Manitowoc County Community, Faith Leaders Call For Transparency After ICE Arrests
Federal immigration, law enforcement officials detained 24 people in northeastern Wisconsin county.
An FBI agent stands around what appears to be other members of law enforcement. The FBI’s Milwaukee office posted this image to social media on Sept. 25, 2025. Photo courtesy of the FBI
Some community and faith leaders in Manitowoc County are calling for more transparency from the federal government after more than 20 people were arrested by federal immigration and law enforcement officials last week.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security released the names of six people who were arrested and said a total of 24 immigrants without legal status were arrested. Federal authorities have said the operation was tied to an investigation into a transnational human and drug trafficking ring but have provided limited details.
Those detained included farm workers and members of a local Catholic church, according to Manitowoc community members.
In interviews, community members said they believe federal authorities conducted parallel operations in a residential area and in a Walmart parking lot where dairy workers often carpool.
The Manitowoc County Sheriff’s Office declined to comment on the federal operation.
The FBI initially said nine of the people arrested were targeted for suspected involvement in “sexual assault and/or trafficking of minor American girls.” A spokesperson for the FBI’s Milwaukee office declined to comment when asked for additional information.
In its release Tuesday, the Department of Homeland Security, or DHS, said the FBI received information that led to the operation from interviews with victims of a trafficking and drug ring.
“While interviewing victims—many of whom were children—of a human trafficking and drug trafficking ring, ICE identified multiple illegal aliens,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. “In total, ICE arrested 24 illegal aliens including those convicted of sexually assaulting a child, hit and run, DUI, identity theft, and possession of narcotic equipment.”
One of the people DHS named, Jose Hilario Moreno Portillo, had previously been arrested for sexual assault of a child, according to the list released by immigration officials. Most of the others named, who the release categorized as “some of the worst of the worst,” had less serious legal histories listed by the agency, including traffic offenses, operating while intoxicated and disorderly conduct.
The agency did not respond to a question seeking clarification on whether others beyond the six named individuals had prior criminal convictions.
This photo shows what appears to be law enforcement officers standing in a circle. The FBI’s Milwaukee office posted this image to social media on Sept. 25, 2025. Photo courtesy of the FBI
‘They want to paint everyone automatically as a criminal’
Some community members said they feel the federal government has unfairly tried to frame everyone who was detained as a criminal.
“They want to paint everyone automatically as a criminal illegal alien,” said Matt Sauer, a pastor for Manitowoc Cooperative Ministry. “To me, that sounds like positioning.”
Beyond the names released, it’s still unclear who was detained or where they’re being held, Sauer said. He believes some are being held in the Dodge County detention center.
Sauer said it doesn’t feel like federal authorities are providing the “transparency necessary for due process” and have not provided evidence supporting the human trafficking claims.
“If there are indeed some people that were involved in human trafficking, they should go through the justice system,” he added. “We don’t want violent criminals on the streets. But we also believe that there needs to be due process.”
Manitowoc County is a major player in the state’s agricultural economy. It’s home to more than 100,000 dairy cattle, with farms ranging in size from 30 cows to more than 5,000 cows. Wisconsin’s dairy industry relies on labor from undocumented immigrants.
The Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin trade group declined to comment on the federal operation in Manitowoc County, citing an active criminal investigation.
Michael Slattery, a farmer from Manitowoc County, said he knows two dairy farmers who each had at least one worker detained in the Sept. 25 operation. He also said not everyone who was detained was a farm worker.
Slattery also said he’s skeptical of the federal government framing the operation as targeting criminals.
“What I’m concerned about, and what we as farmers are concerned about, is the image that is being portrayed of these workers,” he said. “What is conveyed in the national media is that the people that they were picking up were traffickers.”
As of Sept. 21, 71.5 percent of people held in ICE detention had no criminal conviction, according to data from the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University.
The FBI’s Milwaukee field office posted this photo of federal officials on a sidewalk in Manitowoc County to social media on Sept. 25, 2025. Photo courtesy of the FBI
Lack of transparency around FBI, ICE operation creates ‘climate of fear’
Mark LeGreve, a deacon at St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Manitowoc, said two members of the Catholic parish were arrested by federal authorities on Sept. 25. He said they were not included in the initial list of names released by DHS. LeGreve said they have agreed to be deported to Honduras.
He said the incident has led to an increased sense of fear among the local Latino community.
“They’re questioning, ‘Should I go to work? Should I bring my kids to school? Should I bring my kids to the doctor’s appointment? Should I go get groceries?’ They’re stuck sort of waiting, not quite knowing what they should do,” LeGreve said.
Rosa Huizar, a Manitowoc resident who is active with the Catholic parish, said she became a legal U.S. resident in 2024 after first applying in 2001.
“The community, they’re scared,” she said. “I know they’re very scared.”
Sachin Shivaram, CEO of the Wisconsin Aluminum Foundry in Manitowoc, said the lack of information from federal authorities has helped create a “climate of fear,” where immigrants in the country legally are afraid to go to work or school.
“This lack of transparency about what happened is causing regular people who have nothing to fear to actually be fearful and not go about their daily lives,” he said. “I am troubled by the lack of transparency.”
That heightened sense of fear isn’t limited to Manitowoc County.
Darin Von Ruden, president of the Wisconsin Farmers Union, said immigrant farm workers across the state have had an elevated sense of “nervousness” for months “because of the actions that were taking place in other parts of the country.”
“Workers were either not showing up, or they had some hesitation to get to their place of employment,” he said. “(They) had that fear of always being stopped, so (they’re) taking different roads or trying to get rides with different people so that they can get there safely.”
Community, faith leaders in a Wisconsin county call for transparency after ICE arrests was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.
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