LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – President Donald Trump campaigned on tougher immigration enforcement and mass deportations. However, Democratic lawmakers around the country are responding with a legislative strategy of their own: putting up state-level guardrails – and, depending on whom you ask, roadblocks – for federal immigration authorities.
Breitbart News reported Sunday, August 16, that Democratic lawmakers have introduced roughly 250 pro-migrant bills in blue state legislatures aimed at limiting cooperation with Trump’s deportation agenda or expanding protections for immigrants.
Michigan Democrats target ICE enforcement.
MORE NEWS: Share the Wealth: DSA Makes Inroads in Michigan Democratic Party
Michigan Democrats are part of that effort. Among some of the most significant proposals in the state are Senate Bills 508, 509 and 510, a package of Democratic-backed measures designed to provide greater protections for illegal aliens and restrict how immigration authorities operate in Michigan.
SB 508, sponsored by Senator Mary Cavanagh (D-Redford Twp.), would restrict immigration enforcement at places such as schools, hospitals and churches. SB 509, sponsored by Senator Stephanie Chang (D-Detroit), would limit when state agencies can share residents’ personal information for immigration enforcement without a judge’s warrant. SB 510, sponsored by Senator Jeremy Moss (D-Bloomfield), would prohibit federal law-enforcement officers from wearing masks to hide their identities while carrying out enforcement actions.
In other words, while Trump is telling ICE to step up enforcement, Michigan Democrats are working on legislation spelling out where agents can operate, what information they can access and even what they can wear while doing the job. Moss said in a statement about the legislation that “unethical, terrorizing immigration enforcement tactics” have been used under the Trump administration and Cavanagh added, “Every resident in our state, no matter their citizenship status, deserves to be treated with dignity, respect, and basic human decency.”
No property for ICE.
The effort to put limits on ICE doesn’t end with how agents conduct enforcement. Michigan Democrats are also looking at where the agency can set up shop in Michigan. House Bill 5494 takes the fight from immigration enforcement to state-owned real estate. The legislation would prohibit state agencies from selling or transferring state-owned property to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and would place restrictions aimed at preventing transferred state property from later being used as an ICE detention facility. The official legislative description sums up the proposal simply: “sale of state property to federal immigration and customs enforcement; prohibit.”
But the push doesn’t stop there. Michigan House Democrats have introduced additional bills aimed at immigration enforcement and even where some former federal immigration officers could work afterward. HB 5495 would strengthen restrictions involving searches and arrests by federal immigration officers, including protections involving entry into homes without judicial warrants. Meanwhile, HB 6208 would prohibit certain former employees of ICE, Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services from becoming licensed Michigan law-enforcement officers if they worked for those agencies between September 1, 2025 and January 20, 2029. Another proposal, HB 4941, would prohibit certain agreements that allow state or local authorities to assist with federal immigration enforcement.
Licenses for illegal aliens.
Michigan Democrats have also repeatedly pushed the Drive SAFE legislation, which would allow undocumented immigrants to obtain Michigan driver’s licenses and state identification cards regardless of their immigration status. Previous versions of the package sought to remove the requirement that applicants prove legal presence in the United States, provided they could establish their identity and Michigan residency. Supporters argue licensing undocumented drivers would improve road safety by requiring them to pass driving tests and obtain insurance, while opponents contend the state should not provide government-issued identification to people who are in the country illegally. The proposal has been introduced repeatedly in Lansing but has so far failed to become law.
Two very different directions in Lansing.
MORE NEWS: Trump Administration Orders Michigan Coal Plant to Stay Online Amid Grid Reliability Concerns
The legislation and proposals pointed to above highlight an increasingly stark divide over immigration policy between the Republicans and the Democrats in the state. Democrats describe their measures as protections for immigrants, refugees, privacy and public safety. Critics see them as attempts by state lawmakers to make Trump’s federally mandated immigration enforcement considerably more difficult.
