ICE jail contract protest interrupts board meeting

Grand Rapids – Officials in western Michigan were forced to temporarily suspend another meeting due to protests over an Immigration and Customs Enforcement contract that allows people to be detained at the county jail.

Kent County Commissioners stopped their meeting for about 30 minutes Thursday in Grand Rapids after protesters began to chant. No arrests were made. Another meeting also was suspended last month.

Commissioners said in a letter Wednesday that the board had no direct oversight or control over the contract which was entered into by the county sheriff.

The contract was signed in 2012 and renewed in 2017. It allows the Kent County Jail to charge ICE for each day it holds a person with a detainment request. Detainees can be held for up to three days.