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On April 15, four sheriffs in northwest lower Michigan jointly issued a press release that questioned Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s stay-at-home executive orders at the height of the COVID-19 crisis in Michigan. It happened to fall on the same day that demonstrators planned “Operating Gridlock”, their first of what became several protests at the State Capitol in Lansing against Whitmer’s orders. State Representative Jack O’Malley and his staff helped the sheriffs organize and write the release.

During these busy summer days in the Leelanau fields, Marcelino sometimes feels as though he carries the weight of two migrant farmworkers. He once picked grapes, cherries and apples alongside 12-15 other workers, but this year there are only seven splitting their time between two small farms.