Protesters take concerns to Vassar Planning Commission
By Tom Gilchrist
For The Advertiser
VASSAR — Several speakers on Monday asked the Vassar Planning Commission to stop the potential housing of undocumented Central American immigrants here, but City Manager Brad Barrett told commissioners “there’s not really a change of use being proposed” by Wolverine Human Services, which wants to house the immigrants.
By proposing to house up to 120 male immigrants from ages 12 to 17, Wolverine is “providing temporary shelter and they’re providing vocational services” to the youths, Barrett said. Wolverine already has been doing that at its Vassar site, according to Barrett, who also is the city’s zoning administrator.
But Roger Lich, 62, of Tuscola County’s Denmark Township, asked the Planning Commission or other city officials to pass a law to prevent the immigrants from coming to Vassar.
“There’s no reason for this,” Lich said. “I know the money’s there and everybody’s looking forward to that, but we’ll lose in the long run.”
The youths Wolverine would house are among tens of thousands of children and teenagers crossing illegally into the U.S. in recent months from Central American countries such as Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. The federal government reports the youths flee to the U.S. to join family members here, escape abuse or exploitation, or seek employment or educational opportunities.
Lich said the federal government is “dangling … a huge carrot” in front of Wolverine Human Services, which says it will hire about 115 workers if it signs two contracts to house up to 120 immigrants on a rotating basis, with each group staying in Vassar for up to one month.
“Everybody knows there’s nothing like having a contract with the United States government,” Lich said. “They pay big money.”
Opponents of Wolverine’s plan have held several protests outside Vassar City Hall this month, with some of the protesters carrying rifles or shotguns.
Vassar resident Faye Hembling spoke to the Planning Commission about that on Monday, saying “I’m no more scared of the children at Wolverine Human Services than I am of the protesters that wear the guns and stuff on their bodies, and rant and rave, and I’m afraid of them more than I am of these children.”
Barrett said the Planning Commission is directing him to send Wolverine Human Services a letter verifying that temporary shelter and vocational services will be provided to the immigrants, and to inform the city if there are any uses falling outside that scope.
Wolverine Human Services, which has operated several programs for youths it houses and has housed in Vassar, first sought approval of a site plan and permit in 1991, according to a summary presented to the Planning Commission by Barrett.
“The use that was proposed and approved at the very original was for ‘temporary shelter,’ which is for vocational facilities — vocational and correctional facilities — for juvenile offenders,” Barrett said.
That prompted a question from Planning Commission Chairman Gary Kasper.
“Are these (Central American youths), are they offenders, or are they misplaced?” Kasper asked. “I mean, they’re juveniles, but … if they’re not offenders, what are they doing here? I think we may have a legal problem there.”
Vassar Township resident Erica Aymer, 26, addressed the Planning Commission, questioning Barrett’s interpretation of the situation.
“Wolverine Human Services has made countless statements to say that they are a facility to house first-time offenders of non-violent crimes, in which we have records from the state, the courts, of the backgrounds of these individuals,” Aymer said. “We’re not going to have that from these illegals. We’re not going to know their past and we’re not going to have a documented record of where they have been and what they have done, so to me that seems like a ‘change of use.’”
But Vassar resident Chuck Whitney told the Planning Commission that Americans’ descendants were afraid — through the decades — of Indians, Chinese immigrants, Polish immigrants and Japanese immigrants, among other groups.
“A lot of people came to this country because they ran out of potatoes,” said Whitney, adding that “I see fear. I see fear all through here. I see a little bit of fear in a lot of us but we really don’t need to have fear; we need to just be conscious of people.”
Whitney said “I don’t want to see any more videos of people sleeping in cardboard boxes.”
The Planning Commission meets again at 6:30 p.m. on Aug. 25. Before its meeting on Monday night, two different groups holding signs and American flags gathered on each side of the Cass River.
On the east side, protesters against the housing of the immigrants gathered along with Tamyra Murray, founder of Michiganders for Immigration Control and Enforcement, or MICE.
On the west side of the river on Monday, members of a group calling itself “Vassar Pride” held signs and flags as well. The group handed out documents stating “We want peaceful protests (no guns) and radical outsiders GONE!”
Murray said on Monday that Vassar residents can amend the city zoning ordinance on their own to keep the Central American illegal immigrants out of town. She said she’s working with an attorney on that effort.
Vassar residents rally to counter protesters
By Tom Gilchrist
For The Advertiser
VASSAR — While gun-toting protesters at recent events in Vassar want undocumented Central American immigrants to go home, demonstrators at a Monday rally here said the same thing about the protesters.
“We’re intelligent adults but we definitely don’t need outsiders coming in waving guns in our community and giving people a picture of what Vassar is not,” said Tina Hawkins, 57, of Vassar, a member of the “Vassar Pride” group that rallied on the west side of the Cass River on Monday afternoon.
Wolverine Human Services hopes to house up to 120 immigrants — males ages 12 to 17 — at its Vassar facility. The youths would receive medical care and basic education before going through immigration courts or being returned to their home countries. The immigrants would stay at Wolverine’s Vassar facility for up to one month before another group would arrive, according to Wolverine officials.
Tens of thousands of children and teenagers have crossed illegally into Texas in recent months from Central American countries such as Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. The federal government reports the youths flee to the U.S. to join family members here, escape abuse or exploitation, or seek employment or educational opportunities.
Fliers handed out Monday by Vassar Pride members state the group wants “peaceful protests (no guns) and radical outsiders GONE!” Group members referred passers-by to a Facebook page for a group entitled “Counter the Ignorance” and counting 82 members as of Tuesday afternoon.
On Monday, Hawkins took issue with repeated visits to Vassar by Tamyra Murray of Saginaw County’s Blumfield Township, founder of Michiganders for Immigration Control and Enforcement.
Murray has helped lead several protests outside Vassar City Hall this month opposing Wolverine’s plan to house immigrants. Hawkins said Murray is “not welcome” in Vassar.
“For this woman to come into our community, (with others) raising guns, carrying guns, waving them in the air — trying to intimidate people — that’s not the way Vassar rolls,” Hawkins said.
Murray spoke at Monday night’s Vassar Planning Commission meeting. She had no comment when told of Hawkins’ remarks.
As for protesters carrying guns at MICE rallies in opposition to bringing Central American illegal immigrants to Vassar, Murray said “It’s not against the law — it’s legal.”
Murray added that if Vassar Pride members “want to set their own rules, they ought to go live in a cave somewhere.”
Hawkins, representing Vassar Pride, said “We are not against guns; we believe in the Second Amendment.”
When the Vassar Pride group started its rally on a piece of private property along the Cass late Monday afternoon, three to five demonstrators took part. Heather Frahm, 34, of Tuscola County’s Watertown Township, carried a fishing pole with a sign mounted on it reading “Peace on the Cass,” as country music played on speakers under a tent at the rally on private property.
When passer-by Shelley Dziuba, 56, of Mayville, inquired about the event’s purpose, Frahm approached her and handed out literature.
“When the hate groups leave (Vassar), we’re stuck with each other,” Frahm told Dziuba.
Hawkins, meanwhile, strolled along M-15 with a sign stating “Support Growing Our Vassar Community Business!” Jamie Owensby, 30, of Vassar, wearing Vassar High School colors of orange and black, held a sign reading “Let’s Debate Without Hate.”
By the time Monday night’s Planning Commission meeting started, opponents of Wolverine’s plan to bring immigrants to Vassar were protesting on the west side of the Cass River in front of City Hall. Across the river, the Vassar Pride group held its rally.
Members of both groups carried U.S. flags and held signs as some passing motorists honked car horns.