Michigan Senate hearing on ICE accountability bills features emotional testimony, fiery debate

Community leaders and advocates urged legislators to pass a set of bills seeking to limit the actions of federal immigration agents in a charged hearing of the Michigan Senate Civil Rights, Judiciary and Public Safety Committee on Thursday.

The committee heard testimony on SB 508, SB 509 and SB 510, which would respectively ban immigration enforcement in certain sensitive locations, prohibit state disclosure of personal information to immigration agents, and limit the use of masks by federal law enforcement. The committee did not vote on the bills, and committee chair Sen. Stephanie Chang (D-Detroit) said that she expects another hearing with further testimony and voting.

“Our law enforcement agents should not be breaking down doors, entering churches, hospitals, schools, or courtrooms, with military weapons, and without traditional laws,” said Rep. Mai Xiong (D-Warren), who sponsored the House version of SB 508, calling the legislation “necessary to address the chaos and overreach.”

“Let’s be very clear. ICE is not a criminal law enforcement agency,” she continued. “Its job is to enforce immigration laws, deportation, removal orders, which are entirely civil proceedings. Targeting our neighbors and sensitive locations is not who we are, as Michiganders. 
It is not who we should be as Americans.”

Sen. Jim Runestad (R-White Lake), the sole Republican committee member who attended the hearing, repeatedly called the proceeding a “kangaroo court” after Chang asked him to keep his responses limited to questions, not comments.

Throughout the hearing, Runestad argued against the validity of many of the claims made by those testifying about the harms done by ICE and the fear of immigration enforcement within their communities.

“The idea that anyone who would be picked up has to be a nurse, anyone who is in a courtroom is an innocent person who came in to testify, obviously, this is ridiculous on the face of it,” he said following Xiong’s testimony.

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Two former law enforcement officers, Ike McKinnon, a former Detroit Police Chief, and Ted Nelson, a retired Michigan State Police officer with the Law Enforcement Action Partnership, both emphasized in their respective testimonies that the use of masks and force by ICE agents was not normal protocol for law enforcement.

“Our focus, as a state police officer, was to serve the public, to not hide who you were or what you were doing,” Nelson said.

“When I see things that are being done by ICE, on television, the techniques they are using are nothing that I’ve ever seen, taught, or trained in law enforcement,” he added. “I can’t believe what I’m seeing. I’m seeing angry mobs of militarized federal agents, going out there and doing things that I never, ever thought I would see being done in our communities. Local and state police and county police, that’s not how they operate.”

McKinnon similarly emphasized the importance of trust and understanding between law enforcement and communities — and how masks break down that trust.

“I think we can all agree that having masked officers is not the best solution. I think everyone in the country would agree to that,” Runestad said in response to McKinnon’s testimony. “It’s because there are very, very egregious attacks on these ICE officers.”

But McKinnon immediately disagreed with Runestad’s framing, saying, “Senator, I was threatened personally, my family was threatened, and we didn’t wear a mask.”

“Wearing masks is an invitation to do whatever you want to without having accountability,” Nelson added.

The sole testimony in opposition to the bills came from Shari Rendall, the state and local engagement director of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, an anti-immigration organization that has been designated by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a hate group.

She called the proposed legislation “not needed because there is no indication that immigration officials currently conduct general or exploratory raids at sensitive locations,” arguing that they would make it harder for ICE to do its job and operate safely.

Attendees in the committee room — which filled minutes after it opened — laughed at some of Rendall’s statements, leading to Runestad condemning “snarky comments and guffaws from the chamber.”

Later in the hearing, Aisa Villarosa of the Asian Law Caucus pushed back against these arguments, stating, “Earlier, Ms. Rendall of FAIR asked us to trust ICE’s discretion and good judgment. But discretion without accountability is only unchecked power.”

“I’m testifying today in support of these bills because what’s happening in our state is not immigration enforcement,” she continued. “It’s terror.”

The committee first held hearings on these bills, which were introduced in August, in early November. If passed by the committee and the full Senate, the legislation would go to the GOP-controlled House, where the bills are likely to die.

Thursday’s hearing also included SR 86, which urges the U.S. Congress to pass legislation to require immigration officers to display visible identification, prohibit immigration officers from covering their faces, and limit immigration enforcement actions in sensitive locations.

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This article, “Michigan Senate hearing on ICE accountability bills features emotional testimony, fiery debate,’” has been republished from the Michigan Advance under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.