Summer of Detentions

Jan. 18, 2015

The Front Lines of Northern Michigan Immigrations Busts

A Catholic priest believes federal agents apprehended more undocumented migrant workers from northern Michigan last summer than ever before.

"There were a lot of people," believes Father Wayne Dziekan of St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Traverse City. "A record since I was doing this work."

The detentions came as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced it would no longer target undocumented migrant workers who were not involved in some other criminal activity.

Despite this message, Dziekan said he believes ICE agents racially profiled Hispanic people and detained migrant workers who had no criminal record.

"Can I swear it in front of a judge? Well, I can swear that that’s what I was told," Dziekan said. "From what witnesses have told me, in most cases, people were stopped by immigration just because they looked Hispanic and then, when they were found not to have valid identification, then they were taken," he said. "We’ve had that. And that’s not supposed to happen."

Dziekan estimates there were 30 migrant workers detained between May and October of last year, and he worked on 25 of those cases.

"˜BAM,’ THEN THEY WERE GONE

Dziekan believes the upsurge in detentions he observed last year happened because ICE opened an office in Sault Ste. Marie. Previously, agents visited the area from Detroit.

"When they did come up, it was more of a "˜bam’ thing, and then they were gone," he said. "But this summer, they were here. And they were here. And they were here. And that’s why we got so many more people that were taken."

Dziekan said that when he questions ICE cases, agents tell him they are targeting serious criminals.

"They say, "˜Father Wayne, you don’t know what we’re looking for and you would not believe what you have in your community,’" he said. "And they’ll tell you, "˜Father Wayne, we’re not talking about your ordinary day-to-day criminal. You would be stunned if you knew what you have in the community.’" Dziekan said he is not aware of any heavyduty criminals that have been captured from the area’s migrant community.

ICE: WE DO NOT PROFILE

In an emailed response to questions from the Express, ICE Detroit spokesman Khaalid Walls said that agents do not practice racial profiling.

"We do not conduct sweeps or raids that indiscriminately target immigrant communities," he wrote. "ICE’s enforcement efforts are focused on its stated priorities, including national security threats, convicted felons, gang members and illegal entrants apprehended at the border."

Walls did not comment on whether there was an upsurge of ICE activity in northern Michigan last summer, noting that specific statistics for northern Michigan were unavailable.

Instead, he offered statistics for Michigan and Ohio, which is the region covered by the ICE Detroit office.

ICE’s statistics actually show a steady reduction in the number of people the agency has removed from the two-state region since 2008. That year, the number was 8,010. In 2014, only 3,930 were removed.

The statistics also show an increased emphasis on removing criminals. In 2008, 27 percent of people removed from Michigan and Ohio were convicted criminals. In 2014, that number increased to 70 percent.

Immigration attorney Susan Reed said talk of convicted criminals, and the term "criminal alien," could be misleading. She explained ICE includes all manner of criminal conviction in those statistics, not just crimes like drug dealing or murder.

Many of the convictions considered a basis for deportation are connected with nonviolent, immigration-related crimes like illegal reentry into the country or use of a false Social Security number, Reed said.

"Someone could rightly say, "˜Well, those are crimes,’" she said. "That’s true, but I think it’s a little misleading."

FEAR OF ICE; FEAR OF A MOLE ICE

presence in northern Michigan last summer spread fear among the migrant community, said Gladys Munoz.

"There’s a big, big fear out there, period," said Munoz, who provides assistance to migrant workers through the nonprofit Justice and Peace Advocacy Center in Traverse City. "We thought, "˜What the heck? They must have a lot of money and a lot of time on their hands to be doing this.’" In prior years, most northern Michigan deportation cases originated with traffic stops by local police who then turned undocumented workers over to the U.S. Border Patrol.

Munoz said ICE’s moves in northern Michigan last summer were stunning.

She also mentioned migrant workers’ concern that an informant was supplying information about undocumented migrants to ICE agents. Munoz said she was told people had been captured by ICE agents and the agents knew their names, addresses and employers, information the agents could not have had unless they were tipped off.

EARLY MORNING RAID

Arguably the biggest migrant community event of the summer occurred on June 30 when ICE agents raided a Friske Orchards migrant housing camp in Antrim County.

"What happened this summer was totally wild, with ICE coming in with a SWAT team at six in the morning," Munoz said. "It was like something out of a movie."

Six workers were detained, according to Dziekan. Both Munoz and Dziekan said they were unaware of any serious criminals picked up in the raid.

The action resulted in deportation cases against the individuals, including a married couple that had fled violence in Guatemala, Munoz said. The woman was five months pregnant when she was detained.

Dziekan said he objected to the detention of a pregnant woman at the Sault Ste. Marie detention center and, at first, his concerns were ignored. A few weeks later, the government’s position changed after the woman became ill, he said.

"When it soaked in, then they were like, "˜Uh oh, we don’t want to go there.’ Then they contacted me for the first time ever and asked if I would be able to take her," he said. "From their perspective, they could not care less what happened to the couple. They wanted them out of the jail."

Dziekan said the couple remains out of jail.

Their child has been born and they are fighting their deportation case.

Walls said he could not comment on the Friske raid. He wrote, "Authorities conducted a federal search warrant as part of an ongoing criminal probe, which we are not at liberty to discuss further at this time."

A message left at Friske Orchards seeking comment was not returned.

THE DISAPPEARED

When someone is taken by ICE, her loved ones and her community can feel the person has been "disappeared," Dziekan said.

"People can be taken and we have no idea – sometimes for two or three weeks –where they are," he said. "That’s just how it is."

Dziekan said it’s not just the family of the detained who find ICE bureaucracy baffling.

"Here I am, a U.S. born, U.S. citizen and a Catholic priest, known in the community, all that kind of thing, and I can’t get information. When I call and identify who I am, I get treated nasty – not all the time, but a lot of times," he said. "I thought at first it was me, but I connected with immigration lawyers and advocates around the state of Michigan, and then I quickly learned that, no – that often lawyers are more frustrated than even I have been. It’s just the way the system is."

Dziekan said he is not always treated badly by ICE agents. He said, at times, ICE agents have been helpful and respectful.

WHAT TO DO WITH THE UNDOCUMENTED

When a person does show up in the system, it’s still not easy to help him. Dziekan said when he’s asked for help, he first determines – with the help of a lawyer – if the person has a chance of getting released from detention. It could take three or four months, or longer, to challenge a deportation and, in these cases, people want to get out of jail.

Otherwise, he tries to help the person negotiate a lenient settlement. People who leave the country voluntarily are likely to fare better under whatever immigration reform the future may hold.

If a person is going to be deported, they typically want to be released from detention as soon as possible and get back to their home country. Usually, once a person stops fighting his deportation, it take two or three weeks and he’s home.

Munoz said that many of the undocumented workers picked up last summer paid $5,000 or more in bail to get out of detention, and then their cases entered a holding pattern.

There is political pressure from some groups to take a hard stance on any undocumented worker caught in the country, but Dziekan believes that, if agents are looking for serious criminals, when they catch undocumented workers without other legal problems, they should let them go.

"The way they do it is like, "˜What if we find someone who does not have legal status? What are we supposed to do, turn our back?’" Dziekan said. "Well, their stated policy makes that a good question. What should they be doing? And why are they uncovering people who have no criminal history?"