President Donald Trump and Republicans want to transform the election process.

Recently, the president signed an executive order that seeks to change how mail-in voting works, placing it under the oversight of the Department of Homeland Security. Trump and Republicans are also trying to pass the SAVE Act, which would ensure voters provide documentary proof of citizenship at the time of registration and a photo ID at the time of voting.

All of this is happening as the president has called to “nationalize the elections,” and as MAGA influencer Steve Bannon has asked ICE officials to patrol polling locations in November. 

What should we make of all these efforts? How secure are voting systems? 

Republican Ottawa County Clerk Justin Roebuck spoke with The Metro‘s Robyn Vincent about this and more.

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When President Donald Trump took office, he promised to crack down on immigration. He’s done that. 

Since January of 2025, at least 2,400 immigrants were arrested in Michigan alone. But President Trump and immigration officials are not following an orderly process. Officials are often skirting the law, or violating it. 

This was visible months ago in Minneapolis, when masked ICE agents shot and killed Renee Good and Alex Pretti and thousands took to the streets. Here in Michigan, the work of ICE is harder to spot. But due to action in the courts, we’ve been learning more. 

Federal judges recently ruled that hundreds of people in Michigan were unconstitutionally detained as they never had a chance of being released on bond. 

For its part, the administration says it’s detaining the “worst of the worst.” But in many cases, non-citizens without a criminal record have been detained. 

So, what do ICE arrests and detentions look like in metro Detroit? What are the stories of those who’ve been detained? How are local police involved in the work? And, who’s fighting back? 

Violet Ikonomova is an investigative reporter for the Detroit Free Press. She spoke with The Metro‘s Robyn Vincent.

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

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

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