Anti-ICE organizers are calling on supporters to attend today’s Grand Rapids City Commission meeting and boycott a distillery co-owned by Mayor David LaGrand and former First Ward Commissioner Jon O’Connor as part of renewed pressure on city leaders to adopt six proposed sanctuary policies.
The campaign, promoted in an Oct. 20 article by Grand Rapids Institute for Information Democracy (GRIID) writer Jeff Smith, calls for residents to attend the Oct. 27 commission meeting at 7 p.m., contact commissioners, and contribute to legal defense funds for activists arrested during anti-ICE demonstrations.
The effort involves Movimiento Cosecha, GR Rapid Response to ICE, and members of the Grand Rapids chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA).
The groups have spent more than a year demanding that Grand Rapids adopt six sanctuary policies intended to restrict cooperation between city employees, local police, and federal immigration authorities. While Mayor David LaGrand dismissed those policies as being poorly crafted, Commissioner Marshall Kilgore pledged his support for an ordinance containing them, which was drafted by Cosecha.
Kilgore said he would need the support of three additional commissioners to advance the proposal and encouraged organizers to continue pressuring city officials.
Among the proposed policies are restrictions on the Grand Rapids Police Department’s cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), prohibitions on future agreements allowing local police to enforce federal immigration laws, and measures intended to prevent immigration detention facilities from operating within the city.
Organizers are also demanding that the city terminate its contract with Flock Safety, which provides automated license plate reader (ALPR) cameras, and prohibit future contracts involving similar surveillance technology.
The campaign also targets Long Road Distillers, a Grand Rapids business co-owned by LaGrand.
An organizing flyer promoting the Oct. 27 meeting displays the message “Boycott Long Road Distillers” alongside calls for sanctuary policies.
Smith’s article encourages supporters to boycott the company and all products it produces.
The boycott is not new. Movimiento Cosecha protested inside the distillery previously over LaGrand’s opposition to its proposed policies.
The campaign also includes fundraising appeals for the family of Mario David Coronado Juarez, a Guatemalan immigrant who died in a Sept. 20 vehicle crash after federal immigration agents attempted to stop him in Grand Rapids.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer directed Michigan State Police to investigate the circumstances surrounding the crash. The Department of Homeland Security has maintained that its agents discontinued the attempted stop when Coronado Juarez fled.
Organizers are separately seeking contributions toward the legal expenses of eight activists arrested during the five weeks preceding Smith’s Oct. 20 report, according to the article. Smith himself is one such individual facing charges linked to his activism.
Smith also accused the Grand Rapids Police Department of repeatedly cooperating with ICE, pointing to several incidents involving officers and immigration activists throughout 2026.
Among the incidents were demonstrations on Sept. 12 and Oct. 3 in which protesters attempted to block vehicles used to transport ICE detainees at a federal immigration office on Ottawa Avenue.
Smith claimed that officers assisted federal immigration operations by preventing activists from blocking the vehicles. Five protesters were arrested during the Sept. 12 incident, according to Smith, while three additional activists were arrested during the Oct. 3 demonstration.
The city’s existing policies prohibit GRPD officers from enforcing federal civil immigration laws, although officers may assist federal agents during public safety emergencies and with certain other duties, including traffic control.
Under the department’s established procedures, officers cannot stop, question, or arrest individuals solely based on their immigration status. The policies permit officers to assist federal agents during public safety emergencies and in situations such as traffic control.
In June, LaGrand questioned the practicality of prohibiting contracts with businesses that also work with federal immigration authorities.
“I don’t think it’s possible for the city to not contract with anybody who also contracts with the federal government,” LaGrand said.
Organizers have nevertheless continued demanding the adoption of their proposed ordinance.
The campaign follows several confrontations between activists and city officials, including the Sept. 22 City Commission meeting that ended prematurely after anti-ICE protesters disrupted public comment.
The City Commission is scheduled to meet at 7 p.m. on Oct. 27 at City Hall. The six sanctuary policies are not listed as a specific item for consideration on the city’s currently published agenda.
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