ICE rumors, fears push Ypsilanti child care centers to prepare for the worst [View all]

(Detroit Free Press) Leysi Palacio-Mora, 39, opens the back door of her Ypsilanti child care center.

She’s walking through what would happen if agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement came to the site: kids go to the back with staff while Palacio-Mora goes out the front to try to confirm the ICE agent’s identity and ask for a warrant. In case of an emergency, kids evacuate out the back to a nearby business.

“Imagine wrangling 20 babies out the back to get safe,” she said.

Palacio-Mora is one of several child care providers in Ypsilanti, a city with a significant foreign-born population, who say they’re trying to figure out how to best protect kids and families and address parent fears as reports of ICE enforcement increase locally.

While a local spokesman for ICE said they do not target schools or bus stops for enforcement actions aimed at arresting unauthorized immigrants, there are reports of parents being detained shortly after student drop off or pick-ups in Michigan. Despite reassurances from federal officials, many are worried and are preparing. .................(more)

https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2026/02/06/ice-enforcement-child-cares-providers-prepare/88475027007/