Wisconsin sheriffs would be forced to cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement under a bill up for an Assembly vote Tuesday.
The bill that Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos authored would require sheriffs to ask those in jail on serious offenses for proof of U.S. citizenship and report to ICE those whose legal status they cannot verify. Sheriffs would also have to hold anyone in jail longer should ICE make such a request.
Only those charged with or arrested on suspicion of felony criminal offenses such as sexual assault, homicide and illegal possession of a firearm would be reported. Sheriffs would still have discretion to tell ICE about the immigration status of those in custody on lesser crimes.
Democratic Gov. Tony Evers has said he would veto the proposal.
Tony Evers promises to veto GOP bill requiring counties to aid in immigration crackdown
Under the bill (AB24), sheriffs who don’t comply would put their county at risk of losing up to 15% of their state aid through the state's shared revenue formula. They’d also have to request the federal government reimburse them for any extra costs the extended jail holds incur.
Sheriffs would have to certify with the Department of Revenue each year that they have complied with the order. If not, the department would be ordered to cut the county’s portion of state aid for the next year.
The bill comes amid a federal crackdown on illegal immigration, aimed in part at reducing the flow of illegal fentanyl into the country.
President Donald Trump has called illegal immigration a “massive invasion” at the southern border that has “spread misery, crime, poverty, disease and destruction to communities all across our land."
There is no evidence to support Trump’s claim that immigrants commit more crimes than native-born residents.
A study by UW-Madison sociology professor Michael Light and two others of crimes committed between 2012 and 2018 found US-born citizens were more than two times more likely to be arrested for violent crimes than immigrants, 2.5 times more likely to be arrested for drug crimes, and more than four times more likely to be arrested for property crimes.
While a handful of Wisconsin counties have written agreements with ICE to cooperate on investigations and hold undocumented immigrants longer, generally how much sheriffs cooperate with ICE is up to each sheriff. Sheriffs who haven’t entered official agreements with ICE still aren’t allowed to impede the federal law enforcement agency, but they’re not required to have their deputies take time away from local law enforcement to assist federal law enforcement.
Police in Dane County generally don’t work with ICE right now. The Wisconsin State Journal found most municipal police department policies do not require officers to inquire about a suspect’s citizenship during interactions.
The Madison Police Department’s policy states it will only comply with lawful ICE requests if the person targeted “is engaged in or is suspected of terrorism or espionage,” “is reasonably suspected of participating in a criminal street gang,” “is arrested for any violent felony” or “is a previously deported felon, under circumstances for which there is an independent basis for officers to detain or arrest the individual.”
The American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin, Voces de La Frontera Action, Wisconsin Counties Association and six other groups registered in opposition to the bill. The Sheriffs and Deputy Sheriffs Association, Badger State Sheriffs’ Association and one other group registered in favor.
The ACLU in its written statement opposing the legislation says the measure “undermines community safety by diminishing trust in law enforcement by immigrants and others who may be presumed to be ‘foreign.’”
The Sheriffs and Deputy Sheriffs Association in its statement in support of the bill expressed support for the intent of the policy to ensure ICE is notified when those unlawfully in the country commit felonies. However, the group also raised concern over the potential to lose state aid and the mandatory reporting requirements, noting many sheriffs are already operating with limited resources.
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