Latest news with #ChristineSauvé
Yahoo
a day ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Michigan impact of immigration crackdowns
The Brief Michigan immigration advocates say they're seeing a sharp rise in arrests. The surge follows a dramatic shift in federal priorities by President Donald Trump. The Michigan Immigrant Rights Center says intake calls tripled as of last month. DETROIT (FOX 2) - A growing number of immigrant families in Michigan are feeling the effects of a nationwide crackdown. Advocates say arrests at ICE check-ins and court hearings are happening more often and the pressure is building. Local perspective Across Michigan, immigration advocates say they're seeing a sharp rise in arrests, especially at court hearings and ICE check-ins. "For several weeks now we've been seeing more arrests at ICE check-ins and at immigration court hearings. This started happening earlier in other states, but it's now happening pretty frequently in Michigan," said Christine Sauvé with the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center. Big picture view The surge follows a dramatic shift in federal priorities. Since President Donald Trump took office, the number of people booked into immigration detention for civil immigration violations alone has skyrocketed by more than 800%, jumping from about 860 in January to 7,800 in June. Many have no criminal record. "These arrests have already been possible, but it was very rare and usually meant that a person had violated conditions of their removal or an extreme exceptions," Sauvé said. The effects are rippling through local communities. The Michigan Immigrant Rights Center says intake calls tripled as of last month. "It is very difficult to keep up with the demand. We can't meet the demand and the need for legal advice for everyone in Michigan who needs it at this moment," Sauvé said. What they're saying The group says it's the only statewide organization in Michigan regularly receiving calls from people in immigration detention and says many immigrants come to the US legally. "This administration really has dismantled the many legal pathways that existed for immigrants to enter the country," said Sauvé. The other side The Trump administration defends the crackdown as a matter of law and order, saying the arrests protect public safety, deter illegal crossings, and fulfill campaign promises. Officials argue it's a course correction after years of leniency.
CBS News
12-05-2025
- Business
- CBS News
Federal cuts could impact health care and social services for Michigan immigrant families, community leaders say
As Congress prepares to consider massive cuts to health care and social services, those changes could spell significant changes for families in Michigan, particularly within the immigrant community. "These folks are our neighbors. They're our coworkers. They live in communities across the state, and they play key roles in Michigan's economy," said Christine Sauvé with the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center. As part of its budget reconciliation bill, Congress is considering potentially cutting $163 billion from federal spending to boost defense and homeland security. That nearly 10 % reduction would drastically cut vital community resources for all citizens, including education, subsidized food programs, and housing support. "Any safety net restrictions imposed through budget reconciliation will harm only lawfully present immigrants and their U.S. citizen children, rather, U.S. citizen family members," said Esther Reyes with the Protecting Immigrant Families Coalition. Some potential program cuts that would directly impact Michiganders include the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, which helped more than 430,000 households in the state last year, the Child Tax Credit and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. "With food prices persistently high and wages frozen in place, food security is already out of reach for far too many Michigan families and children," said Anna Almanza with the Food Bank Council of Michigan. "We'll see Michigan families losing that access to care and will experience costly delays in care, not just immigrants," said Jackie Chandler with the Michigan Primary Care Association. While the current budget plan still has a long way to go, community leaders say it is essential to prepare for what may come.
Yahoo
27-01-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
DOJ shuts down Detroit legal program helping immigrants in court after Trump order
A legal services program that helped about 4,000 immigrants last year in Detroit Immigration Court has been shut down by the Justice Department, part of a series of moves over the past week by President Donald Trump to toughen immigration enforcement. Since 2021, the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center has partnered with the Acacia Center for Justice to operate an Immigration Court help desk located at the court in downtown Detroit that assisted non-citizen immigrants in deportation proceedings who are not detained. The help desk was funded by the Department of Justice with a budget of roughly $400,000, said the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center. It helped educate immigrants facing court proceedings about their rights, legal options and how the court operates, which can be confusing for immigrants. The desk was often the only way for immigrants to get help and connect with pro bono attorneys. "It really fills a gap because full representation by an attorney for immigrants is very costly ... and takes a long time," said Christine Sauvé, a manager at the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center. "Some of our cases are 10 years long or more." Two days after Trump became president last week, the Justice Department sent a stop work order to the Acacia Center for Justice and other groups telling them to pause their legal service programs that assist immigrants, the Acacia center said. On Thursday, the help desk shut down, Sauvé said. The order was sent after the White House issued an executive order on Jan. 20 titled "Protecting the American People Against Invasion," referring to what it called an "unprecedented flood of illegal immigration." Under the order's Section 19, which deals with funding, it tells the Attorney General and Department of Homeland Security to immediately review and potentially audit "all contracts, grants, or other agreements providing Federal funding to non-governmental organizations supporting or providing services, either directly or indirectly, to removable or illegal aliens." The order says the two leaders of the federal agencies must ensure that grants and agreements "conform to applicable law and are free of waste, fraud, and abuse, and that they do not promote or facilitate violations of our immigration laws." During this review process, funding must be paused, the order said. "Our staff was not permitted to go back to the court (Thursday) and to continue," Sauve said. Shutting down the legal assistance "makes it harder for for individuals to find a lawyer, navigate the system, figure it out," she said. Shuttering the programs will makes the lives of some immigrants even more challenging, advocates said. 'The suspension of these longstanding programs could leave hundreds of thousands of vulnerable immigrants — including children and families — without access to basic legal information and representation," Shaina Aber, executive director of the Acacia Center for Justice, said in a statement. "This decision undermines due process and puts lives at risk, disproportionately harming those already facing tremendous hardship." Aber added that they are "ready to work with the Department of Justice to review and rapidly restore these essential services so that Acacia and our partners in the legal field can continue to deliver on the promise of justice for all." Mayor Mike Duggan: Detroit will continue to work with ICE The Detroit Immigration Court is one of several immigration courts across the United States. They're not independent like regular courts, but fall under the jurisdiction of the Executive Office for Immigration Review, which is part of the Department of Justice. The Executive Office for Immigration Review declined comment, said Kathryn Mattingly, press secretary for the office. Groups that call for reduced immigration have for years been asking presidents to target the courts to make it more difficult for immigrants to stay in the U.S. The closing of the help desk is one way in which Trump's executive orders are already impacting immigrant communities. Trump also issued an order ending birthright citizenship for many, but that order was immediately challenged by the ACLU in a lawsuit and a federal judge has temporarily blocked it. On Monday, the Arab American Civil Rights League held a press conference in Dearborn to offer legal assistance for immigrants who are concerned about deportations. It was one of several events held locally in recent weeks by immigrant advocacy and civil rights groups offering advice. The Detroit office of two branches of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement — Homeland Security Investigations and Enforcement Removal Operations — are working to arrest what they called "immigration violators" in a tweet posted Monday by Detroit HSI. ICE said they made 956 arrests nationally on Sunday. Contact Niraj Warikoo:nwarikoo@ or X @nwarikoo This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Trump's Justice Department closes Detroit program helping immigrants
