This past July 30, 2025, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detained 16 migrants in Michigan, all with decades of U.S. residency. Fifteen of them were arrested after attending routine appointments at the ICE office in Detroit; the remaining one was detained at his workplace in Lansing.
According to the Department of HomelandSecurity (DHS), the operation focused on people with criminal records and deportation orders issued by immigration judges years ago. However, family members and advocates maintain that most lead stable lives, with jobs, families and strong community ties.
Deep roots in the United States
Among those arrested by ICE are people who have lived in the country for more than four decades.
Cases such as that of a mother of four children and a working father who came to the United States as a child show that many of them have built their entire lives on U.S. soil.
For families, deporting them to countries where they have never lived or to which they have not returned for decades is inhumane and devastating.
Political and community reaction
Buzzy
Following the arrests, 27 state legislators sent a letter to the ICE office in Detroit asking for the immediate release of the detainees.
They argue that these actions separate families, generate fear and lack transparency.
State officials have also asked for explanations as to why the arrests were made during routine appointments.
They consider this a practice of “broken trust” with the migrant community.
Deportations reactivated
Recent cooperation from the Lao government and other countries has made it possible to execute deportations previously impossible due to lack of valid travel documents.
These actions separate families, create fear and lack transparency
QuéOnnda.com
Advocates fear that this new policy will reactivate hundreds of old cases and open the door to more detentions of long-term U.S. residents.
For more information, visit QuéOnnda.com.
