(The Center Square) – Thirteen Wisconsin counties now have formal agreements with the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency that expand immigration enforcement responsibilities to local and state law enforcement, according to a new report.
That report showed that 29 Wisconsin counties and the Wisconsin Department of Corrections received a total of nearly $7.3 million in funding from the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program as well, the American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin showed through information gathered through public records requests.
“Immigrants have been an important part of the fabric of Wisconsin for many years,” said Tim Muth, senior staff attorney with the ACLU of Wisconsin. “They are a part of our families. They are our coworkers, friends, and neighbors, and the public should know what their local law enforcement agencies are doing. These cozy relationships between ICE and many sheriffs are disrupting our communities and funneling immigrant community members into the federal deportation machine.”
There were eight sheriff who had signed formal agreements with ICE as of 2022 with the additional five signing agreements this year during President Donald Trump’s second term.
The assistance program funds come as partial reimbursement for the costs of incarcerating some noncitizens. The funds are so agencies share with ICE information on individuals they have incarcerated who are or are believed to be undocumented.
The information includes home addresses and contacts with the criminal justice system.
“Leftists are really sore that Wisconsin law enforcement in many big counties are cooperating with federal law enforcement agencies because they prefer the seditiony approach of Dane and Milwaukee counties,” Patrick McIlheran, director of policy at Badger Institute, wrote about the report.
The report comes as Dane County refused an ICE arrest detainer for Noelia Saray Martinez-Avila, who is being held and accused of killing 18-year-old Hallie Helgeson and 19-year-old Brady Heiling in a Friday crash where she was reportedly driving the wrong direction on the highway and struck a vehicle containing the two teens.
Martinez-Avila was charged with felony vehicular homicide, impaired driving, operating while intoxicated causing injury, knowingly operating with a revoked license and more.
The Dane County Sheriff’s jail log states Martinez-Avila is being held at the jail pretrial and that the agency declined to hold Martinez-Avila for ICE.
“Sheriff Barrett called me a liar when I warned Dane County’s sanctuary policies put lives at risk,” Tiffany wrote on social media. “Now, two teens are dead after a repeat illegal alien offender was allowed to remain in the community. How many more Americans have to die before Democrats end this lawlessness?”
