In the early morning hours of Sept. 30, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers were seen making an arrest in Ypsilanti Township, drawing a crowd. According to an informational release from Washtenaw County Sheriff Alyshia Dyer, members of the community gathered at the scene and called Washtenaw County Metro Dispatch during the incident. The community members on-site showed ICE officers the green card of the individual being detained and the individual was released on the scene, Dyer said.
ICE called 911 to report that the situation was unsafe from the crowd that gathered. According to a release from Dyer on Facebook, the crowd stopped officers from leaving, and deputies were called in to clear the scene. ICE officers left immediately after, and the community members soon dispersed as well.
The incident took place at approximately 7:30 a.m. outside a Speedway gas station on West Michigan Avenue, the informational release said. Lanae Bass, a resident in Washtenaw County, said she was inside the building when she heard shouting and saw lights flashing. She said she went outside to see a man on the ground, handcuffed, with three immigration officers on top of him.
“I’m thinking, ‘This is not okay.’ I need to figure out what’s going on because this man is screaming, like a mother’s cry,” Bass said. “My heart is breaking, and they keep asking for his identification repeatedly after he already showed them.”
The man asked Bass to call his wife, so she ran to her car to get her device as a crowd gathered. The officers began to let the man off the ground and into the officers’ vehicle, she said.
Bass called the man’s wife and explained that her husband was being detained. Bass said she then tried to stall the ICE officers until his wife could arrive. When his wife got there, she showed her husband’s identification and green card. Bass said the officers then slowly released the detained man.
“He had a bruise on his knee, and his wrists were super red,” Bass said. She described the man and his wife as being in great distress as they attempted to leave the scene.
After the man was released, community members blocked the ICE officers’ vehicles from all sides to prevent them from leaving. The officers turned on their lights and sirens before reportedly calling the sheriff’s office, saying the situation was unsafe.
“We just wanted [the ICE officers] to understand and sit down and take some time to think about what they did,” Bass said.
Washtenaw County Sheriff deputies arrived and dispersed everyone on the scene out of concern for public safety, according to the informational release.
“I felt heartbroken, and it was heartbreaking to actually watch in person,” Bass said. “I know we see videos, but to actually see it in person was completely different.”
Later in the day, the Washtenaw County Sheriff Office made a statement.
“We fully support our community’s right to peaceful protest. We also ask people not to physically block puts everyone at risk, including the community members people are trying to protect,” Dyer said in the release. "These situations can be heartbreaking. We have had to grapple with many of them alongside our community, and we understand that none of this is easy. We also have to ensure that local laws are followed and safety is maintained."
The sheriff’s office also clarified that it does not enforce immigration law, which is primarily a function of the federal government.
“To be clear about our role, WCSO does not do immigration enforcement and deputies took no part in any enforcement actions today. We do not honor voluntary ICE detainers or cooperate with immigration enforcement. We cannot verify anyone’s immigration status – and we have no authority to oversee or investigate federal agents for arresting people either,” Dyer said in the statement. “When 911 calls come in and a situation is escalating, our role is to keep everyone safe and de-escalate the situation, which deputies and dispatchers did appropriately today.”
If in need of local support, residents can contact the Washtenaw Interfaith Coalition for Immigrant Rights, or WICIR, for general services and support. The Movement for Immigrant Rights Action, or MIRA, can be contacted at the hotline 734-222-3852. Both of these services are non-law enforcement and community-based.
