TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – A black painted school bus with a Dutchman Tree Farms logo was pulled over by Grand Traverse County deputies around 10:15 a.m. on Friday, February 23rd when police officers saw the driver exhibiting erratic behavior, including swerving and lane departure.
The bus driver, who reportedly had confusing documentation according to Captain Chris Clark from the Grand Traverse County Sheriff’s Office, was given a traffic violation citation by GT County for improper lane use.
Confusing documentation causes deputies to call Border patrol.
Subsequently, the United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) was summoned following the traffic stop to further investigate the matter. The bus remained parked on the side of North Garfield Avenue for approximately five hours after the initial stop. According to the Traverse City Record-Eagle, the agents were investigating both the driver and the bus occupants.
This all happened on North Garfield Avenue near the intersection of Garfield and Hammond, across from the U.S. Postal Service Distribution Center. With the bus pointing north, it would indicate that it was traveling into or through the city of Traverse City to its final destination.
Who was on board?
It’s unknown how many people were on board the bus but an Up North Live said that the riders on the bus were transported away from the scene by border patrol and the bus was towed away.
Markings on the bus are from Dutchman Tree Farms.
Dutchman Tree Farms is a family-owned Christmas tree farm with their main farm being located in Manton, which is about 45 minutes south of Traverse City. The farm is operated by Joel and Gale Hoekwater and Chris and Sarah Maciborski.
The main farm/business is in Manton and according to the Northern Express, the company has, “grown into the largest Christmas tree producer in the state of Michigan, and one of the largest and most prominent sellers of Christmas trees in the entire United States.”
The Northern Express article, which came out in 2020, has Marketing Director Kate Dodde saying that the company owns or leases between 9,000 and 10,000 acres of tree
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farmland throughout northern Michigan, in approximately eight different counties, and that, at the time, had “right at a million trees right now” in terms of yearly sales. She added that the business also ships close to half a million Christmas wreaths a year.
The company also sells landscaping trees and other things during the spring and summer and grow and ship “household-sized evergreens to Christmas lots and retailers” including Lowes and Home Depots throughout the country. They ship their products, including the Christmas trees, all over the country.
Some living in the Manton community have commented online that company uses migrant farm workers for their business, possibly through a migrant workers program. However, we have not been able to confirm this as inquiries with the farm and the owners have gone unanswered – as well as our questions about who was on the bus and where they were going.
A city divided on illegal immigration.
The bus event has created quite a stir in the Traverse City community without definitive answers from the border patrol concerning the immigration status of the bus riders.
On the local Facebook page “Overheard in Traverse City” which has more than 92,000 members, several posts on the issue have garnered more than 1,000 comments with about half of them being concerned about the possibility illegal immigrants coming into the city and the other half shaming community residents and accusing them of being “racist.”
Michigan News Source has reached out to Border Patrol but they haven’t returned our request for comment. A FOIA to the Grand Traverse County Sheriff’s Office for the police report has been filed and we will bring you any updates to this unfolding story as more information becomes available.
For part 2 in the story click here – for the update on the immigration status of the occupants in the bus.
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