HAZEL PARK, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – Despite proudly touting in a press release last year, that it has deployed more than one million robots and is building an AI-driven logistics empire to “improve efficiency” and speed up deliveries, Amazon still relies on a massive human workforce to get your packages to your door. From warehouse sorters to Flex drivers, people still do the heavy lifting most of the time.
ICE at the loading dock.
But for all the talk of automation and artificial intelligence, last week’s scene in Hazel Park was a reminder that some of Amazon’s operations – and controversies – are still very human. In Hazel Park, Michigan, about ten miles north of Detroit, federal immigration agents showed up on February 2 and carted off two two Venezuelan men who were Amazon Flex drivers, men who media outlets are calling “asylum seekers with temporary protected status.” After a chase into the facility, the arrests happened in full view of employees after Amazon security let the agents in after the men breached the company’s turnstiles, a security checkpoint.
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According to Metro Detroit News, “ICE said officers attempted to conduct a vehicle stop when Romero (Edwin Romero Guttierez) fled from law enforcement, nearly colliding with multiple vehicles. As he approached the warehouse, Romero exited his vehicle, fled on foot, and left the car in drive.” Officials also said, “Romero Guttierez was previously arrested by Border Patrol in 2023 after crossing the border illegally in the Rio Grande Valley without inspection or parole by an immigration officer.”
And although initial reports only described the arrest of Guttierez, it has recently been reported that two Venezuelan men were arrested, the second one being Angel Junior Rincon Perez who had also fled into the warehouse. They are now in the North Lake Processing Center in Baldwin,
No proof of deliberate policy but plenty of questions.
To be clear, there’s no credible evidence that Amazon is deliberately hiring or using undocumented workers as part of some broader corporate strategy – the way it openly promotes its investments in AI and robotics. The Michigan arrests appear to involve individuals who some say have pending or recognized asylum claims that started under the Biden Administration relating to TPS (Temporary Protected Status). Still, when federal agents show up at a facility and make arrests, it naturally raises questions about vetting, work authorization, and how gig-based delivery systems operate in practice.
Michigan Democrats defend Venezuelans and ask for their release.
Detroit-area elected officials, including Democrats State Senator Stephanie Chang and Council Member Gabriela Santiago-Romero, have called on federal authorities to release the two Venezuelan men, who they say are “both holders of Temporary Protected Status with valid work authorization.”
According to the officials’ letter to the ICE Detroit Field Director, neither man has a criminal history, both support families in Michigan, and their detention has left loved ones without income and struggling to meet basic needs. The lawmakers argue the men – who they say have Michigan driver’s licenses and work authorization were simply reporting for work – should be released. They are calling the situation senseless and heartbreaking and urging that their character and “legal” status be taken into account.
Rushing to pad the bottom line?
Amazon may envision an efficient, AI-driven supply chain and they might end up with one at the end of the day. But until robots can load vans and navigate Detroit traffic, the system still runs on people – and sometimes those people come with complicated paperwork and even more complicated politics. For a company racing toward the future, Hazel Park was a reminder that the present is still very human.
