ICE operation rumors hit West Michigan communities
KALAMAZOO, Mich. (WOOD) — Dozens of posts warning of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in West Michigan have sprung up on social media in recent days. It prompted one Kalamazoo nonprofit to warn against spreading possible rumors.
One of those posts centered around a grocery store. On Friday, El Ranchero manager Anai Rietkerk said the day started with calls and texts from family worried about online posts that said ICE agents were in Kalamazoo. Soon, those calls were coming from customers asking if agents were at the store.
'I got here and everyone's saying people keep calling and calling, asking if ICE was here and I'm like 'What? There's no way,' and so there was nonstop back-to-back calling and calling, people are scared, people are worried to come shop,' she said.
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She said calls from customers and even other stores had staff worried. Staff started checking cameras and around the store.
'But we saw absolutely nothing so I mean really it was rumors, and all of our employees were a little bit scared, a little bit nervous like, 'Hey what's our plan, what do we do if they do come in?' said Rietkerk.
With few customers in during the store's usual peak hours, Rietkerk took to Facebook to dispel the rumors and saying that the store was safe to shop in.
'After that was posted, it all seemed to kind of calm down a little bit and then people started to come in. Still a little frantic, a little scared, of course, which is understandable. I mean, it was scary,' she said.
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Kalamazoo nonprofit El Concillio made a post that same day that it could not confirm the presence of immigration agents in Kalamazoo.
'For this reason, we ask everyone to please only share verified and reliable information, as spreading baseless rumors can generate unnecessary panic in our community,' the post said.
Employees at several other Hispanic stores told News 8 they heard about the posts but didn't see much change in shoppers coming in.
One customer said it was a different experience in the neighborhood. He said people were fearful about ICE agents appearing all around Kalamazoo. After Friday, he said that panic has settled, now replaced with an uneasy caution.
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Rietkerk said that fear has some customers shopping for friends and family worried about leaving home. She hopes in the future, people post responsibly.
ICE officials said the first wave of the target operations have a focus on persons with known serious criminal records.
News 8 reached out to the ICE Detroit field office to learn if any of those operations took place in Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids in the last week but has yet to hear back.
The Muskegon Police Department a list in both English and Spanish aimed at clearing up the rumors.
'The Muskegon Police Department has not had any contact with federal agencies about immigration enforcement in the City of Muskegon,' read one item on the list.
It also clarified that Muskegon PD officers would not arrest or detain anyone for their immigrant status or check immigration status during any interaction with anyone. Immigration-related documents shared with Muskegon police will not be shared with other agencies.
'We understand that recent social media posts about Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in Muskegon may have raised concerns among our residents. We want to address these rumors to ensure transparency and provide peace of mind,' the post read.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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