The State of Michigan and the City of Romulus have sued the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to stop them from converting a warehouse into an ICE detention center.

This week on MichMash, Gongwer News Service’s Alethia Kasben talks with Attorney General Dana Nessel to discuss her concerns about the department’s actions and much more.

Subscribe to MichMash on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

In this episode

• Why did the State of Michigan and the City of Romulus sue the U.S. Department of Homeland Security?
• Attorney General Nessel’s take on Pres. Trump attending Supreme Court hearing on birthright citizenship.
• Data centers in Michigan
• What Attorney Nessel plans to do after leaving office this term. 

Nessel felt that the legality of the Romulus warehouse purchase was in question, and even pointed out the irony of the DHS operation.

“They are taking people who mostly have no criminal records of any kinds and [saying] that these people didn’t come into the state properly so we are going to detain you or deport. Well, DHS didn’t come in to Romulus properly. They are not abiding by the laws. So I think it’s a bit of hypocrisy by the federal government.” 

Nessel said they filed a preliminary injunction so that DHS could not proceed with the project while the legal battle evolves. 

More from WDET:

• Detroit Evening Report: Michigan and city of Romulus file lawsuit to halt ICE detention center

• The Metro: Data centers, coming to a community near you

On the morning before Thanksgiving, Mor Ba got into his car to go to work but was hemmed in by unmarked cars. Immigration officers poured out and asked for someone whose name he didn’t recognize. Ba doesn’t have a criminal record and wasn’t breaking any laws. He was just months away from his first big hearing in an asylum case he’s been waiting on for years.

As soon as he was allowed to use his phone, he started calling his aunt, Seydi Sarr, a Detroit-based immigrants’ rights advocate. She was in the middle of translation work, but answered the phone when Ba’s calls kept coming in.

“I picked up the phone and I’m like, ‘Boy, it’s not because you’re graduating early that you’re going to wake up in the morning and calling me 25,000 times, what’s up?” she recalled. “And he said, ‘Hey Auntie, I’m here at the ICE (office).’ And I’m like, ‘What you doing at ICE?’”

Ba came to the U.S. as an unaccompanied minor from Senegal. He doesn’t have any other family here besides his aunt.

He had just graduated a semester early from Western International High School, a Detroit school with a program for “newcomers” to the U.S. like himself. The 19-year-old was determined to attend college and had brought all of his application materials to Sarr’s house the night before. But she had been busy preparing to host Thanksgiving and told him to come back after the holiday.

By then, Ba was at the North Lake Processing Center, an immigration detention facility in the northwest corner of Michigan.

“The asylum process is supposed to protect you.”

Sarr, who founded an immigrant advocacy organization called African Bureau of Immigration and Social Affairs (ABISA), was shocked to learn that her own nephew had been detained. Not least because Ba is an asylum seeker and was finally a few months away from the master hearing that would lay out a timeline for an immigration court to decide whether he could stay in the U.S.

“The asylum [process] is supposed to protect you,” Sarr said. “Nothing is supposed to happen to you when you file for asylum until you lose your asylum.”

Immigration officers generally didn’t target asylum seekers as long as they engaged with the years-long process of court hearings, ICE check-ins, and abided by the law. That changed after President Donald Trump began a major deportation campaign.

Trump repeatedly told voters that he would carry out the “largest deportation effort in American history,” and that his efforts to do so are the fulfillment of that campaign promise. His administration has repeatedly described those who are arrested as criminals, although data shows that only a small minority have been convicted of criminal offenses.

Even with years of experience working on issues related to immigration, Sarr was at a loss when it came to getting her nephew out of North Lake, until she started making calls to advocates in other states. They told her to file for a writ of habeas corpus in federal court.

“I never heard of habeas being filed in immigration cases,” she said. “And they were like, ‘yeah, you have a little slither, but you can slit in here because we have been filing these habeas and getting our people out,’ because that’s the only way right now to go.”

These habeas corpus petitions have forced the government to explain why it’s detaining someone, or release them on bond.

Petitions from immigrant detention centers flood courts

Between Aug. 2025 and mid-Feb. 2026, over 800 claims of unlawful detention have been filed in Michigan’s two federal district courts. Prior to this spike, the last time any petitions were filed was in 2020.

The North Lake Processing Center, one of the country’s largest immigration detention centers, is the main source of habeas petitions in the Western District.

Michigan Public found a wave of more than 800 people in immigration detention in Michigan filed similar petitions over the last 5 months. Judges ruled in most cases that people were being held unlawfully without a hearing, in violation of their due process rights.

That’s what a judge ruled in Ba’s case.

“I don’t want people to go through what we went through.”

After two months in detention, an immigration judge granted Ba a $10,000 bond – an amount that Sarr raised through crowdfunding, since immigration cases require payments up front, in full.

In late January, she and a colleague made the four hour drive to the North Lake detention center to pick up her nephew. She shouted with joy when she saw him, and pulled him in close for a picture in the snow-strewn parking lot.

The time he spent in detention caused Ba to miss his chance to start college this semester, but he’s preparing to enroll soon.

For now, Ba is back to work and is trying to get his life back on track. The trauma of being locked up can make it hard to sleep.

“Sometimes,” he said, “I can’t sleep because I see a lot of friends over [in North Lake].”

Thinking of them troubles him because many are still there, and, according to Ba, “They were there for no reason.”

That’s how he feels about his own case; Ba spent months in detention, filed a federal lawsuit, and paid a steep bond only to end up in the same place he was before he was arrested, with the exact same date for the master hearing in his asylum case.

“Getting him home, it’s a good feeling,” Sarr, Ba’s aunt said. “[But] I don’t want people to go through what we went through to have that feeling.”

For her, the relief was short-lived. One week after she picked Ba up from North Lake, another young person she cares for – her cousin’s son – was arrested by ICE.

Sarr just paid a bond to get him out of North Lake, too.

Originally published on Michigan Public Radio.

Michigan’s 13th Congressional District covers most of the City of Detroit. Since 2021, Shri Thanedar has represented the area. There has been criticism that the largest majority-Black city in the U.S. is not represented by an African American in Congress.

For his part, Thanedar has shrugged off the criticism and brought millions of federal dollars back to the district.

It has not stopped attempts to primary him.

State Representative Donavan McKinney lives in the 13th. He’s a progressive Democrat who—despite some similarities in their stance on issues—says he is to the left of Thanedar.

McKinney recently sat down with WDET’s Russ McNamara and discussed topics that are coming into play for the primary.

The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Healthcare

Russ McNamara: What’s your plan to fix healthcare?

State Rep. Donavan McKinney: We need Medicare for All. At the end of the day, people can’t afford life’s necessities, including healthcare.

I’m gonna be honest, it’s a damn shame that Republicans are attacking the ACA (Affordable Care Act) and and the wins on that to cover pre-existing conditions.

I have a story I love to talk about my mom in particular. She has a pre-existing condition, brain tumors, fortunately benign, not cancerous. However, she had to undergo emergency brain surgeries, and it wasn’t for the ACA, she would not be covered.

Wealth gap

RM: How do you plan to address the wealth gap? Because healthcare is tied up all in that too.

DM: The wealth gap is huge, and it’s climbing. Right now, I represent currently the poorest House District in Michigan. $14,000 is the median income. And you know, with folks that’s top of mind is the quality of life issues, right?

It’s unaffordable to live a life right now and I’m running to represent, I believe, the top five poorest [congressional] districts in the country. My constituents, the residents that I currently represent and looking forward to represent in the halls of D.C., they’re struggling with everyday bills. Whether it’s health care, auto insurance, whether it’s child care, housing, you know, you name it, gas, groceries, everything. 

And so for me, it’s all about getting the corporate influence out of our politics, and that’s why we’re running on a campaign that’s not taking any corporate PAC money. Sad to say, my opponent is.

Campaign finance

RM: Why make the choice to not take corporate PAC money? You could easily take the corporate PAC money and use that to campaign, but still vote a different way.

DM: I agree with that premise to some degree, but they also have a lot of influence, right? And so for me, the biggest influence that I want as an elected official should be the people that I represent, and so that’s why we’re taking a hard stance.

I introduced legislation in the state legislature last term and earlier this term that takes all corporate monopoly money out of our politics. It’s called Taking Back Our Power.

We’re targeting insurance companies and the big utility companies, because they have a lot of influence in Lansing, but once I get to DC, what we’re looking to do is overturn Citizens United, and we can do that through congressional action and ensuring that the people’s voices are heard.

Billionaires influencing politics

RM: The amount of money that billionaires are funneling into politics right now has gone up exponentially since Citizens United. Fundamentally and ethically, should billionaires exist?

DM: No. Bottom line? Hell no. I’ll talk about my grandfather in particular, who him and his parents, my great grandparents moved fled from the Jim Crow South to Detroit, Michigan. And one of the most interesting things about my grandfather was he worked at Ford Motor Company for 42 years. And guess what? He never missed a day of work. And I was at his retirement party a few years back, and you know, I asked him, I said, ‘granddad, like, how you never missed a day?’ Like, how was that? Because, you know, my generation, other folks, they’ll miss a day at work within 42 years. He said, “I took pride in what I was doing, and I knew that Ford had my back. I knew that the union had my back, but I knew that Ford Motor Company had my best interest at heart.”

If you fast forward to the year 2026, these companies don’t have the best interest of the workers at heart. What’s happening is they care about the bottom line more so than investing in the human capital, and so they’re figuring out ways to either automate folks out of a job. I mean, what’s happening recently with Stellantis, which, to me, will always be known as Chrysler. And to be honest, I’m a Detroiter, and [I see] how they’re funneling opportunities and increasing bonuses for salaried workers, but for not the workers on the line.

That corporate influence has to end. It has to stop. We have to do what’s right on behalf of the working class people. And right now, they don’t feel like their elected officials are doing the best they can for them.

Data centers and AI

RM: How do you feel about data centers?

DM: This is about understanding what’s possible and then also protecting the environmental harms that are happening from data centers across the country. In Michigan, the Democrats under the democratic trifecta, we led something called the Clean Energy and Jobs Act, and so we were able to ensure that protections for rate payers on water as well as for electricity and energy use are protected.

But in other states, and I’m seeing horror stories coming out of Memphis and Georgia. They have weak laws on the state level, but on a federal level, what’s happening is the AI groups, the folks, the mega sites that are trying to come to our communities, they’re influencing our legislators right now in Congress trying to pull back as many environmental protections from the people. And so for me, I cannot in good conscience support data centers if they’re going to continue to do environmental harm on our communities.

Now, if we can get that together alongside community solar and things of that nature, like we already have in place here in our state, then I can get on board. But in reality, this is all about the oligarchs, the corporate class, taking advantage of the people who live in our communities.

RM: So what’s your reaction when you hear that there’s room for a data center out near City Airport on Detroit’s east side?

DM: Just to paint the picture, in Michigan and other places of the country, we’ve already have data centers running. The question is mega sites. These are new to the equation, and so with the mega sites coming in I don’t necessarily support it until they don’t have an environmental justice plan that they follow. Until that all of those needs are met, and the community says no, then I got to rock with my community, with my constituents.

U.S. funding of Israel

RM: In 2024, the Biden Administration and the Kamala Harris campaign refused to change their stance toward funding Israel’s attacks on Palestinians in Gaza. I just want your thoughts on that conflict, because it’s still relevant here now two years on.

DM: Because I’m at the state level, you don’t really deal with foreign policy, but now that I’m running for a Congressional seat, I’m learning more and more about it. Some people might disagree with me when I say this, right now, from the experts, groups that are on the ground every single day, to the United Nations. What’s happening over there is a genocide.

Now, does that excuse what happened on October 7? No, I condemn any type of violence, any type of war, no matter who it is, because a human life is a human life. But I can’t in good conscience at the federal level support sending billions—and sometimes trillions over decades—for bombs and weapons to kill families and children. When literally in my own neighborhood I have to witness and see my neighbors struggling day to day, and we can’t find any type of money for them to have health care, for them to have good parks of recreation, for them to have real mass transit in our communities, access to clean and affordable water.

Every time we talk about progressivism and the things that the community honestly want and American people need, we say we can’t fund it. We say we don’t have the money, but right now, in Iran and different parts of the world, we’re spending over billions of dollars a day, and people are fed up with their entire politics. That’s why they don’t engage. That’s why they’re not involved. So for me, this is deeper than politics. This is deeper than “Oh, you’re pro Jew, you’re pro Palestinian.” I’m pro human life. I’m pro bringing resources back home to my district.

Where should the Democratic Party go next?

RM: Do you think there’s a leadership problem within the Democratic Party?

DM: I think there’s a leadership problem top down. I think if you look at the polling for our current administration, our current president, the numbers are like terrible, but the numbers on the Democratic Party is even lower than Trump’s.

Right now, [the people] don’t see the Democratic Party as the party of the people. I view the party as the party of the people. But right now, what’s happening is Democrats and Republicans are viewed the same when it comes to certain things, and that is literally pleading and doing everything they can for the corporate oligarchs in the corporate class. And right now for working people that are in my district struggling, they’re working two three jobs just to try to scrape by to make ends meet, let alone figuring out ways to thrive and have an disposable income, having health care and a retirement to look forward to. They have nothing, and so right now, they need a party that’s going to step up for them.

That’s why I’m a big believer that the party is going to have to make a choice. You either going to continue to serve the corporate class or you’re going to serve the working people. And that’s why we’re not taking corporate money, and that’s why my opponent is in trouble, because he continues to take corporate PAC money, AIPAC and everything under the sun.

RM: The right for transgender people to exist is under attack from the Trump Administration. What do you plan to do to protect some of the most marginalized people in this country?

DM: At the end of the day, human life is human life. I don’t I don’t care how you see yourself, define yourself at the end of the day, if you are a human being in this country, I will fight for you. So for me, making sure that at the end of the day, trans, Black folks, poor people, formerly incarcerated, our veterans, all of these groups are the most vulnerable populations of our communities, our seniors, our elders and our children— they need somebody that’s going to fight for them.

And so I have nothing better to do but to fight for human rights, no matter how you slice it, no matter where you live, no matter who you love, no no matter your race, your creed, your color, it doesn’t matter. And so yeah, to answer your question: I’m going to fight for every single person, not only in my district, but across the country.

RM: That sounds like some All Lives Matter kind of talk though…

DM: You could call it, All Lives Matter. But in reality, this is just common sense. Like, I’mma be honest Russ—the politics of the day, I have to partake in it, because I’m an elected official. But I like to see myself as a public servant first, and that’s what not only the Democratic party, the Republican Party, everybody in this system has forgotten.

It’s the service to the humans. We’re all humans. We might be different. We might like come from different backgrounds. But the reason why I’m sitting in office right now as a state rep in the district where nobody told me a Black kid can win in Macomb County, the reason why I won every single precinct is because we talked about the real issues, and they understood. They looked at me eye to eye at those doors, and they say, “You know what, I believe in this guy, I know he’s going to fight for me.”

It doesn’t matter what your politics is, I believe in you, and I’m going to fight for you no matter what, and that and that’s all I can do. I will fight for folks all across the congressional district of the mighty 13th.

Calls to abolish ICE

RM: There’s been an increase in the number of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is attempting to turn a warehouse into a detention center. There’s been a growing movement from the left wing of the Democratic Party to ‘abolish ICE’. Where do you stand on that?

DM: We must abolish ICE as it is right now, because at the end of the day, what’s happening in Romulus is not only in our congressional district, and it impacts people—it impacts folks all across our state.

One of the biggest issues with ICE in particular is that they’re not only targeting what Trump is calling the worst of the worst. No, they’re actually targeting American citizens, and they are known in recent history to not only kill American citizens, but deport American citizens. And I’m born and raised in this country. If you deport me, where the hell are you going to send me? That is my biggest question, and so I can’t in good conscience support this department.

My opponent, sad to say, was one of the one of the few Democrats last summer to thank the department, voted with the Republicans to do so. [He also] voted at least a couple times to increase the department’s budget. [NOTE: The vote thanking ICE also was tied to a measure condemning antisemitism] Because the community has risen up, and I’ve been hitting him hard on it, he decides, because it’s politically favorable to switch his tune and tries to introduce legislation to abolish ICE with no community input.

I introduced legislation last fall, long before we knew ICE was going to be here in Michigan, making sure that everybody has access to due process no matter your immigration status, making sure that ICE agents are unmasked when they conduct business here in our communities, and ensuring that at the end of the day, everybody has access to resources, no matter who you are.

We are a border city. We’re an international crossing. ICE has been terrorizing our communities, especially in southwest Detroit and the surrounding areas, for years now, over a decade.

And so where was he at? Where was my opponent at? We were there every step of the way, fighting back with our community, and we’re going to continue to fight back.

And so I’m proud of—I got to give a shout out to our Attorney General, Dana Nessel. I got to give a shout out to the Mayor Bob McCray and the whole entire Romulus city council, because they came together collectively as one, and they’re fighting against right now. They got a lawsuit right now to slow down a process of ice opening up that detention facility in Romulus.

Thousands rallied against the actions of President Donald Trump across Michigan on Saturday.

In Ferndale, about three thousand people lined Woodward Avenue near 9 Mile Road to express their displeasure.

Barb Anness of Rochester Hills believes the protests can bring about change.

“I’m very heartened by the diversity of people that I see out here, and I think Americans are at their best when we come together and we speak with one voice when something is wrong, and we call it out and we work for change in a positive way,” Anness said.

Anness says her objections to the cuurent administration fall outside of partisan politics.

“For me, it’s not a left or right issue, it’s a right or wrong issue. We have authority in government that are not adhering to norms and laws, and it needs to change, and this November, we have an opportunity to speak with our voice through our ballot in the ballot booth,” Anness said.

Anness came to Ferndale to protest with a friend – Holly Haran of Royal Oak. Haran isn’t happy with much of what’s coming from the federal government right now.

“There’s so much material that we can make signs for because there’s so many things that are being targeted,” Haran said. “Our voter rights, education, health care, there’s so many things that are being taken away. So and when they’re gone, it’s going to be really hard to get them back.”

A retired schoolteacher, Haran says she’s not happy with the tactics Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are using—especially near classrooms.

“It’s a really bad position to put educators in, because our job is to help kids,” Haran said.

Romulus protests proposed ICE facility

ICE was the primary topic of discussion in Romulus, where protesters gathered in front of a proposed detention facility on Cogswell Street.

Maxwell Pizzurro made the trip to the city from Chesterfield Township.

“I just think it’s really gross with these new camps that are opening up and how they’re just treating regular people,” Pizzurro said.

“What’s the difference between me and my family who came here [from Sicily] and a new family from Ghana? Or a new family from Portugal or Brazil? There’s no difference between us. We’re all just looking to make a good life for us and our families,” Pizzurro said.

Terry Golden Davis is an Army vet and grew up in Romulus. He says things have gotten so bad he turned up for his first-ever protest.  

“Somebody’s got to stand up to this hypocrisy. This is so sad. I spent hours making  signs. Hours,” Davis said.

“Nobody wants this. The should use it [the warehouse] for something, but not this,” Davis said.

Clad in a Harley Davidson jacket, lifelong Romulus resident Ken Cullen is concerned about the mistreatment of detainees.

“I mean, this is a warehouse. There’s no showers. There’s no bathrooms. There’s nothing,” Cullen said. “You can’t just house people in a warehouse, and expect them to live.”

Gerod Funderburg does not want the facility in his city. and he doesn’t believe President Trump that the detainees are hardened criminals either.

“They are people who are looking for better place to stay, better place to live, better opportunities for themselves—and he’s not providing it. If this is going to be a jail, we don’t want a jail around the corner from our homes,” Funderburg said.

Romulus City Council unanimously passed a resolution to denounce the ICE detention facility, and more recently filed a lawsuit alongside Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel to stop its establishment.

Department of Homeland Security agents guarded the warehouse during Saturday’s protest, and approached U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib to redirect her when she tried parking in the driveway. 

Representative Dylan Wegela represents Romulus in the state house. He says abolition is the only way.

“We do not want this detention center here. We want, instead, to defund ICE. We want to abolish ICE, and we want to prosecute ICE.”

Many detainees have died while in ICE custody over the past year, and three American citizens have been killed by federal agents during President Trump’s push for mass deportations.

What people see as priorities

Wegela says President Trump is focused on the wrong things.

“He’s entered us into a war with Iran that is costing $2 billion a day,” Wegela said. “Instead of our money going towards bombing, say, a girl’s school in Iran, we would rather it be spent here to make sure that we are investing in our roads and our schools.”

Steve Conn of Detroit says if the people don’t speak out about injustice happening towards immigrants then the situation will get worse.

“We got to make sure people understand. If you don’t stand up now for immigrants, you too will be in there,” Conn said.

White House dismisses protests

Estimates place 9 million people in the streets for the ‘No Kings’ protests. The White House is dismissive.

“The only people who care about these Trump Derangement Therapy Sessions are the reporters who are paid to cover them,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said in a statement.

Ken Cullen is unmoved by that statement.

“Everything we hear is lies and propaganda. The truth is out here with all the people,” Cullen said. “They are showing we’re not that stupid.”

Democratic Congressman Shri Thanedar is running for re-election. He represents the 13^th Congressional District which encompasses much of Detroit as well as Wyandotte, Allen Park, Taylor and Romulus.

Thanedar has long been the target of criticism for being a newcomer to the city of Detroit, and for being mostly self-financed. He’s independently wealthy, and the 71-year-old has been able to easily out-spend his competitors.

This year, Thanedar is facing a difficult primary opponent, State Representative Donavan McKinney. The progressive Democrat has already been endorsed by Black leaders in Detroit and other lefties like Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib and U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders.

The seat is safely controlled by Democrats, so whoever wins the primary will be the next Representative.

Recently, Thanedar sat down with WDET’s Russ McNamara and discussed many topics that could separate he and McKinney in the primary.

The following interview has been edited for clarity.

Russ McNamara, WDET: You’ve been running ads critical of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

U.S. Rep. Shri Thanedar: What happened in Minnesota in killing of two American citizens Renee Good, a mother of three, was murdered on the streets of America. Alex Pretti an ICU nurse at [the] VA was murdered. This agency is out of control. They are going to Home Depots, daycare centers, schools to round up people that look different.

This is not a way to run our immigration enforcement, so I, last year, introduced a bill in Congress to end immunity for ICE agents, because ICE agents cannot stand behind this immunity to go do atrocities on our streets and create fear among our communities and community members. People, even U.S. citizens, are afraid to come out of their homes being afraid.

ICE agents talking to people. ‘Hey, you speak with an accent, you look different. You You must not be an US citizen.’ … They are entering homes without a judicial warrant. So I introduced a bill last year, anticipating all of this, to eliminate the immunity for these ICE agents. And this year, I am the first member of Congress to introduce a bill in Congress to abolish ice.

RM: It should be noted that because of Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson, this bill is unlikely to go anywhere at all. Have you had any person experience with racial profiling?

ST: Yeah, you know, at times. I have seen the type of questioning that I get, or sometime, I do get singled out a lot more for interrogation and questioning. But I am not so sure it is how different that is compared to their interrogation of other people.

Medicare for All

RM: What is your plan to fix health care?

ST: Well look, with a nation as rich as ours, it is unfortunate that United States does not cover health care for all of its citizens. We are the only developed nation that does not cover health care for its citizens. I am a big proponent of Medicare for All.

I would like to see a single-payer healthcare system that covers healthcare, because I believe healthcare is a fundamental human rights issue. No one, no family, should have to make those difficult decisions, whether to buy medicine, go to a doctor or buy food to feed the family.

So we saw the condition of healthcare in Detroit, especially in the Covid times. We had disproportionate number of deaths during Covid, because Detroit does not have the health care.

So I think given the poverty in my district—26% of the people in my district are at or below poverty—they are struggling as such, and cannot afford health care. Now, the loss of subsidies, the Obamacare subsidies, has doubled and tripled insurance premiums for independent workers, small business owners, and that’s causing a lot of hardship for people as well. So a single payer healthcare like a Medicare for All is the ultimate solution.

We will have a better leverage to negotiate with pharmaceutical companies to ensure because prescription medication is most expensive in United States compared to everywhere else in the world and whatever. Under Biden, we dropped the insulin rates to $35 a month. There is some progress made under the current administration, but it is too little and does not cover a lot of the life saving medications. So we need to have a comprehensive health care reform, such as a single-payer health care system.

Wealth gap

RM: You mentioned that 26% of your district lives in poverty. It has one of the lowest median household income rates in the country. You are independently wealthy. I’m sure you’ve seen the how the wealth gap has increased. What is your plan to address that wealth gap?

ST: We need to create skills jobs. We need to raise the minimum wage to a living wage. The current federal minimum wage is nowhere close to a living wage, so it is important that we raise the minimum wage, but it’s very, very important that we give people the skill set that they need.

Look, I wasn’t born wealthy. I grew up in India. My father lost his job when I was 16 years old, and while going to college, I worked as a janitor, and made a little bit of money. I didn’t get the living wages, I didn’t get the benefits, but I worked as a janitor. I worked in restaurants, serving tables. That’s how I got a little supplemental income that I gave it to my mom so she could put food on the table, you know. So I grew up in dire poverty, like no running water in my home. I had to go with my mother a block away to get drinking water for the whole day.

So I have gone through dire poverty. There are times where I’ve gone to bed hungry, but I got education. I came to the United States. I got education. After that, I got a job, and then I started a business, and that business became very successful, and that’s how I made my money.

Then I realized I achieved my American dream and I need to go help others, and that’s why I sold my business, took some of that money, gave it to all of my employees, because they helped me make that business successful.

So to close the wealth gap, we need to promote entrepreneurship. We need to give the skillsets people need.

Education costs way too much. No one should be graduating from college with 50,000, $70,000 loan. So we need to make education affordable, because like in my case, it was the education that helped me overcome poverty to be able to succeed and achieve my American dream. Every child, no matter what zip code he or she lives, every child, no matter what financial background the child comes from, must get good quality education.

Billionaires

RM: Should billionaires exist?

ST: I don’t think so. Some 80 or so billionaires have so much wealth compared to rest of the people, and that doesn’t seem like a fair system. We have billionaires who have a different set of rules that they live under. So no, I don’t think billionaires should exist, because often they exist because of because of their unethical practices, because of their monopolies. And we need to break those monopolies. We need to have a level playing field.

RM: Where has the Democratic Party gone wrong? What can they do to fix the disconnect between the base and party leadership?

ST: I can tell you just what I am doing as a Democrat, and my focus has been to fight for democracy. When this administration does illegal things when they do activities that are against the Constitution. I have stood up. I was the first member of Congress to bring articles of impeachment against this president, outlining some of the things that he did that were unconstitutional.

RM: But that wasn’t well-received by Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries though.

ST: It wasn’t. I don’t work for Hakeem Jeffries. I don’t work for Donald Trump. I work for my constituents. And my constituents felt that what Mr. Trump is doing in terms of the Trump meme coin or his families making these business deals with Middle East countries this Trump and his family have amassed $1.5 billion personal wealth using their office.

I’m doing what my constituents want me to do. Because, look, I have had more town halls than anybody else that I know of. I must have had almost 18 or so in person town halls. I have had tele-town halls where 18,000 people join in—I do this almost every month. So I am very much in touch with my constituents.

I hear them, and I’m doing what my constituents want, which is to fight with this administration and resist this administration when they do when they take law in their own hands, when they do unconstitutional activities.

Campaign finance

RM: How has it been raising money this time around? You’ve put a lot of your own money into your campaigns, but you’ve also taken a lot of money from AIPAC.

ST: I don’t do much fundraising. You know, most members of Congress spend anywhere from 20-60 hours per week on fundraising. I have put my own money when I ran for governor, I put my own money when I ran for Congress. I put my own money when I ran for state rep, so I don’t depend on anybody else’s money.

RM: But are you taking money from a PAC or one of their offshoots in this particular election cycle?

ST: I will take money from anybody who wants to support my campaign, but that is a insignificant part of my total funds that I use. 90, 95% 99% of the money is coming from my own pocket. So I am not beholden to any donor. I am not beholden to any one contributing to my campaign. I spend my own money.

War in Gaza

RM: So a lot of what went wrong for Democrats in 2024 was the failure to acknowledge people who were unhappy with Israel’s war and attacks on Palestinians in Gaza—

ST: I think it was the economy. I think Trump made a case that he alone can fix the economy. He identified the affordability struggles average Americans have, and he talked about the rising prices—and he said, Mr. Trump said, he alone can fix the economy. And people believed it. People believed that he can fix the economy, and I think that was the number one reason why Mr. Trump got elected.

RM: But I do want to suss out your personal feelings on Israel’s attacks on Palestinians in Gaza. Scholars and vocal people on the left have characterized those attacks as genocide. Would you agree with that assessment?

ST: I feel that we need to fight terrorism all across the world. Terrorism needs to be fought. What happened? We suffered at the hands of terrorists on 9/11 and we just need to continue to fight and we need to fight terrorism anywhere, whether it’s Middle East, whether it is in any other part of the world.

War in Iran

RM: Iran has been a large state sponsor of terrorism across the globe. Are you in support of this current military action with Iran?

ST: I am totally opposed to the current war that Trump has started in Iran. It was ill conceived. I have seen no imminent threat to the United States from Iran. Iran has the capability of these missiles and drones all along. So there is nothing new that happened, that needed United States to go spend billions of dollars on this war and get our men and women—hard working men and women from the service—to be in harm’s way. So this was an ill conceived plan of war done by one man, and he did not consult Congress.

Congress, by constitution, is the sole authority in terms of declaring war, and this President started this illegal war for reasons known only to him, because every member of his cabinet has given us different reasons why they started the war. It seems like… none of them have one cohesive reason why they started this war.

Trump has said different things. Secretary Rubio has said different things. Vice President, J, D, Vance said some other things. So it almost like they’re making up reasons why they went into war, and I have my own thinking why they went into the war.

I feel that Trump needs every distraction he can get to distract Americans from the rising affordability crisis. Trump needs a distraction because people are mad at the operation of Department of Homeland Security and ICE particularly. And people are upset with the Epstein files and all of the attorney general who, as you know, has attempted to cover up. This is the largest cover up since Watergate, and it is something that Trump needed a distraction for, and they went into this Iran war without full preparation.

Transgender rights

RM: What do you plan to do to protect the rights of transgender people since Republicans continue to attack their existence?

ST: This cultural war by Republicans is another way of distraction from the current affordability crisis. The culture war that they have done to please their own base is unnecessary.

This is not the issue we need to feed people. They’re cutting Medicaid through the trillion dollars of cuts in health care. They are cutting snap the supplemental food benefits to the tune of $300 billion taking away, you know, Supplemental Nutritional food away from hungry and poor, and we’re talking about these culture wars. That is quite a distraction. We need to really focus on what really matters, and that’s feeding the hungry. That’s getting good health care for all, focusing on skills and closing the wealth gap.

It began in a living room in Southfield. Six people around a table in February, trying to figure out what to do about the federal lawyers who had just leased office space five minutes from their neighborhood.

Those lawyers work for the Office of the Principal Legal Advisor, arguing deportation cases on behalf of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. They are the legal architecture behind ICE’s immigration raids.

The building is One Towne Square, an 18-story office tower on the Lodge Freeway. The owner, a company called Redico, says the lease prohibits law enforcement or detention on the premises. In a statement emailed to The Metro, a Redico representative said violating those terms would break the agreement. 

“From the beginning, we have been in close communication with our employees and tenants and have had ongoing discussions with city officials and community leaders,” the statement reads. “We will continue meeting with city and community leaders and remain committed to transparency.”

The neighbors say that’s not enough, and the number of them pushing back is growing. Six people in a living room became 150 at a recent rally. Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, State Senator Jeremy Moss, and faith leaders also showed up.

At the center of all this is Lauren Fink. She co-founded the Southfield Neighbors Action Committee in that living room in Southfield with her husband, Cameron. She joined Robyn Vincent on The Metro to talk about what it means to be a good neighbor when people around you are in trouble.

This story has been updated with Redico’s statement. -Ed

Hear the full conversation using the media player above.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on demand.

Subscribe to The Metro on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

More stories from The Metro

One of the most watched and most expensive U.S. Senate races in the country is happening here in Michigan. Republicans are seemingly running it back with Mike Rogers – who lost to Democrat Elissa Slotkin two years ago.

However, in the race to replace Gary Peters, there’s a trio of Democrats vying for the party’s nomination. Congresswoman Haley Stevens, State Senator Mallory McMorrow, and physician Abdul El-Sayed are all serious contenders.

WDET’s Russ McNamara has talked with the three candidates about issues that separate themselves within the Democratic Party.

There is a certain ideological split within the Democratic Party that does not exist currently within the GOP. Republicans are either pro-Donald Trump or they lose elections. Democrats are split with more nuance on some policies – but even if it’s just a wiggle, there’s still room. 

Starting with healthcare

Dr. Abdul El-Sayed has been so vocal about his perspective on healthcare that he wrote a book on it.

“Medicare for All is government health insurance guaranteed for everyone, regardless of what circumstances you’re in,” El-Sayed says.  

“If you like your insurance through your employer or through your union, I hope that will be there for you. But if you lose your job, if your factory shuts down, you shouldn’t be destitute without the health care that you need and deserve so.”

Instead of the government taking on the entire burden of the health care system, Mallory McMorrow prefers a public option. Private insurers stick around, but a government-backed option exists. For her, Medicare For All is a no-go.

“I think it’s too big of a challenge. Admittedly, we are a country of more than 360 million people. When I talk to people all across the state, they don’t say that they want one single system. They say, I want the insurance that works for me,” McMorrow said.  

“I want to be able to see my doctor. I want to be able to go to my pediatrician, and I want it to be affordable. That, to me, requires more options, not fewer.”

For Congresswoman Haley Stevens,  she wants everyone who can be covered under the Affordable Care Act to get covered.  

“I deeply believe that we need to expand the Affordable Care Act,” Stevens said. “We need to protect that and we also need to make the tax subsidies permanent.”

The Republican-led Congress did not renew those tax subsidies. Rates went up and an estimated 1,200,000 fewer people did not enroll in Obamacare this year.

Will you be a good ally?

Since the last election cycle, Republicans have worked to strip transgender Americans of their rights to seek the healthcare they need.

It became a line of attack not only against trans youth, but against Democrats.

For many within the Democratic Party, the steadfast support of the LGBTQ community has shown cracks when it comes to trans rights.

McMorrow says part of the reason why trans folks are a target is that people are looking for someone to blame for a bad economy.

“I fundamentally believe the way forward is that we have to be the party that solves those fundamental problems for people,” McMorrow said. “If we can restore the American Dream and ensure that in Michigan and in the United States, if you work hard, you play by the rules, you can achieve that life that you wanted, then there won’t be this appetite to target and hurt vulnerable kids.”

Congresswoman Stevens has been supportive of the LGBTQ community and has tweeted support saying every American, regardless of their gender identity should feel safe to be their authentic selves. She voted against the anti-trans Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act earlier this year.

Dr. El-Sayed says Democrats need to be a good ally.

“I believe that rights are rights are rights. And when you assent to somebody taking away somebody else’s rights, you are at some point assenting to somebody coming for yours,” El-Sayed said.

“We have to stand together to fight for our collective rights, even when those rights are rights we may never see ourselves using.”

The fight for trans rights will come up again, with President Trump’s Save America Act attempting to tie restrictions to healthcare for trans people to a bill about adding strict voter ID laws.

Should ICE exist?

Immigration and Customs Enforcement will be a hot topic this year for the midterm elections. ICE agents have killed at least three American citizens in the past year. The government has deported or jailed tens of thousands of immigrants, most with no criminal records.

Before she was fired, Congresswoman Stevens advocated for the removal of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. “Well, ICE needs to be overhauled. I will tell you that we need to start seeing accountability, and we need a complete overhaul of ICE. And there has been mismanagement from the very top.”

Mallory McMorrow was asked if ICE should exist as an agency.  

 “Yes, and it needs to be vastly reformed. Michigan is a border state. We need immigration and customs enforcement to do the work of what and who comes across the border. That should be its job,” McMorrow said. “Its job should not be to be unleashed on communities, to terrorize people, to go after people whose skin color isn’t exactly right, or who have an accent.”

Abdul El-Sayed believes ICE should be abolished.

 “We can have a safe and secure southern border. We can enforce immigration law, but ICE is not about that. What ICE is about is about a paramilitary force normalizing the use of government power on peaceful streets, in thrall to one man,” El-Sayed said.

Should billionaires exist?

The concentration of wealth at the top has been a growing concern since the Reaganomics era of the mid-to-late 1980s. Now tax rates for corporations and the wealthy have been slashed – while the federal government – and many states – have defunded social programs.

The number of billionaires has tripled in the past 15 years. I asked the candidates if billionaires – from an ethical standpoint – should exist.

McMorrow was unequivocal.

“Yes, I think they can and should exist, and I look at somebody like Mark Cuban as an example. You can be a billionaire without being a jerk,” McMorrow said.

It should be noted that Cuban wrote a blurb praising the State Senator’s book that came out last year.

 El-Sayed says billionaires should be the exception, not the norm.

“I don’t think that our system should be in the business of creating billionaires. I think our system should be in the business of empowering everyday folks to be able to live a life with access to the basic dignities that they need and deserve, good housing, good health care, affordable food,” El-Sayed said.

Haley Stevens says the wealthiest need to pay higher taxes, but didn’t outright say they should be taxed out of existence.  

“Well, we’re not going to be seeing someone like myself do billionaire bidding in the United States Senate. I’ll tell you that much. And tackling where and how billionaires are not paying their fair share needs to get done.”

That’s a good lead into:

Campaign contributions

When it comes to campaign cash, El-Sayed and McMorrow aren’t taking corporate money for the senate run.

McMorrow has taken corporate money in the past. but not this round. The filings with the Federal Elections Commission bear that out.

 “More than half of our donations are from people donating $200 or less,” McMorrow said.

El-Sayed avoided taking corporate dollars in a failed run for Michigan governor in 2018.

“I’m the only person running for US Senate who’s never taken a dime of corporate money to fund a campaign, and that shows up in the ways that I stand up to corporations.”

Congresswoman Stevens has no such hangups and says she will use all avenues to raise campaign money.

 “Well, look, I’m running my campaign in a grassroots way, with individual donors who participate in the democratic process and the way that our country allows,” Stevens said.

Some of that money is coming from AIPAC – the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. Stevens has taken millions from the controversial organization that aides pro-Israel Republicans and Democrats. Earlier this month, as Israel and the U.S. continued to bomb Iran, Stevens appeared in a video for AIPAC.

The war in Gaza

Stevens supports a two state solution for Israel and Palestine.  

 “We need people in Gaza Palestinian people to have dignity and peace, just as we need people in Israel to do so.”

Mallory McMorrow was initially reluctant to criticize Israel’s attacks, but this fall when asked if the tens of thousands of dead Palestinians was tantamount to genocide, McMorrow said “yes,” even if she doesn’t seem comfortable using the term.

 “I am somebody who looks at the videos, the photos, the amount of pain that has been caused in the Middle East, and you can’t not be heartbroken,” McMorrow said. “But I also feel like we are getting lost in this conversation, and it feels like a political purity test on a word—a word that, by the way, to people who lost family members in the Holocaust, does mean something very different and very visceral.”

Abdul El-Sayed has unequivocally said that Israel’s assault on Palestinians – and the role the U.S. has played in supporting it – is genocide.

“I believe in international law,” El-Sayed said. “I want our tax dollars to stop killing children.”

Do Democrats need a change at the top?

Support for the Democratic Party and its leadership are at an all-time low. The party is polling behind artificial intelligence and ahead of Iran.

The biggest complaint is House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer aren’t doing enough to push back against the Trump Administration.

Mallory McMorrow says a change at the top is needed and a youth movement needs to happen among Congressional Democrats.

“We need leaders who understand how to engage with people, not as just a number, not as a voter or a donor, but as part of the team,” McMorrow said.

Abdul El-Sayed says stunning defeats in 2024 mean there’s a disconnect between party leadership and its base.

 “I think right now, we are in a place where there is so much profound frustration about the chasm between the Democratic Party writ large and its voters,” El-Sayed said. “And I think any democratic leader who wants to win elections in the future should be less worried about who holds the luxury suite on the top of the Titanic and more worried about getting in the engine room and saving the Titanic, which is where we are.”

Congresswoman Haley Stevens – who has Schumer’s support – sidestepped the question. 

“You’re asking me about the future of the Democratic Party. And there are some people who are running who assume that’s what this race is all about, and I don’t think that’s fair to the people of Michigan,” Stevens said. “I believe that this race is about the future of Michigan.”

Changes to SCOTUS?

The future of the U.S. Supreme Court has come up a lot since the conservative majority overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. Justices have been a bit inconsistent in their rulings depending on who was president.

Stevens says something needs to change.

“I deeply support ethics reform for the Supreme Court, what seems to look like pay-to-play, the fact that they have a different set of ethics rules, I think it would be more than appropriate, given that the Supreme Court doesn’t have elections and it’s a lifetime appointment,” Stevens said.

McMorrow thinks there needs to be a plan that makes sense both ethically and politically.

 “I am talking to some constitutional experts right now, some judicial experts on whether that means term limits, whether that means oversight, whether it means reforms, or whether it means more justices, I am open to anything to ensure the Supreme Court does its job,” McMorrow said.

El-Sayed has been working on a plan for SCOTUS for a while.

“I proposed a system here that says that every president should have three appointments, every Supreme Court justice should have at least ten years and a possible renewal for another ten years. But what that does is it incentivizes the selection of jurists who want to interpret the Constitution on its own terms,” El-Sayed said.

There are no shortage of issues for candidates in the upcoming elections, and more are sure to pop up along the way. Questions for the primary will be different than those in the general election this fall.

Detroit Public Radio plans to talk with these candidates multiple times over the next few months so our listeners can make an informed decision at the polls.

About a thousand protesters showed up to city hall in Romulus to protest a planned Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in the city. 

Lieutenant Governor Garlin Gilchrist, who is hoping to win the Democratic nomination for Secretary of State was also there. “I make sure that people have the power to vote against those who would want to sign off on a budget that would approve these kind of expenditures… that would approve this kind of ICE personnel deployment,” said Gilchrist. “That is unacceptable, and we need ICE out of Michigan.” 

Romulus City Council voted unanimously to condemn the proposed detention center, but admitted they still have not received formal confirmation of the building’s sale to the federal government.

-Reporting by Russ McNamara 

Additional headlines for Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026

Whitmer will use State of the State to talk affordable housing

Governor Gretchen Whitmer will use her State of the State address Wednesday to call for more programs to address a shortage of affordable housing in Michigan.

Her plans include an affordable housing tax credit to spur development, cuts to regulations and faster approval of building permits. The governor has expressed concerns that President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs will add thousands of dollars to the costs of home-building materials. The governor delivers her State of the State address the evening following the president’s State of the Union address tonight. (MPRN) 

New office of Community Safety

Detroit Mayor Mary Sheffield has established a new office of Neighborhood and Community Safety. Its goal is to help prevent domestic violence and promote conflict resolution.

Teferi Brent will lead the office. He says domestic abuse is a major source of violence that the city needs to address. Brent says that effort would further lower the number of homicides, which hit a 60-year low in 2025. 

-Reporting by Pat Batcheller

Detroit Historical Society celebrates Women’s History Month

The Detroit Historical Society is kicking off Women’s History Month with ‘Love and Flowers: A tribute to Detroit’s Black Matriarchs’ Sunday. 

 The event is a celebration of caregivers past and present and an opportunity to reflect on the question of what it looks like to honor the Black women who “built… nurtured and fought for a better Detroit.”

Registration is through the Black Bottom Archives as a part of its Bottom Up series of community programs exploring memory, storytelling and Black Detroit’s living history.

A museum membership is required for admission, but the Detroit Historical Museum offers a free membership to Detroiters and individual memberships starting at $60 on its website.

Literacy fundraiser

The Flint Unity Farming Project is having a popcorn fundraiser to support is literacy and learning programs.

Listen to the latest episode of the “Detroit Evening Report” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

A Dearborn father, Abdelouahid Aouchiche was detained on Oct. 6 by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement outside Masjid Al-Furqan in Detroit, on his way to the pre-dawn Fajr prayer with his son and others.

Aouchiche’s wife Lorenda Lewis says he sent his son inside the mosque, and instructed him to call his mother to pick him up. 

“When I went to pick Abdullah up, he was outside by himself, and he said he hadn’t seen his father. He doesn’t know where he is. And then I realized they were parked over to the side, and they let the window down so that the kids can see him for the last time,” she shares.

Aouchiche was taken to the North Lake Processing Center in Baldwin, Michigan, which houses over 1,400 people.

Lewis says it’s been a struggle to visit the facility, due to frequently changing policies, visitation times, and the 4 hour drive. She says the policies discourage you from visiting.

“It will alternate one hour for one week and three hours for the following week. So you will have to get up four o’clock in the morning to be there on time, because if you got there by a certain time… you were not allowed to visit,” she explains. 

Concerns of mistreatment at the facility 

In December, Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), who is a member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, visited the facility, noting its dire conditions.

Tlaib’s office says they received multiple reports, “including frigid temperatures, inadequate food, unsanitary facilities, difficulties accessing attorneys and loved ones, translation and communication issues, and problems obtaining medical care.”

After the visitation, Tlaib released a statement in which she says,  “I am fighting for the freedom and dignity of every immigrant, asylum seeker, and refugee who calls our country home.” 

A family separated

Aouchiche and Lewis share four children, between the ages of 6 and 12. 

Lewis says the current policies do not allow more than four visitors total in a day. With the kids being minors, they were not all able to go back to see their father together.

“But because there’s only four people, and they’re under 18, they could not go back there alone. So I was the only one that can go back there,” she says. 

Lewis says she is concerned about the conditions at the facility.

“They don’t have blankets. They have like a sweater type, something that they sleep with… the heat is horrible and it’s wintertime, but they don’t even have a blanket to sleep with,” she shares. 

Lack of religious accommodations 

Lewis says her husband was not receiving halal food in the beginning—only eating peanut butter, rice, and noodles. Since then, halal food has been provided, she says.

She says she’s also concerned for Muslims who observe fasting and worship during the month of Ramadan, which began Tuesday night. 

“Only in this one pod where he is there are over 300 Muslims… he said they have 12 prayer rugs and no Qurans,” she says. 

She says she’s also concerned whether people will be able to eat a pre-dawn meal to begin fasting, and the meal at sunset to break fast.

“Are they going to accommodate the Muslims getting up four or five o’clock in the morning so that they can eat breakfast at that time and then having suhur, and then having iftar when it’s time to break fast? With the way that they’re doing things, I’m not really sure,” she shares.

Community steps up to support the family 

Lewis says her husband’s detention has put a huge strain on her family.

“Something like this happened all of a sudden, with uncertainty, has taken a lot on my family, the children are having their father around. He paid most of the bills, so now I have to make sure that I work double time and put in extra hours so that I can pay the bills that he was paying,” she says. 

She may have to get a second job to provide for her family, something Lewis says will be difficult in her line of work as a doula.

Community members have put together a GoFundMe to help the family get on their feet. Lewis says she’s grateful people are stepping up to help, but she’s concerned about the funds running out. 

Lewis is also concerned about the mistreatment of others held at the North Lake Detention Facility in Baldwin. She says some people have no one to visit. Lewis says there are efforts to organize bilingual or multilingual volunteers to visit through a team at the Islamic Center of East Lansing by emailing info@lansingislam.com. 

Lewis says she’s leaning on her faith to get her through this time, during the spiritual month of Ramadan and prayer. 

She says there needs to be policy changes in the facility. 

“Their policies need to change, the visitation needs to change… we are not criminals. The detainees there are not criminals, and we’re being treated and our families are being treated like criminals and that needs to stop,” she says. 

Since conducting this interview late last week, Abdelouahid Aouchiche was transferred to Louisiana over the weekend and has since been moved to Texas.

The Detroit Police Department told city council Tuesday that the department does not participate in immigration enforcement. 

City Council questioned the department about how and if it provides any support to ICE after reports of officers working alongside Customs and Border Patrol. First Assistant Chief Charles Fitzgerald told the council the department is not in the immigration business. 

“We have, obviously, a city ordinance for bias-based policing. We have our own policy for bias-based policing. We have special orders that we do not unless there is an absolute nexus to a violent crime. We’re not in the immigration business, and even then, I’ll tell you, if it’s connected to a violent crime, we shouldn’t care.” 

Police Chief Todd Bettison has said recently he plans to fire two officers who used Customs and Border Protection for assistance during traffic stops, which is against DPD policy. 

Council Member Santiago Romero says she is speaking with the mayor about establishing a hotline for residents to call if they are concerned about DPD working with ICE 

Additional headlines for Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026

Green Grocer ribbon cutting

The Detroit Economic Growth Corporation’s Green Grocer Program had its first ribbon cutting this week since the program relaunched in 2024. Kandies sandwich shop will now feature a mini mart that will sell fresh produce, dairy, baked goods, and other grocery items.

Owner Jacquisha Blackwell received a $25 Green Grocer grant to purchase refrigeration, shelving, and upgrade electrical systems. The Green Grocer program has generated more than $50 million in investment during its first phase between 2010 and 2017, supporting more than 40 grocery stores. 

DOJ investigates sex-ed classes

The Justice Department is investigating the Detroit Public Schools and two other Michigan districts. Prosecutors want to know if the schools teach sexual orientation and gender-related topics in their classes without giving parents the choice to remove their kids from such lessons.

The DOJ says that would violate federal law and subject the districts to lawsuits and a loss of federal funding. The department has also sent warning letters to the Lansing School District and the Wyoming Godfrey-Lee public schools in west Michigan. 

I-94 construction begins

Construction on I-94 near Detroit Metro Airport has begun between Romulus and Dearborn. Traffic will be reduced to one or two lanes in each direction beginning this summer. The $353 million rebuild is expected to wrap up in mid-2029. 

Listen to the latest episode of the “Detroit Evening Report” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

Across metro Detroit, some leaders’ stances against ICE have gotten firmer. 

The Detroit police chief is not allowing his officers to work with ICE. Last week, Sterling Heights Mayor Michael Taylor spoke with The Metro about his criticisms of the institution.

Now, in Southfield, federal and state lawmakers are trying to stop ICE from opening an administrative office. 

Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald, who is running to be Michigan’s Attorney General, has expressed concerns about ICE enforcement, and the presence of ICE agents in her jurisdiction. She spoke with The Metro‘s Robyn Vincent about that and more.

The Metro contacted US Immigration and Customs Enforcement prior to this conversation. They did not respond with a comment by the time this aired.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on demand.

Subscribe to The Metro on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

More stories from The Metro

The impact of the recent series of fatal encounters between some Minnesota residents and agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement is being felt in metro Detroit.

Several law enforcement officials in the region say they do not want to cooperate with deportation operations conducted by ICE.

That includes Washtenaw County Sheriff Alyshia Dyer.

She says Washtenaw sheriff deputies and ICE agents often have very different agendas.

The following interview has been edited for clarity.

Alyshia Dyer: It really puts [police] in conflict with the communities they serve. It’s our responsibility, regardless of immigration status, to keep everyone safe. We need our local communities to trust us. As local police, we rely on the public trust that we build in the communities we serve. The way that immigration enforcement operates is completely different.

And it’s not our duty or responsibility to enforce federal immigration law. We don’t ask about immigration status. We don’t get involved in immigration matters. And especially in this climate, where people are so afraid to even leave their homes, we don’t want to be involved in that.

Quinn Klinefelter, WDET News: As a lay person, it has always seemed to me that federal issues would take precedence over local policing matters. Is it legal for your deputies to basically avoid helping a federal agency like ICE?

AD: Absolutely. The Michigan constitution, as well as our state and local laws, make it very clear that we have a duty to protect and serve all residents of the county. We take an oath as well to do that. And it doesn’t say only if they have valid immigration status. Constitutional rights apply to everyone. And we are not trained nor given resources, nor is it our priority, to look into immigration matters.

The 287 (g) program [which allows local police to act as immigration enforcement agents] is a voluntary program. It is a choice to enter into that program or not. There is no mandate that we have to do it. So we are exercising our discretion and not entering into that agreement. We are going to stay focused on local public safety issues. And, honestly, our resources are already stretched thin.

QK: I would imagine there’s additional costs, financial and otherwise, that a department has to bear when it is working with ICE.

AD: There have been a number of rulings that basically say holding somebody in jail after a judge has ordered them released so that ICE can come pick them up, is a serious issue. It raises liability concerns for the county. Agencies have been sued for doing that. And it’s not our responsibility.

My responsibility as sheriff is to make sure we enforce local and state law, keep the county safe and run the county jail. If a judge orders somebody to be released, they are to be released. And it is not a mandate nor, in my opinion, good practice to keep them in jail pending transfer to immigration officials. If we were to hold somebody in jail solely based on an immigration detainer, which is not a judicial warrant, and we keep them past the release date, then we risk liability for the entire county.

QK: At this point many people have seen the viral videos of ICE tactics in action. They seem to create fear, even among those who have not broken the law. Victims are afraid to call 911, witnesses don’t want to talk, crimes are not reported. Beyond not cooperating with ICE, what can be done by departments like yours to try to restore that trust with the public?

AD: What we have done is made it very clear to the community where our values lie and that we will not be working with ICE. We have maintained a clear separation. We also do not ask about immigration status. So when anyone needs help, they can call 911. But because the national administration remains obsessed with mass deportation, it’s hard for local police. People are fearful. And I have no doubt in my mind that people are not calling the police when they need help because they’re worried. Regardless of what we say, there’s still that fear.

People have confused us with ICE. Them wearing masks and hiding their identities and the tactics they use are not best practices. That’s not what we do at the local level. We try really hard to support all residents. We work closely with immigrant rights groups. I’ve done a number of education town halls, making sure people understand their rights.

Honestly, it puts local law enforcement in an impossible situation. They need the trust of the public to effectively do their job. And when federal immigration agents come in and take someone and detain them, they’re not dealing with the aftermath, right? I’ve had residents in Washtenaw County, people with legal status or who are citizens even, that have said, “Should I carry a birth certificate with me? Is it safe to send my kid to school?”

It is really hard to be sheriff and be responsible for the public safety of a county and know that, unfortunately, there are people in the county that are going to be targeted by immigration enforcement, sometimes solely for just existing. This idea that they’re only going after people with violent felonies or serious criminal records is not true. I have seen the opposite. I’ve also seen cases where they have mistaken someone because they were Latino and they assumed that they were someone undocumented.

Over the years law enforcement has pushed back on that. It’s racial profiling. Seeing these situations play out, not just in Washtenaw County but across the country, is really troubling. I think that local law enforcement and sheriffs have a responsibility to be a voice of reason and assure the public that we are not going to operate how ICE is operating.

QK: You’d raised concerns recently on your personal Facebook page about ICE targeting parents at school bus stops and reportedly detaining a mother in front of her child. Spokespeople for ICE dispute that account, calling it one of the “lies” that put their agents at risk. You later said the report you posted was inaccurate. But you say that doesn’t diminish your worries about how ICE typically operates now compared to a few years ago.

AD: There was a point in time where there was a separation between just focusing on enforcement removal operations and the work that Homeland Security was doing. And there were important things they were doing involving human trafficking and ensuring survivors of violent crime could get citizenship status. Now all of the resources are focused on deporting as many people as possible. I know people that have since retired from some of these agencies, that have said there’s a pressure for quotas. They are told, “You need to deport this many people a month.” That is abhorrent. That’s also a problem.

The Wayne County Airport Authority (WCAA) does not have contracts with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), but that doesn’t mean deportation flights won’t continue out of Willow Run Airport.

Chad Newtown, CEO of the Wayne County Airport Authority told attendees at the WCAA board of director’s meeting last week that ICE operations in and out of Willow Run Airport are between airline carriers and the federal agency.

Responding to questions from the public and media about whether the WCAA has contracts with ICE, Newton said the WCAA does not have any direct agreements with ICE.

“The [Wayne County Airport Authority] does not have any involvement in the agreements between airlines and their partners, including federal agencies, as long as those agreements meet legal and safety requirements.”

In 2025, there were over 150 flights in and out of Willow Run Airport, according to reporting from the Detroit News.

Can the Wayne County Airport Authority interfere with ICE operations?

The Wayne County Airport Authority, which operates Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport and Willow Run Airport, does not receive any tax support, but it does receive federal funding for capital projects.

That means it must make the airport publicly available to airline carriers without discrimination of flights they service, including federal agencies.

Who runs the Wayne County Airport Authority?

The Wayne County Airport Authority is an independent, governmental entity that has an appointed board of directors. The appointments are made by elected officials:

• Wayne County Executive (4)
• Governor (2)
• Wayne County Commission (1)

Noah Kincade, coordinator for Detroit Documenters by Outlier Media, joined The Metro to discuss the recent Wayne County Airport Authority meeting.

Shiva Shahmir is a Detroit Documenter who attended that meeting and contributed to this story.

The next Wayne County Airport Authority board of directors meeting is February 18, 2026.

Detroit Documenters by Outlier Media trains and pays citizens to attend public meetings and monitor local government and elected officials.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on demand.

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More stories from The Metro

Hundreds of people across Michigan protested against Immigration and Customs Enforcement over the weekend after an ICE agent shot a woman to death in Minnesota last week. 

Joshua Medina joined demonstrators at Detroit’s Clark Park on Friday night. He says Americans need to fight back against the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. 

“Force only understands force, right? And by no means I mean that in a violent way, but I mean that in a show of people power, right?”

There were protests across the nation over the weekend.  

– Reporting by Steve Carmody 

Additional headlines for Monday, Jan. 12, 2026

Auto Show

Detroit’s car companies are gearing up for the city’s annual Auto Show this week. 

Executive Director Sam Klemet says the event features immersive hands-on displays promoting both vehicle technology and the Motor City itself. 

“It’s a chance for everyone to come under one roof and see kind of what the auto industry is about…where it’s going…and what the city of Detroit is about. I mean you’ll see a lot of that as well. So I think that this is evolving into a content show.” 

Klemet adds that the event also celebrates those who love Michigan’s outdoor areas by showcasing vehicles and equipment designed for rugged terrain. 

The auto show opens to the public on Jan. 17.  

– Reporting by Quinn Klinefelter

Dinner with your Muslim Neighbor 

The City of Dearborn and Chef Amanda Saab are hosting a “Dinner with Your Muslim Neighbor” event this week at the Lincoln Ballroom at the Ford Community and Performing Arts Center. The event takes place Thursday, Jan. 15 at 6 p.m.  

The event hopes to give non-Muslim neighbors a chance to join Muslim neighbors to sit down and have deeper conversations together.  

Future Docs

The Wayne State University School of Medicine is hosting its Future Docs program in March. The event is hosted by the Medical Alumni Association to expose kids to hands-on science and medicine.

Future Docs is for children between the age of 6-12 years old. Children will experience 18 hands-on science workshops, such as Brain Blast, Wind Your Way Through DNA, and Heart Rocks. Kids receive a t-shirt, a backpack, and souvenirs. The event takes place on March 7 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 540 Canfield in Detroit.  

Tickets are $20 for adults and $35 for children. Tickets for WSU Medical Alumni Association members are $15 for adults, $30 for children.  

Listen to the latest episode of the “Detroit Evening Report” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.