The Detroit Police Department disclosed interactions with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in a memo that was released by the City Council on Tuesday.
It shows ICE called DPD for assistance on two occasions since the start of 2025. One call came on Nov. 16, 2025, seeking a medical evaluation for a detainee whose wrist was injured. The other came on Dec. 2, 2025, to assist an ICE unit in pursuit of two individuals on foot. The memo states that two individuals assisted ICE in the foot chase, but no one was taken into custody.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security issued 63 detainers asking Detroit police to hold people who were arrested so federal agents could apprehend them. Each of them had already been arrested on other charges. Twenty-eight of the 63 individuals were picked up on the detainer by a federal agency.
The memo details another incident where DPD requested assistance from U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents on July 28, 2025. Police pulled over a person for running a stop sign who provided a Mexican consular ID card. Border patrol was called to assist with verifying the identification and the person was issued a traffic ticket, “then turned over to border patrol for further investigation.”
The Office of the Chief Financial Officer determined that no DPD funds are allocated to support ICE activities and no data sharing agreements exist with ICE. Detroit police facilities have not been used to stage or store ICE vehicles, according to the memo.
Bettison supports firing officers who called border patrol
Detroit police leaders assured the City Council that two suspended officers who violated internal policy prohibiting police from enforcing federal immigration laws are outliers in the department and will be punished appropriately.
First Assistant Chief Charles Fitzgerald was summoned before the council on Tuesday to provide context on incidents where officers “have taken it upon themselves” to contact U.S. Customs and Border Patrol.
Officers can’t ask a person’s immigration status to determine their compliance with federal law. Bias-based policing policy also prevents officers from treating immigrants differently.
Fitzgerald said a Dec. 16, 2025, incident was discovered during an audit of body-worn cameras, while command officers learned of another Feb. 9 incident. Non-citizens were apprehended by border patrol agents in both incidents, Chief Todd Bettison told a police oversight board last week.
Bettison suspended both officers and has recommended their termination. Fitzgerald said police commanders will hold a hearing to decide the fate of those officers within 21 days.
“We’re not in the immigration business at DPD, we never have and never will,” Fitzgerald said on Tuesday.
The reassurance comes after Bettison told council members that DPD policy prohibits involvement in immigration enforcement during his reappointment hearing.
Bettison acknowledged last week that District 6 Council Member Gabriela Santiago-Romero challenged him to hold officers accountable when they violate policy. Bettison said he’s ordered police commanders to spread the word: “Penalties will be severe.”
Officers are not to call federal agencies for translation services or report suspected undocumented citizens. Bettison said a language service hotline set up to help officers converse with non-English speakers was used 1,522 times in 2025.
Santiago-Romero says she’s talking with the Sheffield administration to set up a hotline for residents to report concerns of police officers working with ICE. She says it needs to be established as quickly as possible.
A handful of residents repeated calls for Detroit to become a sanctuary city, setting further limits on cooperation with federal immigration authorities. Santiago-Romero said undocumented immigrants are asking for legal aid and police accountability. She wants to take six months to craft an ordinance that is enforceable.
The council voted to disclose the contents of confidential memos outlining Detroit’s legal authority to restrict ICE activity. It states that Detroit may not ban ICE operations under the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
The memo states the city can control private spaces within public buildings and DPD resources.
Santiago-Romero said making Detroit a sanctuary city is a “split issue,” reflected in public comments the council heard on Tuesday. Kassandra Rodriguez, an activist with the Detroit Community Action Committee, said people are being deported while “we’re having a conversation about what we should call ourselves as a city.”
Fitzgerald said the Detroit Police Department is not notified about federal immigration enforcement operations, nor are they required to be. DPD will be asked to check on unaccompanied children and family members afterward, he said.
The council unanimously passed a resolution voicing support for a package of state bills that would ban law enforcement officers from wearing masks, designate protected spaces from immigration enforcement and ban government entities from providing personal information without a warrant.
The resolution states federal agencies “engaged in increasingly aggressive and militarized police tactics, widespread surveillance, and a disregard for basic human rights and the U.S. Constitution.” It describes the mass deportation effort as questionable, considering immigration offenses are enforced through civil proceedings and immigrants have been shown to commit fewer violent crimes than U.S.-born citizens.
“States and local governments have a duty to protect their residents from threats to their constitutional rights and their lives, even where those threats stem from the actions of the federal government,” the resolution states.
Detroit contracts include data privacy protections that stop vendors from selling or sharing city data with third-party entities, according to a new report.
The Legislative Policy Division studied data sharing policies at the request of District 7 Council Member Denzel McCampbell. The report states that all city contracts contain non-negotiable data protection language banning contractors from “access, use, disclose, sell, rent, transfer or copy the data for any purpose.”
Contractors are prohibited from using, transferring, or disclosing any of the data without specific written approval from the city. The language has been standard in agreements since 2018.
Santiago-Romero issued another request regarding surveillance cameras in residential neighborhoods.
Dumb dumb, since when do we not support other lawinforcement in the USA??