Ypsilanti schools warn parents to take precautions amid reported ICE detentions

Ypsilanti school officials are warning parents to be cautious after reports that ICE agents arrested a parent near a school bus stop
Washtenaw County’s sheriff says ‘parents connected to local schools were targeted’
Immigration stops and arrests in Michigan have increased

The Ypsilanti schools leader is warning parents to use “trusted carpools,” update child care plans and know their rights amid reports of immigration enforcement activity near bus stops.

Ypsilanti Community Schools Superintendent Alena Zachery-Ross told parents in a Tuesday letter that “we have received confirmation that several parents in our community were taken into custody while off school grounds.”

Washtenaw County Sheriff Alyshia Dyer said in an early morning Wednesday Facebook post that “we received multiple reports from community members that ICE detained a mother in front of her child in the Ypsilanti area, along with other residents.”

“Based on the information we currently have, ICE activity did not occur on any school grounds,” Dyer said. “However, it did take place near bus stops in the Ypsilanti community, and it appears that parents connected to local schools were targeted at a bus stop in Ypsilanti during student drop-off times.”

She told Bridge there were four people detained by ICE in Washtenaw County on Tuesday, including one person reported to be a parent near a bus stop. “I don’t think that they should be doing any activity on school grounds but also they should be avoiding the school bus stops as well because all this is doing is inciting fear and making it so children don’t feel safe travelling to and from school.”

Related:

A representative of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not immediately respond to questions from Bridge.

Christine Sauvé, policy engagement and communications manager at Michigan Immigrant Rights Center, told Bridge there were three people detained near a bus stop in Ypsilanti, and all of them are parents of children who are US citizens.

In her letter to parents, Zachery-Ross did not provide additional details about those allegedly detained but said the district does not voluntarily work with ICE.

“I want to be clear: Ypsilanti Community Schools remains a safe sanctuary for all scholars,” Zachery-Ross said. “Our district policy remains unchanged. We do not voluntarily cooperate with ICE, nor do we grant them access to our school buildings or property without a valid judicial warrant. Additionally, we are working closely with the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office to monitor our campus borders and ensure that our school grounds remain a protected space where scholars can learn without the threat of enforcement.”

The news comes days after the border patrol agents fatally shot protesters Alex Pretti and Renee Good during separate incidents in Minneapolis.

Ypsilanti is a progressive college town near Ann Arbor that’s home to Eastern Michigan University. Outside the school district’s administrative offices on Wednesday, a flag proclaiming Black Lives Matter waved in the breeze just below the US flag. About 11% of the city’s population is foreign-born, according to Census data.

A Bridge reporter saw no apparent signs of ICE presence during a Wednesday afternoon trip through Ypsilanti.

‘Kids aren’t going to go to school’

Still, worries persist.

Elizabeth Campbell, director of the Human Trafficking and Immigration Law Clinic at University of Michigan’s law school, told Bridge that news of ICE activity in Ypsilanti is “terrifying” for undocumented residents and for families with mixed legal status.

Campbell, an immigration lawyer, said her daughter goes to child care with students who attend Ypsilanti Community Schools.

“Kids aren’t going to go to school and people are going to be afraid to leave their homes to make sure their basic needs are met.”

Campbell referenced the federal government’s decision last year to allow immigration enforcement personnel to make arrests in sensitive places once regarded as safe havens, such as schools, churches and hospitals.

“It just means that places that we normally think of in our community as safe no matter what, are not.”

Meanwhile, Ann Arbor Public Schools Superintendent Jazz Parks said in an email to the community Wednesday evening that the district does not allow ICE agents in schools “without a judicial warrant.” Also, the district removed bus routes information from its website.

Parks called the events in neighboring Ypsilanti “deeply troubling.”

“As we continue to navigate these challenging times, our commitment remains clear: we will protect the dignity, privacy, and belonging of students, families, and staff members in the Ann Arbor Public Schools.”

A group of Michigan school leaders issued a joint statement Wednesday urging national and state decision-makers to “consider the impact of their actions on students and school communities.”

“Regardless of differing perspectives on public policy, children should not carry the emotional weight of adult decisions. Students should feel safe getting on the school bus each morning,” said the statement, co-signed by the Michigan Department of Education, Michigan Education Association, Michigan Association of School Administrators and several other organizations.

“Families should be able to bring their children to school without fear or intimidation. For children to learn and thrive, schools must be spaces of belonging.”

Ypsilanti Community Schools is not the first Michigan public school district to be affected by immigration enforcement.

Four Detroit students who were seeking asylum were detained by ICE, Chalkbeat Detroit reported last month. One of the students, Mor Ba, a 19-year-old that graduated from Detroit’s Western International High School last month, is “back home on bond,” State Sen. Stephanie Chang, D-Detroit, reported in a recent post on Instagram.

Last year, Bridge reported that immigration rights groups were seeing a surge of people creating guardianship agreements for their children in fear of an increase in deportations.

Sauvé, of the Michigan Immigrants Right Center, said of the Ypsilanti situation: “The community is terrified but folks are coming together” to support the families affected and share information about what rights people have.

The immigration center and the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan sent a joint letter to Michigan school leaders a year ago urging schools to create protocols for what staff should do if immigration agents come to schools and to limit how much information they collect from students and families.

State lawmakers are set to discuss a slate of bills related to immigration enforcement Thursday, though they are unlikely to get traction in the Republican-led House. One of the bills would ban immigration officials from conducting raids in schools except in specific circumstances.

Thank you to our Education Watch sponsors

Bridge Michigan Education Watch is made possible by generous financial support from our sponsors. Sponsorship supports our independent journalism mission but does not constitute sponsor endorsement of individual articles or editorial content. Bridge Michigan journalism remains fact- and data-driven and independent at all times.

Please visit the About page for more information and to subscribe to Education Watch. Interested in becoming a sponsor? Contact Emma Carr.