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FIRST ON FOX: A Michigan Democrat searching for to replace Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., in the House beforehand advised that he opposes the thought of local governments in the state reporting unlawful immigrants to federal immigration authorities and voiced his assist for Lansing’s choice to declare itself a sanctuary metropolis at the time.
The remarks from Curtis Hertel Jr., who served for eight years as a Michigan state senator and is the sole Democrat searching for election to signify Michigan’s seventh Congressional District, got here throughout an April 2017 dialog with City Pulse – a information outlet serving the Greater Lansing space.
Given a hypothetical scenario involving an unlawful immigrant who was questioned by authorities throughout a routine site visitors cease, Hertel stated he believes local legislation enforcement officers mustn’t make the call to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to inquire about the particular person’s immigration standing.
Curtis Hertel Jr., a Democrat working to signify Michigan’s seventh Congressional District, beforehand advised that local governments mustn’t report unlawful immigrants to ICE. (Curtis Hertel marketing campaign, Getty Images)
“One, I don’t like the term ‘illegal’,” Hertel stated. “A lot of these people have been here a long time. A lot of them, it wasn’t their choice to come here. They were brought here as children. In my opinion, those that risk and sacrifice so much who just wanted to be part of the American experience have earned a status among Americans that a lot of us haven’t earned just by being born here. They want America. So no, I don’t believe that we should be calling ICE and actually being involved in that process, I don’t.”
Hertel, who represented parts of Lansing, served in the state’s higher legislative chamber from 2015 to 2023. He advised the City Pulse that he believed Lansing would not have a “responsibility to be immigration officials.”
Hertel did, nonetheless, say at the time that he favored contacting federal immigration authorities if an unlawful immigrant dedicated against the law and is “dangerous,” saying it makes “perfect sense.”
Hertel’s remarks got here days after the Lansing City Council handed a decision that declared Lansing a sanctuary metropolis. That controversial declaration was later rescinded amid widespread division in the metropolis, in accordance to the Detroit Free Press.
Asked at the time about the council’s choice, Hertel stated, “The city of Lansing does not want their police officers to be immigration officials.”
GEORGIA IMMIGRATION BILL WOULD CUT STATE FUNDING OF SANCTUARY CITIES IN WAKE OF LAKEN RILEY MURDER
Migrants wait to be processed by Customs and Border Protection after they crossed the Rio Grande and entered the U.S. from Mexico, Oct. 19, 2023, in Eagle Pass, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)
He advised the City Pulse: “They don’t want the immigration status to be determined by police officers and I think that’s probably a good thing… asking people for papers and all of those things could make Lansing an unwelcoming place for people that look different than you or I. We don’t want that in Lansing.”
Although the choice for Lansing to be declared a sanctuary metropolis was reversed, the metropolis council for East Lansing voted final 12 months to declare it a sanctuary metropolis. The Detroit Free Press reported final month that 4 Michigan counties – Ingham, Kalamazoo, Kent and Wayne (Michigan’s most populous county) – had been designated secure havens for unlawful immigrants.
In a press release to Fox News Digital, Hertel stated, “As I said in that interview, the federal government should ensure ICE has the power to deport undocumented immigrants who commit crimes.”
“Unlike my opponent who only cares about using the border as a campaign tactic, in Congress, I will work with anyone toward a bipartisan border security deal that gives our immigration authorities the resources and funding they need to do their jobs.”
Following Slotkin’s Feb. 2023 announcement that she would run for the Senate seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., Hertel introduced final July that he was coming into the race to signify Michigan’s seventh District. The district encompasses all of Ingham, Livingston, Clinton and Shiawassee counties, in addition to elements of Oakland and Eaton counties.
Hertel, the presumptive Democratic nominee for the district, has obtained endorsements from Slotkin and a handful of different Democrats in the state and beforehand served as Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s director of legislative affairs.
Two former Michigan state senators, Republican Tom Barrett, left, and Democrat Curtis Hertel Jr., are working to signify Michigan’s seventh District. (AP Photo/File)
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Hertel is probably going to face off in opposition to Republican candidate Tom Barrett, the solely GOP candidate in the race as of now, in the state’s common election on Nov. 5. The state’s main elections are slated to happen on Aug. 6.
Barrett introduced his candidacy in the race final July. In the 2022 midterm elections, he challenged Slotkin and misplaced in the common election by a 20,000 vote margin.
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