Health care and immigration rights — and how it all fits into supporting families — were top of mind at a series of weekend rallies in Detroit.
The gatherings, in line with numerous demonstrations this year following President Donald Trump retaking office, were part of a series of nationwide “Families First” events and part of local protests against immigration crackdowns.
On Saturday, July 26, signs of “Medicaid Saves Lives,” and “RIP: Died Waiting For Care” were held up by rallygoers in Detroit’s Rouge Park, while those at the edge of the city’s Clark Park in southwest Detroit and on a march downtown on Woodward Avenue carried signs that said “Unite Families Don’t Destroy Them” and “Tearing Migrant Families Apart Is Tearing America Apart.”
Roughly 100 people gathered at Rouge Park in the morning for a “Families First” rally organized by groups including the union SEIU Healthcare Michigan.
Some 20 people gathered midday with signs for an event publicized under the same “Families First” name at Clark Park.
And in the afternoon, as fans headed to the Detroit Tigers game snapped photos of the Spirit of Detroit statue, protesters gathered at its base calling for a stop to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions to capture and deport immigrants.
More than 30 attendees then marched down Woodward and Michigan avenues to the Patrick V. McNamara Federal Building in the effort organized by groups including the Detroit Anti-War Committee.
At least one other local protest was planned on Sunday.
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Not all the events fell under the “Families First” banner, but all echoed certain sentiments: that what Trump signed into law July 4 — what he called the “one big, beautiful bill” — was really the “big, bad bill” and that his administration’s work to deport a high number of immigrants in the country illegally was, in truth, tearing families apart.
Republicans have said the bill — which includes stricter requirements for recipients to get public assistance — ensures that aid is better targeted. Nonprofits and Democrats have countered that it could push thousands off the rolls due to missed requirements.
Taught to help
Sydnie Veilleux, 25, of St. Clair Shores attended her first protest in memory in Clark Park with her aunt and boyfriend. Her aunt, Deb Drennan of Clinton Township, used to be a CEO of Freedom House Detroit, which supports refugees.
Veilleux said she was raised and taught to love and help other people.
We seem to have lost that as a nation, she said.
“It’s sickening and disappointing to be an American in this government,” she said.
Specifically of concern for her and Drennan is the immigration crackdown under Trump, and concerns that people are not getting their allowed due process rights after being arrested.
Drennan hoped that the group’s presence in the southwest Detroit community, which has a high number of immigrants, relayed: “We are allies.”
From left to right, Kassandra Rodriguez, chair of the Detroit Community Action Committee, leads a chant as she walks alongside Jackson Harner, Avery Bolt, and Owen Frassetto, while they hold a banner during the Detroit Sanctuary City Now protest in downtown Detroit on Saturday, July 26, 2025. The banner reads “End DPD–ICE Cooperation” and “Ni Una Más Deportación.” The protest was part of a broader movement demanding protections for immigrant communities.
Anti-ICE protesters march in the streets
Downtown just a few hours later, protesters called on Detroit to become a sanctuary city and for the Detroit Police Department to end all cooperation with immigration enforcement agents.
In particular, speakers pointed to the local agency’s arrest of protesters and use of pepper spray during an ICE arrest in the city this summer.
At the time of the incident, police said they’d been called to keep the peace, that protesters interfered with law enforcement and that one damaged a vehicle.
In response to the call to end their cooperation, Detroit police issued a statement that its policy has worked well across the past four presidencies.
“For the past 12 years, the Detroit Police Department has had a clear policy that recognizes immigration (enforcement) is entirely the job of federal authorities, not local law (enforcement). It also recognizes that when ICE issues a detainer for an individual already in the custody of local law enforcement on a criminal case, the local agency must honor that detainer… . As it does anytime there is a potential for unrest in the community, Detroit Police Department will provide a presence to keep the peace and ensure public safety, regardless of who is requesting that presence.”
Changes to Medicaid
Among the police department’s naysayers at the downtown Detroit march was Jacob Smith, 33, of Detroit, who is with the Detroit Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression.
He also spoke out against Trump’s bill and the changes to Medicaid and food assistance.
“It should go without saying that cuts to these programs will disproportionally affect Black, Latino, Chicano and indigenous communities, forcing them deeper into abject poverty for which it is nearly impossible to escape,” he said.
Kimberly Crafton holds a sign that reads “Families First!” during a Families First protest at the Brennan Recreation Area in Detroit on Saturday, July 26, 2025.
Earlier in the morning at Rouge Park, the Detroit family of Brooke Kimbrough, 28, and Gregory Frazier, 29, and their almost 5-month-old, Sage, were among those who looked on as health care workers, a Medicaid and Medicare recipient, politicians and political candidates spoke out.
Kimbrough recently got healthcare coverage through work, but before that, she had to use Medicaid, she said.
It was essential in safely bringing precious Sage into this world, she said. Kimbrough had a C-section. She needed an epidural.
“I wouldn’t have been able to afford having my baby without it,” she said.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: ‘Families first’ protests raise alarm on ICE, Medicaid under Trump