Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Police Ice Agreement topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Residents press council over Police Department's cooperation with ICE; chief and council defend limited policy
Summary
Multiple residents, activists and council members debated Taylor Police's cooperation with ICE under a 287(g)-style arrangement; residents warned it erodes trust and intimidates immigrant communities, while the police chief and council members said the department contacts ICE only when detainers or criminal charges are involved and cited training and public-safety benefits.
A lengthy public-comment period at the May 5 Taylor City Council meeting focused on the Police Department's cooperative agreement with federal immigration authorities and the question of ICE presence at community events.
Several speakers urged the council to reconsider the department's relationship with ICE, arguing it would erode trust and intimidate immigrant residents. "This is a danger to everybody in the Metro Detroit area," one speaker said, warning the agreement would target people who do not "look like me" or who have accents. Another resident who identified herself as Cassie Gregory told the council she opposed the Taylor police 287(g)-style agreement because it discourages people from reporting crimes: "The fear of immigration consequences discourages people from calling the police even in emergencies."
Residents cited national examples and recent reports of detention deaths and hunger strikes as reasons to end or reexamine the agreement. Joan Pence, an activist representing Western Wayne Indivisible, asked the council to "reexamine the purported costs and risks of this agreement" and cited census data and long-term harms to community trust.
The Police Chief responded at length, saying the department's practice is to notify ICE only when the law-enforcement computer system returns a detainer or an individual is charged. "If we run across someone in our normal police duties and we find out that there is a detainer, just as we would for any other police agency... we contact that agency," the chief said. He also said the department has not conducted operations in schools or businesses to remove people and described past federal partnerships that provided resources during incidents, including an active-shooter call where federal partners responded.
Council members struck a cautious tone: several said they were not in favor of the scene that occurred in Minneapolis, that they do not want that here, and that they trust the chief's statement about how the department currently operates. At least one council member encouraged residents to engage through the political process to change policy if they disagree.
What remains unresolved: residents asked for more clarity about the department's agreement, the potential presence of ICE at public festivals, and the specific conditions under which federal agents would operate in Taylor. The chief and council said federal agencies have authority to operate in the city and that the city's involvement is limited to coordination when federal partners notify local police.
