By Carol Stiffler
When East Lansing became a sanctuary city in 2017, its city council voted 3-1 to officially declare itself as a safe haven for immigrants. The announcement was promptly reported through local news outlets.
The designation means that officers in the East Lansing Police Department won’t help federal agencies enforce immigration laws.
When Luce County became a sanctuary county, no declaration was made. That’s because there is no record of any county effort to reach sanctuary status. No documentation is available to indicate when, or even how, Luce County became a sanctuary.
Why? Because Luce County apparently never intended to become a sanctuary county.
“To my knowledge, Luce County never declared itself a sanctuary county,” said Michelle Clark, chair of the Luce County Commission. “If it did, it should be reflected in meeting minutes via a resolution.”
No such resolution has been found.
Various news sources and websites across the internet indicate that Luce County is one of nine sanctuary counties in Michigan – the others are Kalamazoo, Kent, Muskegon, Oakland, Washtenaw, Wayne, and Wexford. Some cities and counties are not officially designated as a sanctuary, but have indicated that they will welcome immigrants anyway.
The internet is full of confusion about sanctuary cities and counties, and most lists and reports of sanctuary areas differ – sometimes Luce is included; sometimes Luce is not. On August 30, 2024, Michigan News Source published a list of Michigan’s sanctuary counties and included Luce. The Center for Immigration Studies, at www.cis.org, includes Luce County in its comprehensive list of all sanctuary areas in the nation. A February 24, 2024 article in the Detroit Free Press “Does Michigan have sanctuary cities? Here’s where and what it means” does not include Luce County in its list of sanctuaries.
Luce County Sheriff Eric Gravelle and Undersheriff Mike Peters confirmed Luce County will indeed cooperate with federal agencies in regard to undocumented immigrants.
“If you’re here illegally, we’re going to turn you over,” Peters said. “If you’re an illegal looking to get safe harbor in this county, you’re barking up the wrong tree.”
Gravelle thinks it’s possible that a resolution passed by the county in 2020 that only intended to guarantee second amendment rights – the right to bear arms – may have sparked confusion. The resolution declared Luce County a “sanctuary for second amendment rights” and Gravelle surmises that the word “sanctuary” in that resolution may have stirred confusion. Chippewa County passed a similar resolution in 2020 to protect second-amendment rights, using the same “sanctuary” term then.
Other than that, county officials aren’t sure how Luce County was added to the list of sanctuary counties.
Since only a formal declaration can make a place a sanctuary, it stands to reason that a formal declaration may be all that is necessary to drop sanctuary status.
“I will add to the agenda to discuss at the next meeting and make a resolution that we are not a sanctuary county,” Clark said.
