Organization looks to push ICE out of community

Let's bring in Lauren Fink. Lauren, how are you? I'm doing well, Fink. Hey, so there's the Southfield Community Conversations event that is happening. And so I didn't realize ICE had a presence in Southfield. Normally, the talk has been about ICE and Romulus trying to rent the property out there. There was a huge protest and a lot of pushback. It even made its way to D.C. with leaders. But we didn't know they had other spots. I mean, we knew they were in Metro Detroit. We just didn't know Southfield was one of the spots. So how did you find out? And we're really just jumping right into this. Yeah, yeah. But how did you find out about ICE's presence in Southfield? Yeah, so it was around the same time that we learned about the attempt to purchase the space for a detention center in Romulus. This was a huge push nationwide that was going on through the government agency that manages leases for all of the different government agencies. There was a huge push. They were renting office space and warehouses all around the country. And so there was an article in Wired that had a list of the different places where some of these offices had been purchased. And I just went to the list and I typed in Michigan out of curiosity, and Southfield popped up. And it turned out there was an office that had been rented for the purpose of ICE's lawyers to use it as their office space just minutes away from my home, where I'm raising my kids. And I got some neighbors together with my husband. We had a little meeting in our living room, and that was how the Southfield Neighbors Action Committee was formed. Yeah, so a lot of times that's how these action committees start, is you're sitting in the living room thinking about a plan, and then the groups are formed. And that's how a movement gets started as well. But take me back. So when you type this in, give me a sense of the emotions that you were going through. Because you live in Southfield, but to have this happen close to home, how'd you feel about this? Yeah, so, you know, I come from a Jewish family. And growing up, to me, when we talked about immigration, we talked about immigration the way we talked about survival, because that's what it was for my family. And so seeing our neighbors who are immigrants today, many of whom are refugees, coming from experiences just as traumatic as what my family had gone through, you know, that eventually led us here, that's something that's always resonated with me. I've always felt such a kinship with our immigrant neighbors, and wanting them to have the opportunities that my family had to be able to build a life here, and to be able to have the security that I now have. And seeing that this office was coming into our community, especially after all of the horrifying things that we had seen in the news, all of the abuses, And we recently had two ICE-involved shootings. Exactly, yes. Two fathers were killed. So seeing that this was going to be moving into our neighborhood, I mean, I just thought, this can't happen. And not in Southfield. I mean, to be completely honest, I was just like, are you kidding? Southfield? Sometimes it's the places that you don't think, that maybe they're thinking of those too, and you're just like, Oh, well, so look, there's a community conversations event happening. When is it? And what's the biggest takeaway that you hope happens at this meeting? Yeah, yeah. So tomorrow, 6.30 at the Southfield Civic Center. And the goal is really just to have a conversation about what does it mean to be a good neighbor when ICE moves in? How are we showing up for each other? How are we protecting each other? We've already seen in Southfield since this office space started being used by ICE. And I'm not saying necessarily there's a connection. But this office space has started being used by ICE in Southfield. And now we are seeing increased ICE activity in the area. There was a car chase that led to a collision at Tell 12 Mall, Tell 12 Shopping Center, by my mire, by the Lowe's. I'm walking there with my kids all the time in that parking lot. And when we think about these things that are happening on the street with ICE, it's not just about the safety of our immigrant neighbors, although that's obviously very close to my heart. It's about the safety of our entire community, when this agency that is not being, frankly, properly regulated, not following proper procedures, and they're engaging in these activities that are making all of us less safe. There's kids in that parking lot and they're chasing someone through it. Of course, that person is scared and they're going to try to run away. They've seen other people who look like them getting shot, people who've done nothing wrong. And so it's making all of us less safe. The goal of the conversation is for us to come together and say, what can we do? I'll be talking a little bit about Southfield Neighbors Action Committee, some of the work that we've been doing. And then we've got Alita from CAFE talking about some of the action that that group has been taking. That's the community action community. Oh, I can't remember exactly what it's for empowerment. They're a fantastic organization working, mostly started in Pontiac. Now they're working across Oakland County, helping keep our immigrant neighbors safe, provide all kinds of support, mutual aid, and just doing incredible work. Then we've also got Dr. Patricia Talley, whose mother, Barbara Talley, is a civil rights diagnostic here in Southfield. And so Dr. Patricia Talley grew up just completely immersed in that world and that movement and subsequently lived her entire adult life almost in Mexico and just has this fantastic binational perspective that she can really bring to the conversation, talking about those deep roots of civil rights activism in Southfield, as well as what this moment looks like from an international perspective, including neighbors of hers who were deported back to Mexico and how that impacted the community there and having actually seen people trying to reintegrate following deportation. She brings a really rich perspective. I'm really excited for the conversation. Let me ask you this. Are you from Southfield? I grew up in West Bloomfield. I've lived in Southfield for about eight years. What was the motivation to move to Southfield? And when you first moved there and you planted roots in Southfield, how did you feel about living there? I'm so glad you asked that question. So my husband and I ended up in Southfield. We were coming back to the area for a job and we were living actually at my great aunt's place. She's in her 90s. And she let us stay at her place rent-free for a little while. And we just fell in love with the Southfield community. And so after we had our first child, we were looking for a place to live that was diverse and where people knew their neighbors, where we could really have our family and be part of a community, raise our kids in the type of community where, you know, they run down the street to go play with the neighbor's kids. The stuff we grew up with. Yeah, yeah, exactly. And we were just really lucky to find a fantastic community like that in Southfield. To know that you now have this agency that has, you know, made headlines in other small towns, not as populated states, as well as bigger cities. And now that they're in your backyard, how do you feel about that? I certainly feel less safe. And I feel angry. I want them gone. I want Reddico, the company that owns the building that is leasing the space to ICE, Reddico needs to evict ICE from Southfield. They cannot be here. They can't be doing the plotting. These lawyers who work in that office building, they're directing and defending the abuses of these ICE agents on the street. When an ICE agent shoots someone, that's going to be one of their first calls is to this lawyer. To figure out how they're going to get out of this, how they're going to be able to stay out on the street. And it's not aligned with Southfield's values, the type of work that's going on in that space. And frankly, it's not aligned with, I don't think, I mean, I'm not a lawyer, but it doesn't seem aligned with the provisions of the lease, which says they can't be having law enforcement activity there. These lawyers certainly seem to be doing activity that seems like law enforcement. I think there's grounds to evict them. And I'd like Reddico to do that. Yeah, that's something that we have to do on our end. We work to confirm that on our end. So we appreciate the heads up. We'll have to continue the heavy lifting there. But so you have this meeting. To know that this movement started in your family room, in your house, and now you're reaching out and you're reaching out to people and you've got civil rights leaders joining up with you and agreeing. Does that help you? Does that give you, does that encourage you? Oh my gosh, so much. It's an incredible feeling. So I actually, I met Dr. Patricia Talley and her mother, Barbara Talley, at a Southfield City Council meeting. And they were there speaking about the civil rights ordinance, that the Southfield City Council had passed a statement about civil rights. I was going to say ordinance, it doesn't have any teeth, it's a statement. But they were there to show their support for that and for it to grow into something more. And I was there to talk about the ICE office and the Reddico lease and how we want ICE evicted from Southfield. I went up, I said my part, I talked about my family's history. And afterwards, got a chance to meet Barbara and Patricia Talley. And I was just so inspired by them learning about their lives. And I really felt part of this intergenerational movement. And it really felt like, okay, this is the next step. And it feels very powerful to have their support for this event. And to feel like we really are standing on the shoulders of giants on the work that they did. You know, I always look at the civil rights generation as they're entering the golden years of their life. They have to pass the torch. And it's for the next generation and our generation and the people who want to continue to fight. You know, what I appreciate about you is that I can tell how much you love and appreciate Southfield. Not just by the way you speak, but just the smile that comes across in your face when you talk about Southfield. For anyone else who may be watching this and may think if there's ICE or if there's another agency or anything that's in their neighborhood, how would you encourage them to go about saying, do your research. And if something doesn't look right or sound right or whatever, advocate for your neighborhood. Yeah, I mean, there's so many fantastic organizations out there that are already doing work like this. And I think finding those allies, finding mentors, people, you know, like you said, who've kind of walked this path before, including our folks and I want to say our elders in the movement. I say that with love and respect. You all look so good. But our elders in the movement, finding those mentors. We've been very lucky. The Southfield Neighbors Action Committee has had a lot of support from the Detroit Jews for Justice, which is a very established organization. We've learned so much from them. I think even being here today to talk to you, knowing how to get in touch with media, that sort of thing. And so just, you know, taking the time to think, OK, you know, what is the problem that I want to solve? Who's already working on it? What can they teach me? And then just go for it. Just try. And you're going to make mistakes. But you just, you've got to try. We can't do nothing. It's part of the process. Yeah. Lauren Fink, we appreciate it. Southfield Neighbors Action Committee meeting tomorrow, 630. Tom, if we can bring that flyer up one more time. So you see it there, community conversation. Rashida Tlaib, I see you have her on the flyer. So check them out tomorrow if you live in the Southfield neighborhood or even just the surrounding area. And if you have concerns about ICE being in your neighborhood or close to your home, this is a place to be. Lauren, keep fighting. Best of luck. And we appreciate it. Thank you so much. No problem.