- ICE agents were spotted executing a search warrant at a home in Southside Lansing
- DHS confirmed the warrant but one lawmaker says they weren't shown a copy
- Video shows a neighbor describing seeing ICE agents Monday morning
Stephanie Newton woke up for work around 6:10 a.m. Monday when she walked into her living room flooded with red lights.
Newton thought the red lights were from an ambulance or a police cruiser before looking out the window.
"There were 15 to 20 individual police out between the house and my street," Newton said. "Some in Lansing police gear. Some in normal police clothes."
The Department of Homeland Security confirmed to Fox 47 News that agents with Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) executed a federal search warrant in the Kessler Drive area of Lansing on Monday.
On Monday, DHS said there was 'no threat to public safety' and that no further information was available at the time.
WATCH: NEIGHBORS REACT TO TRUMP EXECUTIVE ORDERS ON IMMIGRATION, ELECTRIC VEHICLES
"I heard them pounding on the door," Newton said. "I've seen enough cop shows to know that wasn't opened by the resident."
A large dent could be seen below a broken handle at the front door of a home near the corner of Jolly Road and Kessler Drive in Southside Lansing.
Newton, a nearby neighbor, says she knew at least two people that lived in the home. Newton said the residents were two older men who were landscapers and maintenance workers.
Besides the occasional greeting, Newton said she rarely interacted with the men. Another neighbor off-camera said the two men only spoke Spanish but that they didn't party or drink or cause a nuisance.
"They were quiet. They kept to themselves," Newton said.
A witness who asked us not to give her name due to her immigration status told me she saw an older man crying as he was arrested around 8:30 a.m. Monday.
House Rep. Emily Dievendorf (D-77th District) arrived around 10 a.m. after immigration advocates informed them of what was happening.
Dievendorf said they approached the agents to request to see a warrant but was denied.
"I was told that that was not something they had to show me," Dievendorf said. "There is no confirmation that a warrant existed."
Dievendorf has since learned that ICE agents removed three people from the home.
"[That was] despite the fact that we were told there was no arrest warrant," Dievendorf said.
Lansing city officials say they were unaware of DHS being in the area but added that DHS is not required to notify the city.
DHS didn't respond to Fox 47's request for further information on Wednesday.
Dievendorf said that neighbors are now on high alert and that it's up to neighbors to keep each other informed.
"We have families that are being torn apart right now across the country and it's on our community to protect itself and that means not cooperating with ICE," Dievendorf said.
Norm Shinkle, co-chair of the Ingham County Republican Party, feels undocumented immigrants shouldn't be above the law.
"They should come here legally. We're a country of immigrants and we should keep it that way. Legal immigrants," Shinkle said.
Shinkle added that lawmakers and residents should be assisting, not resistint, law enforcement's efforts to crack down on illegal immigration.
"Just because they might be looking for an illegal alien we shouldn't be saying 'oh don't do that,'" Shinkle said. "If [ICE is] looking for someone that should be out of the country, we should support that.
But neighbors like Newton only care abou the person's character and not their country of origin.
"If they were illegal or not, honestly, that's none of my business. They never caused any harm to me or my family," Newton said.
"As far as I'm concerned they're free to do whatever they want."
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ARTICULO EN ESPAÑOL
Stephanie Newton se despertó para ir a trabajar alrededor de las 6:10 a.m. del lunes cuando entró a su sala de estar inundada de luces rojas.
Newton pensó que las luces rojas eran de una ambulancia o un coche patrulla de la policía antes de mirar por la ventana.
"Había entre 15 y 20 policías individuales entre la casa y mi calle", dijo Newton. "Algunos con equipo policial de Lansing. Otros con ropa policial normal".
El Departamento de Seguridad Nacional confirmó a Fox 47 News que agentes del Servicio de Inmigración y Control de Aduanas (ICE) ejecutaron una orden de allanamiento federal en el área de Kessler Drive en Lansing el lunes.
El lunes, el DHS dijo que no había "ninguna amenaza para la seguridad pública" y que no había más información disponible en ese momento.
"Los escuché golpeando la puerta", dijo Newton. "He visto suficientes programas policiales para saber que el residente no abrió".
Una gran abolladura se podía ver debajo de una manija rota en la puerta principal de una casa cerca de la esquina de Jolly Road y Kessler Drive en Southside Lansing.
Newton, una vecina cercana, dice que conocía al menos a dos personas que vivían en la casa. Newton dijo que los residentes eran dos hombres mayores que eran jardineros y trabajadores de mantenimiento.
Aparte del saludo ocasional, Newton dijo que rara vez interactuaba con los hombres. Otro vecino fuera de cámara dijo que los dos hombres solo hablaban español, pero que no se divertían ni bebían ni causaban molestias.
"Eran tranquilos. Se mantenían apartados", dijo Newton.
Una testigo que nos pidió que no diésemos su nombre debido a su estatus migratorio me dijo que vio a un hombre mayor llorando cuando fue arrestado alrededor de las 8:30 a.m. del lunes.
La representante de la Cámara de Representantes Emily Dievendorf (D-77th District) llegó alrededor de las 10 a.m. después de que los defensores de la inmigración les informaran de lo que estaba sucediendo.
Dievendorf dijo que se acercaron a los agentes para solicitar ver una orden judicial, pero se les negó.
"Me dijeron que no era algo que tuvieran que mostrarme", dijo Dievendorf. "No hay confirmación de que existiera una orden judicial".
Desde entonces, Dievendorf se enteró de que los agentes del ICE sacaron a tres personas de la casa.
"[Eso fue] a pesar del hecho de que nos dijeron que no había una orden de arresto", dijo Dievendorf.
Los funcionarios de la ciudad de Lansing dicen que no sabían que el DHS estuviera en el área, pero agregaron que el DHS no está obligado a notificar a la ciudad.
El DHS no respondió a la solicitud de Fox 47 para obtener más información el miércoles.
Dievendorf dijo que los vecinos ahora están en alerta máxima y que depende de los vecinos mantenerse informados entre sí.
"Tenemos familias que están siendo destrozadas en este momento en todo el país y depende de nuestra comunidad protegerse y eso significa no cooperar con el ICE", dijo Dievendorf.
Norm Shinkle, copresidente del Partido Republicano del Condado de Ingham, cree que los inmigrantes indocumentados no deberían estar por encima de la ley.
"Deberían venir aquí legalmente. Somos un país de inmigrantes y deberíamos mantenerlo así. Inmigrantes legales", dijo Shinkle.
Shinkle agregó que los legisladores y los residentes deberían ayudar, no resistir, a los esfuerzos de las fuerzas del orden para acabar con la inmigración ilegal.
"Sólo porque puedan estar buscando a un extranjero ilegal no deberíamos estar diciendo 'oh, no hagan eso'", dijo Shinkle. "Si [ICE] está buscando a alguien que debería estar fuera del país, deberíamos apoyarlo.
Pero a los vecinos como Newton sólo les importa el carácter de la persona y no su país de origen.
"Si eran ilegales o no, honestamente, eso no es asunto mío. Nunca me causaron ningún daño a mí ni a mi familia", dijo Newton.
"En lo que a mí respecta, son libres de hacer lo que quieran".
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