Coalition fighting ICE detention center opening in Romulus says its movement is gaining steam

ROMULUS — A group of community and immigrant rights activists, faith leaders and environmental justice advocates are continuing to ramp up opposition to a proposed Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency detention center set to open in Romulus.

Known as the Coalition to Shut the Camps, the group has been a regular presence outside the proposed facility located at 7525 Cogswell Street, holding demonstrations every Saturday afternoon since ICE’s intentions with the former warehouse became known in mid-February.

On Monday, the group held yet another demonstration amid below freezing temperatures to voice their concerns with ICE, calling for the facility to be shut down before it even opens. The group also highlighted its recent submission of demands to local public officials in hopes to slow down the administrative approvals needed to greenlight the facility, and to inject a healthy dose of transparency into the process.

Five letters seeking full transparency and rigorous technical and environmental reviews before any public agency or regulated utility takes action to facilitate the proposed center were sent to the Great Lakes Water Authority, Wayne County, the City of Romulus, DTE Energy, and the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy. They each demanded that the public agencies and institutions, which have authority over water, sewer, drainage and other administrative actions tied to the facility, not move forward through closed-door meetings.

“We formed this coalition just like two and a half weeks ago, and we are making a statement loud and clear,” said Heather Miller, the coalition’s chair. “This is something we’re going to fight for. We are joining the people of Romulus to say, ‘we are not going to allow a concentration camp to be built in our neighborhood.”

Specifically, the coalition is calling for the public release of engineering studies, utility submittals, permit applications, and agency correspondence related to the proposed facility, and for the public institutions involved in the project to disclose its actual design, occupancy assumptions and infrastructure demands.

The coalition also wants public meetings and comment opportunities before any service commitments, permits, or major administrative decisions are made.

A rigorous environmental and technical review by all relevant agencies was also demanded, as well as information on inter-agency coordination before approvals, commitments, or service determinations are made.

Even if those demands for public disclosure and an open process are met, the group stands firmly against the facility even being opened.

The coalition’s Monday demonstration was also attended by state Rep. Erin Byrnes (D-Dearborn), who said ICE was not welcome in Michigan, nor Wayne County.

“And they’re sure as hell not welcome in Romulus,” Byrnes said. “I’m from the city of Dearborn. We are a global community in Dearborn, and our community is thriving and beautiful and strong because of our immigrant community members. We know that that’s true in Dearborn. That’s true across the state of Michigan and across the country. We know that President Trump and his goon squad of ICE agents are trying to destroy the beauty of our communities right here in Michigan, and we absolutely cannot allow that. We cannot allow ice to occupy this building, this facility behind us.”

George Washington, an attorney working with the coalition, said the people of Michigan saw what happened in Minnesota with ICE this past year, and Chicago and Los Angeles before that. Washington said it was his estimation that the majority of working people were on the side of those standing against ICE, not for it.

“They hate this stuff,” Washington said. “They do not want to see their sisters and brothers drug out of cars, beaten on the street and murdered in the street by ICE.”

Washington worried about what precedent might be set if the facility was allowed to open. Romulus has access to nearby Detroit Metropolitan Airport, giving ICE access to airlines to freely move detainees in and out of the proposed facility. He also worried about increased raids before and after the November election.

Tonya Rincon, a member of UAW Local 900, said that her time as a factory worker taught her the value of the immigrant community in southeast Michigan. She also said that warehouses were for cargo, not human beings, making the whole premise of the facility more ominous.

“On the line, we work with Armenians and Greeks and Ethiopians and Lebanese people, and it doesn’t matter,” Rincon said. “We can all build cars together. What we don’t want is this warehouse housing immigrants right next to our plants. We don’t need that because we work together with immigrants on the line every day, and it never caused a problem, and it doesn’t cause a problem today.”

The coalition will continue to have a presence outside of the facility on Saturday afternoons, Miller said, and that includes the upcoming No Kings Day protests, which will be held nationwide on March 28.