The St. Joseph group Southwest Michigan Indivisible highlighted the local impacts of Trump Administration policies Tuesday. About 20 people attended the meeting in Dowagiac to hear firsthand accounts from a business owner, doctor and others.
The event was called "Meet Me in the Middle," and organizers hoped people from across the political spectrum would come. But it's not clear that they did.
Tariffs, Medicaid cuts and deportations
Attendees heard about a range of concerns from speakers.
Brian Maynard is the owner of Forte Coffee, a small cafe chain based in the St. Joseph area. He told attendees that coffee prices were already on the rise, with climate change destroying crops and constricting supply.
"Coffee prices at the green [unroasted] level, forget tariffs, over the last year and a half have gone up well over a 100%," he told the group.
Maynard said Trump's wide-ranging tariffs have only worsened this issue.
"My supplier just announced 20% increase on all of his products, as well as the 10% tariffs that are on those products that are coming in."
And he added the reasoning behind these tariffs made little sense.
"Tariffs can play a role for certain in certain circumstances and they can make some sense, but what's going on now makes zero sense whatsoever," Maynard said.
“It's not like we're protecting the US coffee-growing industry because we don't have one.”
David Puzycki is a physician based in Berrien County, where many rely on Medicaid.
"About one in five residents depends on Medicaid. Yet, because of a new law passed by our legislators and signed by the president, nearly 10% of them, about 3,000 people, are projected to lose coverage," he said.
Puzycki added this impact will be widespread, affecting those with medical and mental health issues.
"Without it, too many people fall through the cracks. Children with autism go without early therapies and leave parents isolated and exhausted. People seek relief and drug and alcohol addiction when mental health care is out of reach," Puzycki said.
"Uncontrolled asthma puts patients in the ICU, high blood pressure and diabetes, when ignored for lack of care, end in heart attacks, lack of dental care leads to severe chronic pain and infections. Cancers go undetected until they reach advanced, even fatal stages."
Betsy Lozoff spoke on behalf on the Berrien Immigrant Solidarity Network, which works to make the county a welcoming place for the immigrant community.
But she told attendees that immigrants in Berrien County have felt anything but welcome under the current administration.
"The community is terrorized. People are afraid to go out. Anxiety level is sky high," Lozoff said. “People are afraid to take their children to the doctor. People are afraid to leave their home.”
She was also quick to dispute that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement was only going after violent criminals.
"You get somebody who had a driving-under-the-influence conviction or 20 years ago. And it's had absolute clean record since then. That's a violent criminal?"
Lozoff added that the administration's raids have made even those with a legal right to stay in the country afraid they may be next.
"They did everything right. You have people who have their immigration appointments, which they're required to do, they go and ICE is ready to pick them up."
Where's the middle?
Southwest Michigan Indivisible hoped the meeting would draw in voices from the right to discuss policy and find common ground.
But one speaker, retired firefighter Paramedic Todd Johnson cast doubt on this idea.
“I don't know how you meet in the middle of insanity. I don't know where— I mean, the middle of insanity is still really, really crazy," he said during the discussion.
If right-leaning voters did attend, they didn’t make themselves known.
But event organizer Denise McGowan Tracy suggested that the meeting was an experiment — a test of one possible approach, with organizers hoping to see other voices at future "Meet Me in the Middle" events.
“Our hope is that people who were here tonight could say to a family member or a friend, ‘Just come and listen,’” Tracy said.
"You don't have to sign a pledge. You don't have to pay any money. You don't have to sign up. You don't have to wear a campaign button, 'cause we're not about politics here. We are really trying to talk policy."
Michael Symonds reports for WMUK through the Report for America national service program.
