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Kalamazoo City Commission pulls proposed COPS hiring grant after hours of public opposition over ICE/DHS conditions
Summary
After sustained public comment opposing a proposed FY25 COPS hiring grant, the Kalamazoo City Commission removed the grant (item H‑3) from tonight's agenda for additional review; residents and advocacy groups warned that grant conditions could require data sharing with Homeland Security and restrict DEI programs.
The Kalamazoo City Commission removed a proposed FY25 COPS hiring grant from tonight's agenda after more than two hours of public comment urging the city not to accept federal funding that speakers said could require cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Homeland Security.
Scores of residents, faith leaders and local advocacy groups told commissioners the grant's written conditions — which commenters repeatedly identified as including requirements to cooperate with federal agencies, to comply with presidential memoranda and executive orders, and a clause they said could constrain diversity, equity and inclusion programs — would undermine trust between the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety (KDPS) and immigrant communities. "This grant requires the city to comply with federal laws, executive orders and presidential memoranda," a representative of Isaac told the…
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