Holding up signs that depict kids behind bars, a group of protesters ambled on a recent Friday afternoon on a sidewalk in Farmington Hills outside the office of a life insurance company that invests in private prisons holding foreign-born inmates.

"We're here because we support the right of immigrants to live unharassed in this society," said Mike Shane, 67, of Detroit, wearing a T-shirt that read 'No Hate, No Fear, Immigrants Welcome Here.' "I'm very concerned about ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement), the whole immigration police that the federal government has. ... I think we need to take a whole different approach to immigration. I'm appalled to no end by what I see."

The Sept. 27 protest at a Prudential Insurance office along Orchard Lake Road south of 696 that drew some honks of support from drivers rolling by is one example of a growing number of demonstrations across Michigan this year as immigration has emerged as an increasingly contentious issue.

This month, a prison in Baldwin, North Lake Correctional Facility, run by a private company, GEO Group, is set to start taking in inmates, some of them foreign-born people who aren't U.S. citizens. The opening has set off protests across the region, including the one in Farmington Hills against Prudential for investing in GEO Group and another in Baldwin on Tuesday.

"It just doesn't make any sense," Sister Jinny King, a Catholic nun with the Adrian Dominican Sisters in Adrian, said of the immigration crackdown. "Some were brought here as children. They've been going to school, they've been working. They are the future. Why can't we recognize that more?"

Over the past few months, there have been other protests in metro Detroit related to immigration — and some moves by cities and schools to disengage from working with ICE:

In Detroit, the Detroit Public Schools Community District announced last month it would be a sanctuary area that will prevent agents from ICE, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and other agencies from entering school grounds. Any requests to enter school property has to go through the district's counsel and superintendent. "It is our responsibility to advocate for all of our students, regardless of their identity and immigrant status," District Superintendent Nikolai Vitti told the Free Press. "Our students need to feel safe, supported, affirmed, and loved in our schools. Most importantly, they have a right to a public education free from fear."

In Dearborn, Mayor John O'Reilly Jr. said in August he would move to end its 20-year agreement with Calhoun County that allowed in some cases for immigrant detainees from ICE to be held by Dearborn Police. The move came after a protest held outside Dearborn Police headquarters that included Jews for Justice, CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations) Michigan, and three Democratic U.S. House Reps. Last fiscal year, Dearborn Police Department housed 1,333 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) prisoners, netting the city $84,223 in savings, according to a city report.

In Troy, Detroit, and Farmington Hills, protesters with a new group called No Detention Centers in Michigan have demonstrated in recent weeks against GEO Group and Prudential for investing in the private prison company that often houses immigrants. In a statement to the Free Press, Prudential said "it respects the rights of individuals to peacefully and lawfully exercise their freedom of speech. PGIM, Prudential’s asset management business, manages assets for its clients and is obligated to invest in accordance with client guidelines, whether financial or nonfinancial in nature."

In Grand Rapids, police said in August they are changing their policy of contacting ICE, now requiring officers to get approval from the Police Chief or Deputy Chief to contact ICE, unless there is immediate danger. The change comes after the controversial arrest last year of Jilmar Ramos-Gomez, a U.S. citizen and Marine veteran who was handed over by Grand Rapids police to ICE.

On Oct. 3, Oakland County Treasurer Andy Meisner announced his office has established a "Don't Ask" policy of not asking any Oakland County resident seeking services about their immigration status. More than 12% of the county's residents are immigrants, the highest percentage of any county, he said. "Immigrant workers, families, and students are a vital part of our communities and deserve the chance to live in dignity, not fear," Meisner said.

Last week, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer line-item vetoed a proposal in the state budget by Republicans that would have restricted funds to counties that enact policies limiting their interactions with ICE. Whitmer's veto was applauded by immigrant advocates with the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center.

In January, Kent County Sheriff Michelle LaJoye-Young said her department would stop detaining immigrants for ICE unless it had a judicial warrant. In August, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Michigan and the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center sent letters to nine county sheriffs, prosecutors, and two police chiefs in Michigan asking them to stop agreeing to detainer requests from ICE.

Amid the protests, ICE and other agencies continue to make arrests of immigrants in Michigan and across the U.S. Supporters of the immigration crackdown say the moves are necessary to combat illegal immigration and protect Americans.

Two weeks ago, ICE announced it arrested 46 people in Michigan and Ohio as part of a five-day operation.

ICE said that most of the people detained had prior criminal histories, which included convictions for criminal sexual conduct, drunken driving, burglary, and drug charges, among other crimes.

Among those arrested was a 40-year-old citizen of Mexico living in Saginaw who had been previously deported and was previously arrested for criminal sexual conduct in the second degree; and a 40-year-old Iraqi citizen in Detroit who had stolen property and marijuana delivery convictions.

“Upholding public safety by focusing on removing criminal aliens is at the heart of what (ICE's) ERO (Enforcement and Removal Operations) officers do every day,” Rebecca Adducci, who leads ICE's ERO office in Detroit that covers Michigan and Ohio, said in a statement. "These targeted enforcement actions highlight ICE’s vital role in keeping our communities safe."

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On Oct. 3, ICE arrested a 30-year-old Warren man, accusing him of defacing a sign outside the Detroit office by painting 'F--- ICE.' He was released on bond with a preliminary exam set for Oct. 24.

Regarding Dearborn's ending of its agreement on ICE detainees, Adducci said "the city’s decision to no longer house ICE detainees at its facility will have minimal impact on local ICE operations, as a short-term facility."

"However," she added, ending such agreements "do little to enhance law enforcement partnerships. Any policy that put politics before public safety is ill conceived."

Adducci's views are echoed by ICE national Acting Director Matthew Albence, who last month criticized cities and counties that act as sanctuaries limiting their cooperation with federal immigration agents. The last week of September, ICE announced it had arrested almost 1,300 in a five-day operation, 199 of which "could have been arrested at a jail if the agency’s detainers had been honored," ICE said in a news release.

Albence said "it is frustrating to see senseless acts of violence and other criminal activity happen in our communities, knowing ICE could have prevented them with just a little cooperation."

On the issue of Detroit schools, ICE Detroit spokesman Khaalid Walls said that "ICE has not undertaken any enforcement actions at Michigan schools and has no intentions of doing so."

Current ICE policy directs agency personnel to avoid conducting enforcement activities at sensitive locations such as schools and churches "unless they have prior approval from an appropriate supervisory official or in the event of exigent circumstances," Walls said.

Officials with GEO Group defended their prison in Baldwin, saying in a statement through a public relations company that the protesters opposing the center "are politically-motivated to present a false narrative, and the lies that are being spread about the services our company provides have recently led to the endangerment of our employees, of government employees, and the public across the country."

They said "it is wholly inaccurate to characterize this facility as an ICE or immigration facility. To be clear, this is a federal prison, contracted with the Federal Bureau of Prisons, to house non-U.S. citizens, legally or illegally in this country, who have been convicted of a felony crime by the federal courts."

Some of the prisoners in Baldwin may be people convicted of only immigration offenses. It's unclear what percentage of the prisoners those would be.

GEO Group said it doesn't handle minors and doesn't take political stances, working with both Democratic and Republican administrations: "While policy makers deliberate on the best way to address this monumental challenge, we will continue to provide the highest standard of humane residential care at all of our facilities.”

A spokesman for the Federal Bureau of Prisons said all of the inmates will be male and that decision to place them in Baldwin will be "based on various factors, including security and capacity considerations."

At the rally in Farmington Hills, protester Derek Grigsby, 62, of Detroit, held up a sign that read: "Prudential Invests in ICE Child Abuse."

"We're here to request that they stop funding the GEO Group, the company that builds private prisons, especially to house immigrants and their families in what we call modern day concentration camps," he said. "We're funding it with our tax dollars because we have to pay GEO for every bed. ... We're here to demand they stop funding."

Mark Dirasian, of West Bloomfield, held up a similar sign, waving it as cars drove by.

"I have to do whatever I can to try and stop it," he said. "It's over the limit that I can accept. I'll do what I can to fight it."

Contact Niraj Warikoo: nwarikoo@freepress.com, 313-223-4792 or Twitter @nwarikoo