Assembly Passes Bill Requiring Sheriffs to Cooperate With ICE
Democrats vote against Republican bill, calling it government overreach.
I.C.E. badge. Photo from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
As President Donald Trump’s administration ramps up deportations, the state Assembly passed a bill Tuesday that would require Wisconsin county sheriffs to comply with federal immigration authorities.
The proposal sparked heated debate before passing with only Republican support. Democrats argued it would erode sheriffs’ local authority and increase fear among immigrant communities while Republicans backing the bill described it as an anti-crime measure.
“I think sheriffs all across Wisconsin, in many ways, are already doing this,” said Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester. “Which is why guaranteeing that all 72 counties follow the law should be simple.”
Gov. Tony Evers has said he’ll likely veto the proposal, which would require sheriffs to request proof of legal presence from people being held in jail on felony charges, and report them to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Sheriffs would also be required to comply with federal detainer warrants, in which local jails hold an unauthorized immigrant for longer while Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, investigates them.
Sheriffs that don’t provide proof they’ve complied with the bill would receive less money from the state. These annual payments, sometimes referred to as shared revenue, would be docked by 15 percent.
Rep. Tip McGuire, D-Kenosha, called the bill an example of “government overreach” and a “distraction” from actions out of Trump’s administration.
“It is state government coercing local government to do the federal government’s bidding,” he said. “This bill would not only threaten to cut funding from local law enforcement if they don’t do Donald Trump’s bidding, but also it would impose additional costs on them.”
Rep. Rick Gundrum, R-Slinger, called the bill a deterrent against illegal immigration and an accountability measure for people who commit crimes. He argued it would force places like Milwaukee and Dane counties, which currently do not hold people on immigration detainers, to comply with Republicans’ immigration priorities.
“It is our job to not only ensure criminals are held accountable for their crimes, but also in making sure that our local communities are doing their part to keep us all safe,” he said.
In a cost estimate, the state Department of Justice cautioned that the data analysis required in the bill would rely on staff from the Bureau of Justice Information and Analysis, which depends on federal funding.
“This funding structure does not afford BJIA much latitude to take on additional data tasks (i.e. state tasks) that are not built into federally funded projects,” the agency wrote.
The agency estimates the bill would necessitate yearly costs of about $45 million per year. The Department of Revenue would also incur smaller costs for computer programming and reviewing the data submitted by county sheriffs.
Democrats argued that those requirements amounted to an unfair burden on the state.
Rep. Ryan Spaude, D-Ashwaubenon, said Brown County, in which his district lies, “does pretty much everything that’s already in this bill,” but argued the threat of reduced state funding would harm law enforcement.
“We should not be micromanaging our local units of government like this,” he said. “We shouldn’t be putting our sheriffs in these types of situations, and we certainly shouldn’t be threatening to cut off funding for law enforcement for our communities.”
The bill’s advocates said local offices could apply to the federal government for reimbursement.
A state bill with federal context
Currently, local law enforcement has discretion over whether or not to investigate a person’s immigration status during an arrest, and does not have to comply with federal detainer requests.
Some counties voluntarily comply with ICE orders. According to the ACLU of Wisconsin, which opposes the practice, at least nine Wisconsin counties participate in some form of cooperation with ICE.
In addition to the ACLU, opponents of the GOP bill include the immigrants’ rights group Voces de la Frontera Action and the Wisconsin Council of Churches. They also include organizations opposed to domestic violence and sexual assault, which argue that the bill could discourage crime victims from coming forward.
The bill is backed by law enforcement unions, including the Badger State Sheriffs’ Association and the Wisconsin Sheriffs and Deputy Sheriffs Association. They argue that ensuring communication with ICE is good for public safety.
But in testimony before an Assembly committee, those groups also said they believe immigration enforcement “is fundamentally a federal issue that should be addressed at the federal level.” They also argued that sheriffs are elected officers who should have their own “authority in managing public safety within their respective counties,” and cautioned that some of the requirements could strain staffing and budgets.
Tuesday’s debate came as immigration advocates have called attention to the deportation of a Hmong resident of Milwaukee who was born in Laos, but had not returned since she was a baby. That was following Trump’s crackdown on unauthorized immigrants through executive orders, many of which he signed on the first day of his second term in January.
Many of those orders have faced legal challenges. This week, hundreds of immigrants lacking permanent legal status were deported in what may amount to defiance of a federal court order pausing the removals.
Assembly passes bills affecting tribal communities
Also on Tuesday, the same day as the annual State of the Tribes Address, the Assembly passed several bills that affect tribal communities. Each emerged from a special legislative committee on state-tribal relations.
One bill would protect students who wish to wear wearing traditional tribal regalia at school events, including graduation ceremonies. Another would give tribal officials the authority to copy vital records in the same manner as other authorized government bodies. And a third requires schools to file data about the number of American Indian students they serve.
Assembly Republicans pass bill requiring sheriffs to cooperate with ICE was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.
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