A new report documents widespread immigration enforcement fears among immigrant Michiganders in Detroit, Flint, Grand Rapids and Ypsilanti.

The report from the University of Michigan’s Center for Racial Justice at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy and the Stanford Immigration Policy Lab used survey data from U-M’s Detroit Metro Area Communities Study and Michigan Metro Area Communities Study.

The studies captured the views of 204 immigrants from more than 50 countries between November 2025 and January 2026 and found that over half of respondents, or someone they know, had avoided everyday activities out of fear of drawing attention to their immigration statuses.

“These numbers tell us that immigration enforcement fears have moved far beyond the courthouse or the border checkpoint—they’ve entered the doctor’s office, the school parking lot and the church pew,” said Mara Cecilia Ostfeld, associate research professor at the Ford School.

“When more than half of immigrant Michiganders are avoiding everyday activities, we’re not just seeing a chilling effect on individuals. We’re seeing ripple effects across our public health systems, our schools and our local economies. These are our neighbors, our co-workers, our community members—and they are withdrawing from the fabric of daily life,” Ostfeld said.

Ostfeld co-authored the brief, Fear is Reshaping Daily Life for Immigrant Michiganders, with Paige Hill, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Political Science at Stanford, and David Laitin, the James T. Watkins IV and Elise V. Watkins Professor of Political Science at Stanford.

“Even amid widespread fear and uncertainty, immigrant Michiganders are telling us where they feel safe—and it’s in their local communities,” Hill said. “That trust is something to protect and invest in. Supporting local organizations that serve immigrant communities isn’t just good policy, it’s how we begin to repair the damage these fears have done to the fabric of daily life.”

Key findings:

• Nearly 1 in 4 respondents (23%) reported experiencing discrimination or mistreatment in the past six months
• Six in 10 (63%) reported having seen or heard about Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity in their communities
• 72% reported that current federal immigration policies have been harmful to some degree

Differences across gender, citizenship status, country of origin and geography underscore the need for targeted policy and community responses that reflect the varied experiences of immigrant communities across Michigan.

“Our finding that immigrant Michiganders trust their local governments at twice the rate they trust the federal government points to a clear opportunity,” Laitin said. “Local and state leaders can step in where federal policy has fallen short—connecting immigrants to legal resources, reducing financial barriers to stability and building the kind of trust that keeps communities whole.”