Detroit Metro Area Communities Study

Publication

Immigration enforcement fears are reshaping daily life for Michigan immigrants, U-M study finds

May 19, 2026

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 ...

Immigration enforcement fears are reshaping daily life for Michigan immigrants, U-M study finds

In the Media

Ostfeld highlights attitudes in cities with high-immigrant populations

Oct 14, 2024 Michigan Public

Speaking with Michigan Public, the Ford School's Mara Ostfeld discusses results from her recent research on public opinion in Michigan on immigration policy. Ostfeld stated, “U.S.-born residents living in cities with a higher proportion of foreign-bo...

Ostfeld highlights attitudes in cities with high-immigrant populations

News

U-M report on Detroiters’ opinions of reparations gains traction in media

Apr 18, 2023

The Center for Racial Justice, the Detroit Metro Area Communities Study, and Poverty Solutions released a new report detailing Detroiters’ opinions on reparations and racial inequity in March 2023. Since its release, multiple news outlets picked up t...

U-M report on Detroiters’ opinions of reparations gains traction in media

News

Detroiters' views on reparations connected to perception of racial wealth gap, other inequality

Mar 29, 2023

Detroiters' perceptions of the racial wealth gap, the legacy of slavery and other forms of racial inequity are strongly connected to their support for reparations and policies that address racial inequity. Overall, 63% of Detroit residents support...

Detroiters' views on reparations connected to perception of racial wealth gap, other inequality

News

Ostfeld appointed research director of the Center for Racial Justice

Dec 5, 2022

Political scientist Dr. Mara Celicia Ostfeld has been named the inaugural research director of the Center for Racial Justice (CRJ) at the University of Michigan’s Ford School of Public Policy. In this role, Ostfeld will lead the development of the ce...

Immigration policies: U-M experts can discuss

News

Detroiters say quality K-12 schools is top policy priority for November elections

Nov 3, 2022

Detroit residents say the quality of K-12 schools is their top priority for the November elections, followed closely by inflation, affordable housing, affordable health care, and crime. That's according to a new representative survey of Detroiters ...

Detroiters say quality K-12 schools is top policy priority for November elections

News

Candidate support for reparations would mobilize Detroit voters

Nov 2, 2022

While most Detroiters intend to vote in the November midterm election, those who are uncertain about voting or unlikely to vote could be motivated to cast a ballot by a candidate's support for reparations, according to a new survey from the Universit...

Candidate support for reparations would mobilize Detroit voters

Forty acres and a mule? How Flint residents believe the government should repay Black Americans

October 30, 2023

Erykah Benson, Jasmine Simington

Calls for reparations - or actions to make amends to Black Americans for enslavement and ongoing discriminatory practices - date back to the years immediately after the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863. The “nation’s earliest architects of reparatio...

Collective Remembrance and Detroiters' Views Toward Racial Inequity

March 24, 2023

Erykah Benson, Jasmine Simington

In 2019, the median White household in the U.S. had about eight times the wealth of the median Black household – $184,000 compared to $23,000, respectively. Economists have highlighted that these disparities are far from new and deeply rooted in slav...

Collective Remembrance Policy Brief Image