GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The investigation in Minnesota over an ICE officer shooting a woman has prompted a renewed call to discuss sanctuary policies in Kent County.
A group of my neighbors is asking local leaders again to push to protect immigrants.
“I’m asking for all of you to do what we think is the right thing, the just thing is to adopt these policies,” Jeff Smith said during public comment at the Kent County Commission on Thursday.
Smith and others in a group gathering at the regularly scheduled meeting shared their concerns.
Both Kent County and its largest city, Grand Rapids, have no sanctuary policies in place.
Some of the attendees, including neighbors from Grand Rapids, are renewing a push to adopt six policies, including:
- Policies restricting the ability of state and local police to make arrests for federal immigration violations, or to detain individuals on civil immigration warrants.
- Policies restricting the police or other county workers from asking about immigration status.
- Policies prohibiting “287(g)” agreements through which ICE deputizes local law enforcement officers to enforce federal immigration law.
- Policies that prevent local governments from entering into a contract with the federal government to hold immigrants in detention.
- Policies preventing immigration detention centers from being established in Kent County, which would include the use of the Kent County Jail as a detention facility for ICE.
- A policy that will not allow the Kent County Sheriff’s Department to share Flock camera images or any other information gathered by county staff with ICE or any other law enforcement agency seeking to arrest, detain and deport immigrants.
Some of the meeting attendees said several people went to the Kent County Sheriff's Office to talk about concerns about the office holding people in jail for immigration and customs enforcement.
“Because we refused to leave the building, we were arrested. So it's criminal to try to do harm reduction, but it's not criminal to terrify and terrorize and cause trauma to immigrant families,” Smith said.
I asked the sheriff’s office about this, and they said the group stayed at the building after public hours ended. They sent me this statement.
The Kent County Sheriff’s Office can confirm that on January 5, 2026, several individuals remained inside the Sheriff’s Office administration lobby after the public access area was closed to business.
Despite multiple requests by staff to leave the building, the individuals refused to comply. As a result, those individuals were cited for trespassing and released.
No individuals were taken into custody or lodged at the Kent County Jail.
The Kent County Sheriff’s Office remains committed to maintaining safe, orderly public access to its facilities while ensuring staff can continue to serve the community effectively.
I asked what Kent County’s official policy is when it comes to ICE operations. Here’s their statement.
We handle lawful custody and hold requests consistently, whether they originate from local, state, or federal authorities. When another jurisdiction has established legal authority to take a person into custody and requests continued detention, we may maintain custody only to the extent permitted by applicable law and our procedures. Any continued detention is limited and is intended to give the requesting agency time to present the required judicial paperwork, such as a signed warrant or court order, and to assume custody. We do not make independent determinations on the underlying case. We verify the legal basis for the request, apply the same process each time, and release the individual when the lawful basis to hold no longer exists.
In Grand Rapids, police have a policy of not detaining foreign nationals without a judicial warrant.
I’ve asked Grand Rapids Mayor David LaGrand before about adopting more specific language.
He says that they wouldn’t adopt a sanctuary city policy because they worry it could give people false hope about protections.
