Arrest puts Leelanau’s immigrant community on edge

Border Patrol school stakeout decried … local police played no role … rift exposed among county officials

Caption: This photo taken by a motorist appears to show an undercover agent from U.S. Customs and Border Patrol shortly after detaining a Leelanau County man.

By Jacob Wheeler

Sun editor

The sudden arrest and transport to a Sault Ste. Marie detention center of a long-time Lake Leelanau resident, father and small business owner on Thursday, March 22, has put Leelanau County’s immigrant community on edge. Neighbors, friends and immigrant rights advocates are crying foul over how the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) detained the man. (With his court date looming, we won’t reveal the man’s identify.)

Previous media reports incorrectly identified Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as the arresting agency; the Glen Arbor Sun has confirmed that CBP made the detention.

Rob Sirrine was dropping off his child at Leland High School on the morning of March 22 when he noticed what he described as a black F-150 Ford pickup truck parked next to the church adjacent to the school, allegedly monitoring people as they entered the school. He then observed the pickup leaving the neighborhood at an elevated speed. Later, on M-204 between Leland and Lake Leelanau, Sirrine saw the black pickup had pulled over a minivan to the south side of the road. It was two undercover agents from CBP, wearing what Sirrine remembers as flannel shirts, sunglasses and winter hats. Under different circumstances, he might have assumed they were construction workers or students late to class.

“They are lurking around schools and driving unsafely,” Sirrine wrote on Facebook. “You would think that with all of the issues around schools, the federal government would have more tact than that.”

CBP operates within a 100-mile “border zone” and since Michigan is surrounded by the Great Lakes, the federal agency considers the entirety of the state as falling within that zone. Recent immigrant arrests in northern Michigan have been attributed to CBP rather than to ICE.

 

Did Border Patrol violate it’s “no go” zone?

But both U.S. Customs and Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement typically observe rules of engagement that deter them from operating in what they term “sensitive locations”. According to the Border Patrol’s website: “locations covered by these policies would include, but not be limited to:

• Schools, such as known and licensed daycares, pre-schools and other early learning programs; primary schools; secondary schools; post-secondary schools up to and including colleges and universities; as well as scholastic or education-related activities or events, and school bus stops that are marked and/or known to the officer, during periods when school children are present at the stop;
• Medical treatment and health care facilities, such as hospitals, doctors’ offices, accredited health clinics, and emergent or urgent care facilities;
• Places of worship, such as churches, synagogues, mosques, and temples;
• Religious or civil ceremonies or observances, such as funerals and weddings; and
• During public demonstration, such as a march, rally, or parade.

Both schools and churches are seemingly included in CBP and ICE’s “no go” zone.

“Enforcement actions may occur at sensitive locations in limited circumstances, but will generally be avoided,” the federal website continues. “ICE or CBP officers and agents may conduct an enforcement action at a sensitive location with prior approval from an appropriate supervisory official, or if the enforcement action involves exigent circumstances.”

Customs & Border Patrol public affairs officer Kristoffer Grogan confirmed the arrest of a Mexican citizen who he described as undocumented “after receiving multiple concerned citizen calls.” The arrest, he wrote in an email, “was the result of a traffic stop and did not occur at a high school.”

“Our Agents do not stake out at schools,” Grogan added in a follow-up email from his Macomb County office. That claim directly contradicts Rob Sirrine’s eye witness report.

 

Loss, pain, faith in local police

The detained immigrant has been a longtime fixture in the Leelanau community.

“[He is] a very hard-working man and [has been] part of our community for years,” said Tracy Smedes-Hepler. “He worked all day at his own business on Tuesday and then came to my house and spent five hours painting because he wanted to help us get our house ready to live in again after our son died in December. I adore this family and am so sad for them.”

Leelanau County police had nothing to do with the March 22 detention. Sheriff Mike Borkovich and other deputies maintain they had no prior knowledge from any federal agency that an arrest was about to happen. Borkovich was out of town, in Florida, watching his son pitch Minor League Baseball.

In fact, shortly after the arrest, Undersheriff Steve Morgan, acting on a tip from someone else who saw the arrest taking place, took it upon himself to visit the home of the detainee and speak to his wife to learn what had happened.

“I told her we’re local law enforcement and had no part in this,” Morgan said.

The person who answered the door initially hesitated out of fear that more people might be arrested, but ultimately found the badges of local law enforcement reassuring and regarded them as trustworthy.

 

Rift among Leelanau County officials

Nearly two weeks after the arrest, on Wednesday, April 4, Leelanau County administrator Chet Janik emailed Sheriff Borkovich looking for clarification on what role (if any) Leelanau County law enforcement plays in such arrests, and if prior notice is given by the federal agency.

“The recent arrest of a county resident by federal … agents in Leland has resulted in several Commissioners getting e-mails and phone calls from residents which has led to some interesting dialogue and rumors,” wrote Janik, who encouraged Borkovich to speak at a commissioners’ meeting the following Tuesday.

Borkovich’s response that afternoon was impassioned, animated and infused with politics.

“If necessary, I will advise the Leelanau County Board of Commissioners of our Leelanau County Sheriff’s Office Policy and Procedure which will always be to support ALL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES and LAWFUL COURT ORDERS WITHOUT BIAS or PREJUDICE. We will continue to enforce all laws and protections granted by the Constitution of the United States of America EQUALLY and WITHOUT BIAS as long as I am the Sheriff of Leelanau County.”

“I am becoming quite bored with the left wing elements who reside in or attempt to unduly influence those who live in Leelanau County with their incessant push to have Leelanau County become some sort of SANCTUARY for those people who KNOWINGLY and WILLINGLY break our Federal, State or Local laws.”

“I am more than willing to address this blatantly political issue in a public forum context and further will openly challenge any suggestion that we treat our Citizens UNFAIRLY or UNEQUALLY as a result of external political bias.”

The Sheriff is known to take a conservative, constitutionalist view of immigration enforcement. He told the Glen Arbor Sun last summer that he would support ICE or the Border Patrol if they asked for assistance from his department.

Borkovich signed his name last month to a letter from the National Sheriffs’ Association that encouraged Congress to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexican border and crack down on undocumented immigrants. The letter stated that immigrants make communities less safe, but without citing evidence.

“As elected Sheriff’s, we have taken an oath to do everything in our power to keep our citizens and legal residents, our communities, and our nation safe. Year after year, we have been warning the Federal government about detrimental increases in transnational drug trafficking, gang violence, sex trafficking, murder, and other escalating incidents of crime by illegal aliens entering our country.”

In Northern Michigan, the Hispanic immigrant community is primarily associated with the agricultural economy and the crop growing seasons. There is no evidence that ties migrant farm laborers to any increase in crime.

Response to Borkovich’s email to County officials was swift.

“I find the Sheriff’s response chilling,” wrote county commissioner Ty Wessell. “When I raised the question it was in response to several constituent calls referencing concern for the family, the reckless (reportedly) behavior of [federal] agents at Leland School … and the appropriateness of conducting such enforcement actions at a public school.”

“Too bad the Sheriff is bored by legitimate questions, but that is part of being a public servant. I don’t see this as a political issue, don’t consider myself ‘left wing’ and do not favor ‘sanctuary status’. I do believe all those elected to serve the public have an obligation to seek answers to questions raised by those they represent.”

County administrator Janik also questioned whether the relationship between Leelanau County law enforcement and federal agencies should be construed as a political issue.

“I do not view the request from the Commissioners as being political,” he replied via email to Borkovich. “Residents on both sides of the political spectrum were asking questions as to whether County Officials were involved in the arrest of the gentleman from Leland and I believe that we as public employees have an obligation to respond respectfully to those inquiries. I can tell you that I have also been asked these same questions from people that have very different views on this issue and my belief has been that we should respond to these types of issues with simply the facts and with no personal or political biases.”

In the email thread obtained by the Glen Arbor Sun via a Freedom of Information Act request, Leelanau County prosecuting attorney Joe Hubbell added that his office had no prior knowledge of enforcement actions by any federal agency. “We have no involvement whatsoever as to the actions undertaken by ICE in Leelanau County.”

In a follow-up interview with the Sun, Borkovich offered that he simply disagreed with Janik about whether a public county commissioners’ meeting was the right place to talk about immigration enforcement.

“A public board meeting is a place to discuss finances, and purchases, and where to put phone towers,” said Borkovich. “Not the place to hold a debate about immigration or illegal immigration. The room would fill up.”

Borkovich reiterated that he’s never gotten a call from ICE or the Border Patrol but suggested that he could be judicious if that call ever came.

“If ICE calls and says ‘there’s a guy in the woods with a gun’, we’re going to help. But if they call and ask for a list of people in Leelanau County with the last name ‘De La Cruz’ … we don’t do that.”

Click here to read the transcript of those emails between Leelanau County officials: Janik-Borkovich-Wessell-FOIA