ICE Arrests Individuals Inside County Courthouse

Milwaukee County Courthouse. Photo by Graham Kilmer.

Agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested two individuals in the hallways of the Milwaukee County Courthouse, according to the Milwaukee County Sheriff‘s Office.

“MCSO was made aware of ICE’s intention to take an individual into custody at the courthouse, shortly before the arrest occurred, but was not given advance notice of the second arrest in the Milwaukee County Public Safety Building,” according to a statement released by the sheriff’s office Friday. “MCSO did not participate in either arrest.”

The MCSO is charged with providing security for the Milwaukee County Courthouse. The agency also controls and staffs the Milwaukee County Jail. As a policy, MCSO does not honor ICE detainment requests without a warrant.

Before the MCSO released its statement Friday, Chief Judge Carl Ashley sent an email to court officials Thursday alerting them to the arrests. The first arrest occurred on March 20 and the second on Thursday, April 3.

“The first incident occurred on March 20 in the Courthouse after an injunction hearing ended where the respondent was detained and the second occurred [Thursday, April 3] in the Safety Building before the defendant’s hearing; both in public hallways,” Ashley wrote in the email. “If these detentions occurred in the courtroom, I believe it would have directly interfered with our judicial process.”

Ashley asked court staff to alert him to any future ICE activity in the courthouse complex.

“I’m not sure if we have the authority to intervene in what happens in a public hallway,” Ashley said. “I have reached out to Corporation Counsel and the Director’s Office for their input.”

ICE frequently takes custody of immigrants who have come in contact with the justice system. The agency often uses “immigration detainers” to do so. The detainers are administrative warrants, not judicial warrants, that ask a local jail or detention facility to keep someone in custody until ICE agents can come and arrest them.

“Further, MCSO understands that immigration enforcement is a hot button issue, but it is not uncommon for local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies to search available databases for upcoming court hearings of individuals they are seeking,” the sheriff’s office said.

The courthouse complex is a public building without restrictions on who can enter.

The identities of the individuals arrested were not immediately available.

A spokesperson for ICE told Urban Milwaukee that the agency could not confirm any details about the arrests, including their existence, without the individual’s names, birth dates or other identifying information.

Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley released a statement Friday expressing concern about the effect the arrests will have on public trust and participation in the judicial process.

“The Milwaukee County Courthouse stands as a cornerstone of justice where residents come to seek information, resources, and fair participation in the legal process,” Crowley said. “An attack on this safe, community-serving space undermines public trust, breeds fear among citizens and staff, and disrupts the due process essential to our courts.”

The county executive said he will work with state and local partners to “maintain safety and justice for all.”

“As local leaders, we have a duty to protect these institutions, uphold accessible services, and safeguard every individual’s constitutional right to engage fully in the judicial process,” County Executive David Crowley said. “The last thing we want is to interfere with the legal process or sow doubt in those summoned to the courthouse about whether or not they will receive fair, impartial justice.”

The arrests raised similar concerns for Colleen Foley, executive director of the legal aid society of Milwaukee.

“We have heard about the 2 arrests and are concerned about the chilling effect – not only for our own clients, but for all residents who seek to exercise their rights by attending to legal matters within the Milwaukee County Courthouse complex,” Foley said. “The Legal Aid Society of Milwaukee is working with other community partners to ensure residents know their rights and are being proactive about worst case scenarios, such as completing POAs for delegation of parental duties and finances should they get detained.”

President Donald Trump campaigned on a plan of mass deportations of undocumented immigrants and his administration has attempted to ramp up arrests and deportations in recent weeks. The administration’s efforts have involved mistakenly deporting a U.S. citizen and using wartime powers and a checklist of indicators to deport individuals believed to be affiliated with a Venezuelan gang, though immigration-rights advocates say the checklist is “unreliable.”

This story will be updated as more information is available.

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