Hundreds rally as Romulus council rejects ICE detention center plan

The Romulus City Council unanimously passed a resolution on Monday night formally opposing the “establishment, construction or operation” of a new ICE detention center that is planned to open within the city.

“We are exhausting all avenues, and the work continues,” Mayor Pro Tem Tina Talley said during the city council’s meeting. “This is really disruptive in our city.”

The resolution calls the presence of a detention center “inconsistent with community planning, economic priorities, and the city’s vision for a safe environment for its residents and commercial business interests,” citing depression of property values and negative implications for municipal services and economic development.

The resolution will be sent to the Department of Homeland Security, as well as local, state and federal representatives for the city.

Prior to and during the council’s meeting, hundreds of people from around the state, including a number of state lawmakers, gathered Monday evening outside Romulus city hall to demand a halt to the planned detention center.

“When they want to come into our community, we say hell no. When they want to use a warehouse to house human beings, we say hell no,” state senator and Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Mallory McMorrow (D-Royal Oak) said. “We are out here today to be loud and proud together. We are so much stronger than the federal government. Romulus, we love you, we are with you, and we are not afraid of the cold.”

Calls to abolish ICE were prominent among many of the speakers at the rally.

“ICE cannot be reformed,” said State Rep. Dylan Wegela (D-Garden City), whose district includes parts of Romulus. “ICE agents don’t need more training, they don’t need body cams, they need a different job.”

“How truly sickening, that we have a government arguing that this is going to make this community stronger,” Wegela said. “I don’t want a single dollar of my tax money going to an agency that terrorizes neighborhoods, with masks and without warrants. I don’t want our hard-earned money going to detention centers that are known for their inhumane conditions and are known for having record deaths last year.”

State Sen. Darrin Camilleri (D-Trenton), whose district also includes Romulus, added that the city council and mayor of Romulus were allied in trying to prevent the detention center from being established there.

“When ICE detention centers enter cities, not only does it keep our communities less safe, they are enacting terror upon our immigrant communities all over the region,” he said. “That’s why today, loud and clear, you are all saying with us, enough is enough and we don’t want you here.”

Another Democratic U.S. Senate candidate, Abdul El-Sayed, who was not on the planned list of speakers for the event, also spoke to a crowd in a less formal manner.

“They want to tell us that ICE can be reformed. Can ICE be reformed?” He asked the crowd, to which they responded, “No!”

“So what do we want to do with ICE?” El-Sayed again asked, to which the crowd cheered, “Abolish it!”

Chants, including “No more concentration camps, ICE must go” and “No justice, no peace, no ICE in our streets,” continued around the city hall building for at least two hours, even after the sun set.

A group of counterprotesters arrived just minutes after the scheduled start to the event and quickly began pressing towards the main group of ralliers. Organizers quickly aimed to separate the counterprotesters from the group, though they continued to engage verbally and move towards the center of the protest. While the counterprotesters did not immediately identify themselves with any specific group, one had a large Turning Point USA logo on his phone.

One counterprotester seemed to fall, at which point local police removed him from the scene. At least one other counterprotester remained for a significant portion of time with a bullhorn, but was continually drowned out by chants of “Nazi, go home.”

Though the protest was intended to feed into the city council meeting that evening, space within the actual council hearing was extremely limited and most protesters had to remain outside. Many loudly expressed their frustrations, some leading chants of “let us in.”

@michiganadvance Following a rally at Romulus City Hall ahead of the city council meeting, anti-ICE demonstrators demand to be allowed inside to protest against a proposed ICE warehouse detention center. #icedetentioncenters #romulus ♬ original sound – Michigan Advance

The sense of community was paramount for many of the speakers, including Abbas Alawieh, an advisor for Arab Americans for Progress and a candidate for state Senate in the 2nd District, who repeated throughout his speech a call-and-response chant to “keep hope alive.”

“Look around,” state Rep. Donavan McKinney (D-Detroit), who is also running in Michigan’s 13th Congressional District, which includes Romulus, said. “You have your neighbors, your friends, your colleagues, people you don’t even know are here because of the fascist government we’re living under. And we’re going to continue to make sure that all of your voices are heard.”

Another candidate in November, Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist, who is running for Secretary of State, urged those present to continue the momentum from the protest to the ballots in November.

“We need to make sure we use every tool at our disposal. Right now, today, our voices and our bodies. In November, we need to use every one of our votes,” he said.

Michigan Advance is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Michigan Advance maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jon King for questions: info@michiganadvance.com.

This article, “Hundreds rally as Romulus council rejects ICE detention center plan,” has been republished from the Michigan Advance under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.