GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Top brass from a handful of Michigan sheriff's departments stood alongside former President Donald Trump as he visited Grand Rapids Tuesday.
Trump made a campaign stop first in Grand Rapids where he gave remarks about what his team called "Biden's Border Bloodbath." He honed in on the killing of Ruby Garcia, a 25-year-old Grand Rapids woman found dead on US 131 on March 22.
Law enforcement said she was in a romantic relationship with suspect Brandon Ortiz-Vite, who admitted to police he shot her and left her body.
Ortiz-Vite was in the United States illegally, according to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. An ICE spokesperson said Ortiz-Vite is from Mexico, and he was previously deported in 2020. At some point, he reentered the United States.
Trump hosted a roundtable discussion with Michigan law enforcement agencies and state political leaders at DeVos Place.
Many sheriffs from southwest Michigan flanked the former president when he gave public remarks Tuesday afternoon, including Berrien County Sheriff Charles Heit, Allegan County Sheriff Frank Baker and Van Buren County Sheriff Daniel Abbott.
Trump invited two West Michigan sheriffs to touch on crime in their communities.
"I ran some numbers yesterday from our jail facility. 40 percent of our inmates in our jail in Van Buren County Jail have out-of-county residency. Out of the 40 percent that do not live in our county that we're feeding every day, 10 percent of those have addresses in Mexico or Guatemala," Van Buren County Sheriff Daniel Abbott said. "The open southern border is the heart of lawlessness and crime you're witnessing, make no bones about it. We need leadership at the national level that is willing to solve this crisis."
According to the Van Buren County inmate roster on April 2, 2024, the jail is currently housing 153 inmates. Using Sheriff Abbott' percentages he shared about his inmate population, that would mean 6 of those 153 incarcerated people were from either Mexico or Guatemala. Abbott also did not share the immigration status of those inmates.
Sheriff Abbott said narcotics causing overdoses continue to plague the community, and he says there's a direct connection between U.S. border policy and the amount of illegal drugs that are funneled to southwest Michigan.
Allegan County Sheriff Frank Baker echoed that sentiment.
"One of the biggest things we're facing now is the level of crime we're seeing. The amount of narcotics, whether it's methamphetamine or fentanyl, it's devastating our communities," Baker said. "The only way we can do anything is to secure the border. A lot of the times people ask me, 'the border is a long way from Allegan County,' and yes it is, but there's not a day that goes by that's not impacting what happens in our county because of the amount of drugs we're seeing."
Immigration advocates have shared concerns about the political rhetoric surrounding Ruby Garcia's death.
Some advocates feel focusing on the alleged killer's status risks stigmatizing and harming the larger immigrant community.
"There is a concern from our standpoint that these communities, if they are labeled or painted with such a broad negative brush, [it] could lead to further exploitation, further victimization, unfortunately," said Gonzalo Peralta, who works as an attorney for the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center.
The Chair of the Michigan Democratic Party Lavora Barnes said ahead of Trump's visit he would try to sow hate and division.
"His goal here is to increase the rhetoric of anger and hate and to make people afraid to make people vote out of fear and not out of confidence and comfort. And I think that that's what he's going to continue to do. And Michiganders will see right through it," Barnes said.
All eyes are on Michigan, considered a key battleground state in the November election.
Trump's visit to Grand Rapids on Tuesday is his first stop to Kent County during his current bid for the White House. Grand Rapids was his last campaign stop in 2016.
President Joe Biden has not yet made a trip to West Michigan, though he was recently in Saignaw, and Vice President Kamala Harris spoke with leaders in Grand Rapids earlier this year.
After speaking in Grand Rapids, former President Donald Trump will travel to Green Bay, Wisconsin.
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