- Killing of Minnesota man by federal agents sparks national debate over deportation tactics, defunding or reform calls by Democrats
- Immigrant deportations nearly tripled in Michigan last year under President Donald Trump
- State is also home to one of the largest ICE detention facilities in the country
The weekend killing of a US citizen by Border Patrol agents in Minnesota has sparked renewed calls for reform nationally and in Michigan, primarily by Democrats frustrated by Republican President Donald Trump’s aggressive immigrant deportation tactics.
Deportations surged in Michigan last year, and the state is home to one of the largest Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facilities in the country. But Michigan has largely avoided the kind of high-profile conflicts between federal agents and citizens seen in Minnesota.
The Trump administration has surged federal forces to some metropolitan areas like Minneapolis — where Alex Pretti was killed Saturday and Renee Nicole Good was killed earlier in the month during an encounter with ICE — as it works to remove undocumented immigrants from the country.
Michigan has not seen the same targeted surge, but immigration enforcement is “happening every day across the state in urban, suburban and rural settings,” Christine Sauve of the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center told Bridge Michigan, including an uptick in arrests that begin with an interaction with local law enforcement.
Immigration was listed as one of the top issues identified by 1,114 readers in Bridge Listens, Bridge Michigan’s unscientific survey of readers about the top campaign issues in the state.
Related:
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- Dana Nessel: Bar immigration arrests at Michigan courthouses
- As ICE detention center opens, ‘dangerous times to be an immigrant in Michigan’
So far, about 8% of readers have said it’s the top issue, with about four in five expressing concern about the response of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. About 20 of 90 readers expressed support for the crackdown or identified illegal crossings as a top issue.
Here’s what we know about deportation and detainment efforts in Michigan, and various policy changes that lawmakers and the state Supreme Court are already considering.
ICE arrests, detention
Immigration stops and arrests have steadily increased in Michigan during President Donald Trump’s second term, but they haven’t yet escalated to the level of enforcement and violent encounters seen in Minneapolis and other US cities, according to arrest data and immigrant advocates.
ICE arrested 2,349 people in Michigan from January through October 2025, nearly triple the number arrested in the state in the same timeframe in 2024, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement data provided to the Deportation Data Project through Freedom of Information Act requests.
ICE had detained 3,338 people in Michigan — most of them at the North Lake Correctional Facility in Baldwin, which reopened as a detention center in June 2025 — last year through October, nearly triple the number detained in the same timeframe in 2024. Most came from Mexico.
The Baldwin facility has a capacity of 1,800 and is considered the largest detention facility in the Midwest. Since July 2025, ICE detention data shows the capacity has steadily increased. As of early January, the facility housed a daily average of 1,391 detainees – the ninth largest population among all ICE facilities nationally, according to federal reports.
Few criminal convictions in ICE arrests
The Trump administration had vowed to begin deportation efforts by focusing on violent or dangerous criminals, but ICE arrest and detainment records show a much wider reach in Michigan.
Some migrants detained in Michigan last year were charged with serious crimes, including murder (six people), sexual assault (26 people), and assault (59 people). But most of those more than 3,000 detainees had no criminal record when they were booked, according to the data.
Of those who had a criminal record, immigration-related crimes such as overstayed visas were the most common offenses, according to the data. The most common non-immigration crime was drunk driving.
Critics say that points to a haphazard approach by the Trump administration.
“What we have heard consistently from most Americans is that they say they want an immigration system that is fair, that is orderly and humane,” said Sauve of the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center. “Instead, under this administration, we are seeing the exact opposite. We are seeing chaos and we are seeing cruelty.”
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Monday lamented the latest fatal shooting in Minnesota and blamed Democrats, claiming Pretti’s death was “a result” of defiance to lawful immigration enforcement activities by local leaders.
“Nobody in the White House, including President Trump, wants to see people getting hurt or killed in America’s streets,” Leavitt said.
Trump was elected after vowing a major deportation effort, and “there are still hundreds of thousands to deport from the interior of our country,” Leavitt added.
“The president is fulfilling the will of the people by arresting and removing these threats from our country in cities from Los Angeles to New York and yes, Minneapolis.”
‘There’s always a risk’
Anecdotally, immigrant advocates across Michigan say they have noticed an uptick in detentions and have responded with increased volunteer response, training and observation of ICE activity.
In west Michigan, the group GR Rapid Response to ICE has been monitoring immigration enforcement in the region since 2017.
In recent months, the group and partner organization Movimiento Cosecha have noticed an increase in requests to assist immigrants and their families in the area, ranging from financial support to direct assistance with housing or obtaining resources, group member Jeff Smith told Bridge.
Smith said their group has always made it a priority to train volunteers and warn them of the risks that come with observing and documenting ICE activity, whether it’s arrests, physical harm or even death.
But he noted that the anxieties many are feeling in the aftermath of the deaths in Minneapolis are a fraction of what immigrant communities are dealing with.
“This is the reality that immigrants face all the time,” he said. “We always emphasize that this is what it means to be in solidarity with people who are the primary targets of ICE. There’s always a risk.”
Calls to block funding
Despite bitterly cold temperatures, protests emerged in a handful of Michigan communities this weekend following Pretti’s death.
Perhaps the largest was in Traverse City, where an estimated 2,000 people gathered downtown for a protest and march led by the grassroots group Traverse Indivisible. Hundreds also turned out for a protest in Grand Rapids, with smaller protest groups cropping up in Detroit and Midland.
Both US Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Holly, and outgoing US Sen. Gary Peters, D-Bloomfield Township, have pledged to not vote for further Department of Homeland Security funding in the wake of the Minnesota deaths.
Peters, who is not seeking reelection this fall, said he thinks ICE operations are “causing chaos and fear” rather than “protecting our homeland security or making American communities safer.”
Slotkin has echoed those concerns and accused ICE of “recklessly inciting violence” and said they “must be reined in before there is more killing.”
US Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Birmingham, state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, D-Royal Oak, and 2018 Democratic gubernatorial candidate Abdul El-Sayed are currently in the running to replace Peters this fall. All three have criticized ICE, with El-Sayed calling for the agency’s abolition.
Former US Rep. Mike Rogers, a Republican who is running for Senate again after narrowly losing to Slotkin in 2024, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on ICE and Pretti’s death.
In a campaign ad posted Monday, Rogers touted border security under Trump and suggested lax policies under Democratic President Joe Biden is “where this mess started.”
In the House, Democrats are pushing to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. Michigan cosponsors include Reps. Rashida Tlaib, Debbie Dingell, Shri Thanedar and Haley Stevens, all Democrats.
Movement in the Michigan Legislature?
Democrats in the Michigan Legislature have already introduced multiple ICE-related bills and could act on several as soon as this week despite likely opposition in the Republican-led state House.
State Sen. Stephanie Chang, D-Detroit, told Bridge Michigan she plans to hold a Thursday hearing — and potential vote — on a package of bills that would:
- Ban officers from wearing masks in the line of duty, except if used for health or safety reasons
- Prohibit any government agency in Michigan from sharing people’s personal information for the purposes of immigration enforcement unless there is a judicial warrant
- Bar immigration enforcement officials from conducting raids on places of worship, schools, hospitals and courthouses without a prior court order or if necessary to address an imminent threat to the public
“This is a top priority issue for a large number of us … in the Senate Democratic Caucus, and we’re talking about this issue on a very regular basis,” said Chang, who chairs the Senate Civil Rights, Judiciary, and Public Safety Committee the bills are before.
Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks, D-Grand Rapids, echoed that sentiment in a statement, saying Senate Democrats are “extremely disturbed by what’s happening and we are having a robust conversation about how we can best keep Michiganders safe.”
“What we’re seeing unfold in Minnesota at the hands of federal officers is sickening and antithetical to both our constitution and values as Americans,” Brinks said.
It’s unlikely the bills would go anywhere in the Republican-led House, however. A spokesperson for Speaker Matt Hall, R-Richland Township, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Hall has maintained support for ICE activities. He previously vowed that similar legislation from House Democrats also seeking to unmask ICE agents was “dead on arrival,” calling the bill “ridiculous.”
“We want to work with ICE,” Hall said in a press conference last week. “We want to ban the sanctuary cities, so we don’t have to worry about our state and city funding being in jeopardy.”
State courts weigh immigration enforcement ban
Michigan Supreme Court justices are currently weighing whether to ban civil arrests of people “attending a court proceeding or having legal business” in any of Michigan’s trial or appellate courthouses.
As written, the proposed rule would not interfere with criminal or court-ordered arrest warrants, but would cover most civil immigration arrests by federal law enforcement, which are typically based on administrative warrants.
If adopted, the rule would add Michigan to the list of several states attempting to limit immigration arrests following court proceedings.
Advocates, including Democratic Attorney General Dana Nessel, say the threat of civil arrest in courthouses is preventing people from showing up to traffic court, testifying in hearings or performing other functions.
“It’s causing havoc on untold levels for us,” Nessel recently told Bridge.
But many conservatives have decried the proposal, claiming such a change would undermine public safety and the judicial system.
In a letter to justices, state Rep. Bradley Slagh, R-Zeeland, and other House Republicans threatened legislative funding cuts for courts if the changes go through.
“Courthouses exist to uphold the law, but this rule would choose to selectively ignore it,” Slagh wrote. “It would turn places meant for justice and accountability into safe havens from federal law enforcement.”
Former Attorney General Mike Cox, now a Republican candidate for governor, suggested it would turn Michigan’s justice system into a network of “sanctuary courthouses.”
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