Immigration enforcement in the United States has escalated sharply this year. Under the Biden administration, the daily number of people detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) peaked at just under 40,000. In President Trump’s second term, that number has surged to more than 65,000.

A striking majority of those detainees — nearly three-quarters — have no criminal convictions.

Michigan has felt this shift acutely. Longtime residents with work authorization, U.S.-citizen children, and active immigration cases are increasingly being detained. One of them is Ernesto Cuevas Enciso.

Who Ernesto is

Ernesto came to the United States from Mexico in 1995. He was three years old. His baby sister, Miriam, was one. They grew up in Detroit one grade apart, sharing classrooms, milestones, and daily life.

As an adult, Ernesto became a DACA recipient. That protection was later revoked when prior, nonviolent misdemeanors surfaced during a renewal screening—a common outcome even for minor offenses from many years earlier.

Today, Ernesto has legal work authorization through a different process and is pursuing a marriage-based green card application. He is a construction worker, a husband, and a father to a one-year-old daughter.

Arrest in Ypsilanti

Last week, Ernesto and another construction worker were near a job site in Ypsilanti when an unmarked vehicle approached. ICE detained both men.

Ernesto is now being held more than three hours from home at the North Lake Processing Center in Baldwin — currently the largest immigration detention facility in the Midwest.

Operated by the private prison company GEO Group, North Lake has been the subject of repeated concerns from families, attorneys, and civil-rights groups, who describe cold temperatures, limited access to medical care, and difficulty contacting legal counsel. ICE has disputed these claims, saying the facility meets federal standards.

Ernesto is awaiting an immigration hearing on December 17.

Family and lawmakers call for his release

Ernesto’s family and several Michigan lawmakers are urging ICE to release him on bond. They describe him as not a safety risk, a man who has been following the legal process, supporting his family, and working toward lawful permanent residency.

His sister, Miriam Stone, spoke with The Metro’s Robyn Vincent about the impact of this detention on their family and why they believe Ernesto should come home while his case proceeds.

What comes next

To understand the legal and policy context behind Ernesto’s case and why so many longtime Michigan residents are being detained this year, The Metro also spoke with Christine Suave of the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center, who explains the legal landscape and what options remain for someone in Ernesto’s position, and State Sen. Stephanie Chang, who discusses what Michigan lawmakers can and cannot do in response to federal immigration enforcement decisions.

ICE response

The Metro contacted Detroit’s office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. We asked why they detained Ernesto, given his legal work authorization and his pending marriage-based green card, and if ICE considers a person with two nonviolent misdemeanors, which occurred over a decade ago, to fall within its priority categories of enforcement.

The agency has not yet responded.

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Michiganders have lived with water insecurity for years. Detroit’s mass shutoffs in the mid-2010s put the issue in the national spotlight, but the struggle didn’t stay in Detroit. Residents in small cities and rural towns have faced rising rates, aging systems, and growing household debt, too.

This year, lawmakers are taking another run at a statewide fix.

A new bipartisan set of bills would create a state fund for low-income water assistance, cap bills for many struggling households, and set firm rules around when water can be shut off. The plan nearly passed last session in the Michigan legislature, but collapsed in the final days. Now it’s back with updated language, a broader coalition, and a place on the Michigan Senate floor.

Democratic State Senator Stephanie Chang has spent years drafting and refining statewide affordability legislation and Sylvia Orduño, a longtime organizer with the People’s Water Board Coalition, has worked on water access and human rights advocacy for more than 25 years.

They joined Robyn Vincent on The Metro to discuss why this moment matters, and what Michigan could gain or lose in the months ahead.

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Michigan lawmakers are working on bipartisan approaches to ensure crimes are accounted for and increase privacy for lawmakers.

WDET’s Cheyna Roth and Gongwer News Service’s Alethia Kasben talk with State Senator Stephanie Chang and State Representative Sarah Lightner. They discuss the Violent Crime Clearance Act, shielding of addresses for certain public officials, and more. 

Murder-solve rate in Michigan

According to a Michigan State Police report, the murder-solve rate is at 31.7% as of March of 2025. State Rep. Lightner said there could be more done to help law enforcement solve crimes.

She says a bill she introduced with State Senator Stephanie Chang will, “allow more for technical assistance for forensics or more people to investigate. [This bill] would help utilize those dollars better and have better access to labs.” 

Privacy for public officials

Another proposal both lawmakers were unified on was a bill that shields the addresses of certain public officials. Due to the increased climate of political violence over the past several years, both legislators want to help ensure safety for lawmakers.

State Sen. Chang said, “We are in a different time with the heightened risk of political violence. The judicial protection act was spurred by the killing of a judge’s son. Having personal identifying information puts everyone at further risk.” 

State Sen. Chang said now that the state budget is done, these bills have a better change of being addressed  

More MichMash

I-375 is not just a concrete thoroughfare — it is a reminder of how Black neighborhoods were sacrificed, and how the promise of repair remains unresolved today.

When it opened in the 1960s, the freeway bulldozed Black Bottom and Paradise Valley. Those neighborhoods had been cultural and economic hubs for Black Detroiters. Residents were displaced and businesses were cut off.

Decades later, state and city leaders proposed replacing that mile of freeway with a surface boulevard. They said the plan was more than infrastructure. It was meant to acknowledge the historic harm wrought by I‑375’s construction.

But costs for the plan soared. And the design? Well, it still looks like a highway to many. Earlier this month, MDOT hit pause. Supporters call the pause a chance to rethink, but critics worry it means the project may never get off the ground.

Michigan State Sen. Stephanie Chang (D-Detroit) has been one of the most vocal leaders pressing for change. She has pushed to scale back the boulevard, center safety, and she wants to ensure any new land honors the legacy of families and businesses displaced decades ago.

She joined Robyn Vincent on The Metro to discuss what the start of real repair could look like.

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Michigan has long been home to Hmong refugees. The community comprises families who fled war, lived in refugee camps, and rebuilt their lives in the United States. Many fought alongside the U.S. during the Vietnam War.

Last month, ICE agents arrested and detained around a dozen Hmong refugees in Detroit. 

Michigan State Rep. Mai Xiong (D-Warren) was on The Metro urging for clarity from federal immigration officials.

A spokesperson for Immigration and Customs Enforcement later told The Metro the people arrested include “a known gang member” and convicted criminals.

Still, family members and lawmakers like Xiong and State Sen. Stephanie Chang say the cases are more complex than that. They issued an open letter to ICE field director Kevin Raycraft, urging for the release of detained community members.

Arrested at work, a family in limbo

Last week, ICE deported some of the detained Hmong and Laotian refugees. Several are still in custody, including Lue Yang, a torque technician in the auto industry, a father of six, and president of the Hmong Family Association of Lansing, MI. 

Family describes him as a vital community leader.

“He has literally brought our Hmong community out and gave us a voice — that we do exist in the state of Michigan,” said Ann Vue, Yang’s wife.

Yang was arrested at work in July and is now in custody in a federal detention center in Baldwin. His potential deportation could stem from a decades-old conviction that the state expunged. 

Aisa Villarosa, an attorney with the Asian Law Caucus, says she is concerned about the “covert nature” of many of these arrests and deportations — and the people ICE is targeting.

“We are seeing folks who are anchors of their communities, beloved family members, stripped from their families, often after decades of living peacefully in their communities,” Villarosa said.

State response and what’s at stake

Chang is crafting legislation to protect families like Yang’s, but she says state policy has limits.

“These are not violent offenders. These are not people who are a danger to the community.”

Chang urges a case-by-case judgment that weighs identity, community ties, and journey — not just records. How that plays out in Yang’s case could signal how much due process and consistent legal standards govern these cases.

Guests: 

• Ann Vue, wife of detained Hmong refugee Lue Yang
• Aisa Villarosa, immigration attorney with the Asian Law Caucus
• Michigan State Senator Stephanie Chang

Subscribe to The Metro on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR.org or wherever you get your podcasts.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on demand.

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