Illegal Immigrants Are Committing Crimes in Southeast Michigan. Will Trump Deport Them?

Earlier this month, Stephen Singleton, 72, left his home in Rochester Hills for a walk around his neighborhood, as he did every morning. As he was crossing a marked crosswalk, the grandfather and local pastor was hit by a driver who sped through a red light. Singleton was rushed to the hospital, where he later died.

“He had almost every bone in his body broken,” said Teri Singleton, Stephen’s wife. “He had his collarbone fractured, internal organ damage, and his skull was cracked. He had two craniotomies in the hospital.”

The man who struck Stephen Singleton was a 28-year-old illegal immigrant from Colombia, according to local authorities who detained and questioned the migrant after the tragedy but then inexplicably released him.

“I had to sit and watch my husband of 53 years die in front of me and then to know that the person who did this is walking around is very difficult to deal with,” Teri Singleton said. “He’s dead, and they’re walking around.”

Teri and her family still have no idea why authorities released the illegal immigrant from custody or whether they plan to charge him for her husband’s death. Oakland County is not a sanctuary county, which means local law enforcement can and should work with federal immigration authorities to detain and remove migrants who break the law. 

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has confirmed it is aware of the case and said in a statement that the illegal immigrant crossed the southern border illegally and was released into the country while he awaits a federal court date. Again, it is not clear whether federal or local authorities plan to charge the migrant for Stephen Singleton’s death.

Just north of the Singleton’s neighborhood, other Oakland County families are being terrorized by alleged transnational criminals who are also in the country illegally. Since Halloween, Novi police said there have been four home break-ins by this group, which they believe is made up of South American gang members. 

Thankfully, no one was home during the break-ins. But the coordinated and sophisticated nature of the robberies make it clear these are part of a broader pattern, police said.

“These groups work across the country in 4-5 person teams and typically target homes that are secluded or that back up to wooded areas or golf courses. The reason for this is that it presents an easy escape route and reduces the chances that these crews will be seen by other homeowners,” Novi police said in a statement.

“It is believed the suspects conduct surveillance on the residences prior to breaking in, to ensure the homeowners will not be home, and utilize technology that jams Wi-Fi signals, preventing security systems from being effective,” law enforcement added.

Novi officials recommended that homeowners install hard-wired security cameras so they cannot be disconnected by the suspects.

How about deporting the gang members instead?

These stories are worth bearing in mind as debate grows over President-elect Donald Trump’s plan to carry out mass deportations. Already, the legacy media is painting drastic images of massive internment camps where migrants of all ages, legal or illegal, will be forcibly detained. 

“People are worried that they are just going to get stopped, mostly because of the color of their skin or because they speak with an accent, and so that is pretty scary for people. And people were very scared before, and there’s a reason to be scared now, because we know what the Trump administration is capable of,” said Veronica Thronson, a clinical law professor at Michigan State University.

To be clear, deportations are not only legally permitted, but legally required. Federal law requires the government to remove migrants who have committed criminal acts and/or are found to be ineligible for asylum. That is why every president’s administration, including that of President Obama and, to a much lesser extent, President Biden, has overseen some sort of “mass” deportation operation. Trump would hardly be the exception.

Apparently, the Midwest’s Democratic governors need to be reminded of that, because they’ve vowed to do whatever they can to resist Trump’s efforts to enforce federal immigration law. 

“I am going to do everything that I can to protect our undocumented immigrants. They are residents of our state,” Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker told MSNBC this month, adding that he’d consider working with the Trump administration to deport illegal migrants “convicted of a violent crime.” How reassuring.

Notably, when asked if she considered herself a part of the Democratic governors’ resistance club, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer distanced herself from her peers.

“I’m not a part of the group,” she said.

Pressed specifically on whether she would allow the Michigan State Police to assist the incoming Trump administration’s deportation plan, Whitmer declined to answer the question.

“I know that some of my colleagues have staked out some pretty aggressive strategies,” Whitmer said earlier this month. “As I’m thinking about what a Trump administration will mean for our work… I’m trying to focus on where we can find some shared priorities.”

Perhaps Whitmer realizes, as Michigan’s voters did, that this is an issue on which Trump obviously is right. The law is the law. And Michigan’s residents shouldn’t have to pay the price for the Biden administration’s deliberate refusal to enforce it. 

Kaylee McGhee White is editor-in-chief of Independent Women Features, a Steamboat Institute media fellow, and a columnist for Michigan Enjoyer. Follow her on X @KayleeDMcGhee.