinding resolutions outside its authority.

Commissioners responded with expressions of sympathy and commitment to follow up where they have authority. Several commissioners thanked residents for coming and said they would review oversight and budget questions; Commissioner Womack said she would check the sheriff’s office policies and any county expenditures related to detention. Commissioner McCloud said she would be more engaged as a newly elected minority vice chair.

No formal change to county policy on immigration was adopted at the meeting. The board received public comment and administrative clarification; board members said any formal changes would have to respect the legal limits identified by the administrator and standing rules.

The board is scheduled to reconvene on Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026; commissioners did not put a sanctuary-policy resolution or ordinance on the Jan. 8 consent agenda or adopt such a policy during the meeting.