GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. —
Immigration and Customs Enforcement is not planning on renewing its contract with Kent County law enforcement, the Sheriff’s Office said Sunday.
The current contract is set to expire on Sept. 30, but ICE is not seeking to renew that agreement. The Kent County Board of Commissioner's Office has a fact sheet online that explains the contract with ICE. It provides two things for the county: reimbursement for housing immigration detainees and it limits the length of stay for detainees to 72 hours.
In January, the sheriff’s office revised their policy on holding detainees for ICE, saying they would only do so if a federal judge signed off on the arrest.
“We have thoroughly evaluated this policy and determined it to be effective in protecting the community and in the safe and fair handling of persons of interest to ICE,” Kent County Sheriff Michelle Lajoye-Young said in a statement. “Therefore we intend to keep it as a part of our standard operating procedure.”
However, it seems this change in policy prompted ICE to not renew the contract. In 2019, Kent County held 264 detainees for immigration officials.
“As a result of the addition of our January protocol, ICE informed my office they would not be seeking renewal of the contract,” Lajoye-Young said.
On Saturday, advocacy groups and residents protested the contract with ICE at the Kent County Jail. They also wrote a letter to the sheriff's office and taped it to the door of their administrative building.
They were demanding the county end its contract with ICE.
"The Kent County Sheriff’s Office will continue to work collaboratively with ICE, as we do with all law enforcement agencies, to ensure public safety, due process, and the rule of law for all people in Kent County," said Lajoye-Young.
The contract with ICE has been a point of contention with advocacy groups in Grand Rapids.
GR Rapid Response to ICE posted on their Facebook page, saying the end of the contract is a "victory." However, they are still calling for the jail to not hold any detainees for ICE.
This announcement comes days after the Grand Rapids Police Department announced a foreign nationals policy, in which officers will not ask for someone's immigration status when they are seeking police services.
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