Michigan Can Enact Immigration Laws to Protect Our Children and Families From Dangerous Immigration Enforcement Excesses

By Dr. Heather Bomsta

(February 7, 2026) – As child advocates, James Baldwin’s statement resonates strongly – we believe all children in Michigan are ours and worthy of protection, no matter where they were born.

Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been more active in Michigan since last spring; the agency reported detaining more than 2,300 people in Michigan in the last year. The vast majority of those detained are not wanted for crimes and do not have felony criminal records. We’ve seen a father with cancer detained for months, a parent detained after dropping a child off at school, and, recently in Ypsilanti four parents detained at a school drop-off/bus stop. At least five Detroit high school students have been detained and, in one case, a student deported before he could graduate. Children and parents in Michigan’s immigrant communities – citizens, refugees, asylum seekers who have legally entered this country and those without legal documentation – have been stressed and living in fear for months. It’s likely to get worse here in Michigan.

What we’re seeing and hearing from Minneapolis – the killings, masked ICE agents using pepper spray on high school students, the unrest, the jailing of children – could happen here in Michigan if we don’t act now to protect our kids and families. Michigan has an opportunity – right now – to enact state laws to help better protect our children from some of the harmful, dangerous immigration enforcement tactics we’re seeing in other states.

Humane Enforcement Is Part of Our Country’s History

Every country has immigration rules, but how each society chooses to enforce those rules – and how they treat vulnerable children and their caregivers in the process is a moral choice. The United States has deported immigrants for decades without the excesses and harms we have seen in Detroit and Minnesota. Let’s be crystal clear, sending children to jail, or sending armed, masked men into child care facilities to abduct teachers (video) is a choice, and it is morally wrong. This level of violence against children and their caregivers is not our history and it is not required; we can enforce immigration without killing, without terrorizing and jailing children, and while upholding basic human rights.

We Have to Act Now To Ensure Michigan and Our Children Do Not Have to Experience What We’re Seeing in Minnesota

There are two bills in the Michigan Senate – SB 508 and 510 – that could help restrain ICE, and increase protections for our kids. Other states, seeing the violence visited on Minneapolis – have or are considering similar laws. Two Minnesota school districts and a teacher’s union have filed a lawsuit to attempt to keep immigration enforcement out of schools.

Michigan needs to act now and put some common-sense state laws in place to protect our children – all of them – and their families. We need state laws so that we’re not at the mercy of federal decisions and shifting tides. The time is now.

Senate Bill 508 – Safe Spaces
For several decades, ICE has not conducted enforcement in “sensitive areas.” This was partially out of common sense, partially a moral choice by law enforcement and, more recently, a federal policy. Places like hospitals, schools, churches and child care centers were off-limits because these are places human beings, and especially children, need in their lives. No one wanted a child to be sick or injured or die because their caregiver felt unsafe taking a child to get needed medical care. No one wanted pregnant women to avoid hospitals and risk their health and the health of unborn children out of fear. There was general agreement that churches were places of peace and not immigration enforcement. Schools and child care centers were also protected, because all children – regardless of where they were born or decisions made by the adults in their lives – need care and education.

Children in Minneapolis don’t have safe spaces anymore. American citizen children who are black or brown have been swept up by ICE agents. Many parents pack them a lunch for school and put their passport around their neck or in their backpack. Schools have been cancelled because students and parents aren’t safe outside. Kids have been unintentionally caught up in protests, and infants exposed to pepper spray. Citizen children whose parents or other family members are not citizens are coping with sudden disappearances or the fear of them on a daily basis. Teens from families who have been in the US for generations do not go out with friends; they see what is happening and are afraid of US law enforcement. ICE enforcement the way it is being done in Minneapolis and Chicago is bad for children and families; Michigan needs safe spaces for our kids. Safe spaces are essential for all children. Having armed, masked men without ID badges come into a hospital or a child care center is traumatizing for citizen and non-citizen children, alike. When Liam Conejo Ramos, a five-year-old lawful asylum seeker in Minnesota was arrested by ICE and sent to a jail in Texas he was harmed, but so were his teachers, his classmates and his community.

The current administration has rescinded the “sensitive areas” policy, and this puts all Michigan kids at risk. Few parents, no matter their political views, want masked, armed men in schools – it’s terrifying for any child, whatever their citizenship status. Having a classmate deported would be hard for any child, but there is a difference between that happening through a court proceeding with human rights, rather than witnessing a friend or classmate being grabbed by unidentified, masked, armed men and shoved in an unmarked vehicle. Our country already has a youth mental health crisis, we cannot add to the trauma and stress our kids already face from bullying, social media, and school shootings. But, if Michigan doesn’t enact laws that protect safe spaces for children, these things will happen in Michigan like they are happening in other states.

SB 508 would limit immigration enforcement in sensitive locations including “educational buildings, places of worship, hospitals, sites of public ceremonies including weddings and funerals, courthouses, and places that provide assistance to children, victims of abuse, pregnant women, or individuals with physical or mental disabilities.” ICE could still obtain a court order or enter into these locations if it was required “to prevent immediate danger to the public.”

Senate Bill 510 – Making Law Enforcement Identifiable

Kids know what bad guys look like. They’re scary and wear masks. They hurt people and have big weapons. Kids see them in movies all the time; they’re the “bad guys.” When law enforcement is masked, unidentified, armed with military-grade weapons, and taking people away in unmarked vehicles, kids see villains. They see scary adults who are not safe. Parents want to tell children that if they are lost or need help they can approach a police officer, but no parent is going to tell a child it’s OK to approach armed, masked men and ask for help. Police officers cannot “protect and serve” children if kids can’t tell the good guys from the bad. We expose our children to greater risks when we remove police officers from the list of possible helpers in an emergency.

SB 510 “would require a law enforcement officer, while interacting with a
member of the public in performance of the officer’s duties, to wear an appropriate uniform.” Officers could not wear masks except in certain circumstances outlined in the bill.


The choices we make in difficult times say a lot about who we are as Michiganders. Let’s come together to pass these laws to better protect our children – all of them – from traumatising immigration enforcement.

Additional note: Michigan’s Children is hosting a podcast with Michigan Senator Mary Cavanaugh, to discuss SB 508 and “Protecting Michigan Kids From Traumatizing Immigration Enforcement Practices.” Follow our social media for more on the release date for this episode of “Speaking for Kids” or check our website.

Additional Resources on How Immigration Enforcement Negatively Impacts Kids:

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