A Detroit police department decision to reverse course on firing two officers who allegedly violated local law by coordinating an arrest with federal immigration agents has ignited outrage and accusations that the chief caved to Republican demands.
It has also played into a debate in the US around the role of local law enforcement amid the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown as many police departments – especially in large Democratic-run cities such as Detroit – have a policy of not co-operating with federal immigration operations.
The decision not to fire the officers – who called Customs and Border Protection in part because the subjects did not speak English – came after the Trump administration and Michigan Republican leadership publicly condemned the department on social media.
The reversal drew accusations that the city initially did the right thing, then buckled in the face of political pressure. The about-face was “surprising and troubling”, said Chris Gilmer-Hill, a community organizer who is running for state house in a district that partially represents Detroit.
“It appears that leadership at the DPD listened to [GOP Michigan house speaker] Matt Hall rather than listening to Detroiters,” Gilmer-Hill added. “The majority of Detroiters … we don’t support what ICE is doing and we don’t support what these officers did. So we need DPD to listen to what the people in Detroit want them to do.”
CBP has a larger presence in Detroit than Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), in part because the city sits on a border, across the river from Windsor, Ontario. The controversy represents the latest flare-up in the broader battle over the Trump administration’s draconian immigration crackdown.
On 16 December, Detroit police called border officers on an immigrant who was the victim of the crime, and who is now in deportation proceedings.
Another incident on 9 February came to light when a local reporter caught the Detroit police officers and border agents standing together on a street in downtown Detroit. When the reporter approached and asked what they were doing, a Detroit police officer declined to comment before getting in her vehicle.
The border agents got in their vehicle and drove off. Detroit police chief Todd Bettison announced the investigation days later, stating that a sergeant called Border Patrol to request translation services during a traffic stop.
Border agents “conducted their investigation … determined that the individual was not a US citizen” and took the person, who is now facing deportation, Bettison said in a statement several days after the incident.
On 25 February, bodycam footage of the incident leaked to YouTube shows the officers stating that the man, who is Venezuelan, could be “Pablo Escobar Jr”. One officer says the man “better start” speaking English because he’s “going to jail, buddy”.
The translation justification is likely a pretext because Detroit offers translation services, and city ordinance is clear that officers are not supposed to call the federal agents, said Christine Suavé, the policy, engagement, and communications manager with the Michigan Immigrants Rights Center.
Detroit police officers know what will happen when they call border patrol, Suave said, and their actions have “devastating consequences” because they dramatically reduce trust in local police.
“It’s disappointing that politics got in the way of good police policy,” Suave said. “The chief was taking the right steps,” Suave added. The center has not discussed the issue with the department yet, Suave said, but it generally has been a “good partner” in addressing immigration groups’ concerns.
In the days after the incident, police brass said they took the ordinance violation seriously.
“We’re just not in the immigration business. We never have been. Never will be,” assistant police chief Charles Fitzgerald told the Detroit city council on Tuesday. “It’s an extremely serious matter, and that’s how we take it. So that’s why, when the chief says what he says, he’s completely within his right to do so.”
On 19 February, the Detroit police board of commissioners voted 10-0 to suspend the two officers for 30 days without pay.
Soon after, Republican leaders expressed opposition to the moves.
ICE responded on 20 February on social media, offering the officers jobs.
“We have a place for you, patriots,” the agency’s official X account posted posted.
DHS later posted: “It’s absurd that two Detroit police officers would face punishment for alerting CBP about a criminal illegal alien – they are American heroes who chose public safety first.”
Meanwhile, Michigan gubernatorial candidate Mike Cox announced on X that he had set up a GoFundMe page that as of Wednesday had raised nearly $28,000.
“After decades of service to the people of Detroit, two respected police officers are now suspended without pay for 30 days,” the page said. “Not for misconduct, corruption, or neglect of duty, but for coordinating with federal law enforcement during routine police work.”
Amid the blowback and a lawsuit from one of the officers, a 27-year veteran, police chief Bettison announced he would not fire the officers. In a statement that day, Bettison said: “I am satisfied with the [board of commissioners’] decision, and I will not be pursuing termination of these two officers.”
In the lawsuit, the officer defended their vacation, claiming the person provided a fraudulent electronic Michigan driver’s license, and the officer needed to verify the person’s identity because she’d been unable to do so with a department-issued fingerprint scanner, so she called border patrol.
The leaked bodycam footage shows the officer stating that a lieutenant instructed her to call border patrol. The department had not said anything about the lieutenant.
Detroit mayor Mary Sheffield’s spokesperson said in a statement after the reversal that the mayor “supports” the policy against officers calling immigration agents.
“When the policy is violated, the chief and the board of police commissioners are responsible for determining the appropriate level of discipline, and Mayor Sheffield fully respects that process,” the statement said.
Gilmer-Hill said the controversy highlights the need for stronger laws that spell out punishment for offending officers.
Detroit thrives on its diversity and should be welcoming to everyone, Gilmer-Hill said. “When there’s a constant threat that for some people, if you have a simple interaction with DPD, then that could throw your whole life up in the air – it is incredibly scary, but that’s part of the intention.”
