Numerous recent crimes by illegal immigrants are drawing attention to the Gretchen Whitmer administration’s perspective on the issue, including the governor’s previous calls to abolish U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

In southeast Michigan, Chilean nationals utilizing a Visa Waiver Program are terrorizing residents by breaking into luxury homes, stealing millions in cash, jewelry, and other high-end items from dozens in recent months.

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Across the state in Grand Rapids, Michigan State Police contend Mexican Brandon Ortiz-Vite confessed to using an illegally purchased handgun to shoot 25-year-old Ruby Garcia multiple times on March 22 before dumping her body on US 131 and fleeing in her car. Ortiz-Vite, who was once approved for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program created by the Obama administration, was deported by the Trump administration in September 2020 before returning during President Joe Biden’s tenure.

Ortiz-Vite, who now faces two potential life sentences, is the second illegal immigrant arrested for murder in Grand Rapids in just the last year. In May 2023, illegal immigrant Luis Bernal-Sosa gunned down 22-year-old Leah Gomez as she was sitting inside her car with her 1-year-old daughter with special needs.

There’s also illegal immigrant Alan Nievas-Garnica, who stands accused of criminal sexual conduct against a 15-year-old Livingston County girl, three illegal immigrants charged with soliciting sex from minors in Shiawassee County, and an illegal immigrant arrested for breaking into a home in Sturgis, where he allegedly molested two girls under the age of 13.

Last week, former President Donald Trump trekked to Grand Rapids to highlight how illegal immigration is impacting Michigan, where he noted the state’s “terrible governor” is “now pushing Michigan families to accept $500 a month to take illegal aliens into your homes.”

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And while Whitmer has yet to acknowledge the victims of the Biden administration’s border policies, she has weighed in on those policies in the past.

In August 2018, Whitmer explained her position on illegal immigration as she was campaigning for her first term.

“Do you think we should abolish ICE?” a man asked Whitmer in a video posted to YouTube by the Michigan Republican Party.

In 2018, @gretchenwhitmer wanted to abolish ICE.

If she had her way, Michiganders would be defenseless against illegal immigrants currently committing murders, robberies, and other violent crimes across the state.

Source: @MIGOP pic.twitter.com/C4uobcvH7C

— The Midwesterner (@Th_Midwesterner) April 8, 2024

“I think that ICE is doing a fundamentally cruel and unconstitutional, undemocratic work,” Whitmer said.

“So do you think we should abolish it?” the man pressed.

“Ya,” Whitmer said, shaking her head. “I think our governor needs to stand up,” referring to then-Gov. Rick Snyder (R).

Since taking office, Whitmer has done her part to protect and attract those in the country illegally.

The Democratic governor and her allies in the Legislature last year approved a rental subsidy program for immigrants that offers $500 per month, and have since ignored questions from Republicans regarding several eligibility loopholes.

More recently, Democrats renewed efforts to provide driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants, while downplaying the Grand Rapids murders as a couple of many cases of domestic violence.

“It’s a terrible, horrible, gruesome death on top of a number of domestic violence incidents we’re having in that area,” Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin told CNN’s The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer.

Michigan Republicans, meanwhile, are pushing to ban sanctuary policies that are bankrupting cities like Denver, New York, and Chicago.

So far, Democrats that control both chambers of the Legislature and the governor’s office have refused to hold a hearing, despite evidence the policies are attracting illegal immigrants from both the northern and southern border.

“Every time a city publicly announces it will disregard federal law, human traffickers at the southern border get a little bit richer,” said state Rep. Andrew Fink, a bill sponsor. “Cartels continue to profit off the false promises made by sanctuary cities. Ignoring calls for aid from immigration officials should never be permitted in Michigan, especially when dangerous criminals are benefiting from these misguided policies.”