Here’s the deal: Reporters at Michigan Public and outlier media spent months filing records requests with dozens of police departments, reading court filings, and screenshotting Border Patrol’s own Facebook posts. What they built is the most complete picture we have. At least 388 times since 2021, Michigan law enforcement stopped somebody and handed them over to federal immigration authorities.
The report names 43 agencies, including six Michigan State Police units. The stop is minor. Then the officer notices the person doesn’t speak much English or hands over a passport instead of a license. Or, it’s an ID the state database doesn’t recognize. Then comes the call to Border Patrol. Report after report, they all have the same ending.
And here’s the kicker: None of this is required. Michigan police have no obligation to call immigration agents. Zero. It’s a choice made on the side of the road by one officer or one supervisor.
And look what changed. In 2022, a Van Buren Township officer stopped someone over a license plate and called ICE to ask if they wanted him. The agent said no, that the administration was focused on violent offenders. In 2025, a Van Buren officer called in someone who allegedly ran a stop sign. This time, the feds said yes. Three officers drove nearly an hour across Detroit to hand them over. Same department, same kind of stop. Different president.
Now, a few Michigan agencies have gone further and signed a formal deal with ICE. It’s called a 287(g) agreement. It lets the feds deputize cops to do federal immigration work themselves. And nationally, these things have exploded from 135 when Trump took office to more than 2,400 today. The ACLU counted more than 77 million Americans living in a county where some local agency has signed on. And that was back in February, before this latest surge.
And there’s big money attached, too, like vehicles, equipment, salary reimbursement, even bonuses for agencies who get on board. Eight Michigan agencies have now signed one of these agreements. But here’s what matters. Almost none of those 388 Michigan cases needed one. Your city doesn’t have to sign anything. An officer just has to make that call.
So what? Well, in Southfield, the chief says his officers don’t ask anyone about immigration status. Because if they did, crime victims would stop calling 911. The city of Dearborn has had that policy in writing since 2024. Livonia also changed course after local residents showed up and complained.
But in other Michigan towns, it’s the opposite. And most people have no idea which reality they’re living in. That’s the whole story here. Because whether your cops help build Trump’s deportation machine isn’t a law you got to vote on. It’s a policy your city wrote, or never bothered to write. So find out. Ask your council. Ask your chief. It’s a public record. And they work for you.
Get the full story in this edition of so what? Michigan.
