In a bid to influence policy change, a coalition of immigration advocates, predominantly led by Catholic leaders, assembled in Detroit on Monday. Their mission: to convince state and national candidates to champion their newly adopted policy objectives.
Among the passionate voices was Guadalupe Enriquez, a resident of Sterling Heights and an active member of Strangers No Longer. Accompanied by her daughter, Enriquez addressed over 200 leaders from religious and community backgrounds, advocating for the issuance of driver’s licenses to individuals in Michigan who lack federal authorization. This practice has been prohibited since 2007, as outlined in the state’s ban on licenses for unauthorized immigrants.
“Having a driver’s license would help us immensely,” Enriquez expressed in Spanish. “We could live without so much worry and fear. It would help keep our children focused on their schoolwork, instead of worrying about whether we’ll make it home safely.”
Established by Catholic leaders in 2017, Strangers No Longer emerged as a response to the unfavorable immigration policies initiated during President Donald Trump’s administration. Initially, the group concentrated on advocating for driver’s licenses, although they faced a setback last year when their proposal to extend these licenses to individuals without permanent legal status was rejected.
In recent months, the organization has been conducting “circles” of discussions among immigrants throughout the state to identify the legislative priorities most crucial to their community.
The result of these discussions was the adoption of five policy proposals, including enhanced oversight of immigration detention centers and the establishment of clear due-process rights for detainees. Additionally, the group urged legislators to discourage local police from collaborating with federal immigration agencies.
State Attorney General Dana Nessel, present at the gathering, criticized such collaborations, describing them as complicit in illegal actions carried out by agencies like Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Such actions, she noted, have included the wrongful detention of U.S. citizens.
“If your local law enforcement agency is cooperating with ICE’s illegal operations, they could very well open themselves up as a municipality to significant liability concerns,” Nessel stated. “Literally in a way that could bankrupt local communities. The federal government has far more legal protections and resources to get lawsuits of this nature dismissed, so plaintiffs will turn to the lowest hanging fruit to exact their comeuppance.”
Although her office is not actively pursuing such litigation, Nessel emphasized that they have been alerting law enforcement across Michigan about the risks of cooperating with ICE or CBP.
The event concluded with representatives from diverse church denominations and community organizations ratifying the policy platform. Strangers No Longer Executive Director Bill O’Brien described the spectrum of participants as ranging “from bishops on one hand to a group over in Port Huron that’s just getting started.”
“We’re not proposing pie-in-the-sky [policies],” O’Brien stated. “We’re proposing things that a governor could do, proposing things that a local police chief could do, things that a county commission could do. They’re very doable.”
While Strangers No Longer does not intend to endorse political candidates, the organization plans to assess the positions of those seeking office on these key proposals.
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