Coalition of Milwaukee County Constitutional Officers, Supervisors Oppose Misguided Legislation from State Republicans
MILWAUKEE – On Monday, February 3, 2025, Republicans in the Wisconsin state legislature released a proposal that directs the time and resources of County Sheriffs be redirected away from their jobs as public safety officers. Milwaukee County Supervisor Jack Eckblad has put together a coalition of Milwaukee County Leaders, Constitutional Officers, and Supervisors, including Supervisors Caroline Gómez-Tom, Juan Miguel Martonez, Anne O’Connor, Steven Shea, Sky Capriolo, and Justin Bielinski, as well as County Clerk George L. Christenson, County Treasurer David Cullen and Register of Deeds Israel Ramón who issued the following statement opposing the proposal:
“Republicans in the Wisconsin State Legislature have once again introduced a misguided proposal that misdirects the time and resources of County Sheriffs away from their jobs as public safety officers and reduces them to a tool of the Trump administration’s bigoted obsession with scapegoating immigrants. This dangerous legislation would force Wisconsin residents to carry documents at all times to prove they have the right to live in their homes, go to work, and pick their children up from school. Under this proposal, anyone detained by a Wisconsin sheriff who cannot immediately prove their legal status would be at risk of being handed over to federal authorities.
“To be clear, nearly one in ten American citizens do not have the documentation this Republican proposal would require. By mandating that sheriffs honor ‘administrative warrants’ not approved by a judge, this legislation is certain to bog down law enforcement with false alarms—preventing them from focusing on real public safety concerns like reckless driving, drug overdoses, and rising crime. It is a blatant abandonment of common sense in an attempt to cynically cozy up to the extremist Trump administration.
“The only thing this proposal accomplishes is to bankrupt Wisconsin law enforcement both morally and fiscally. As good-faith representatives, we refuse to support any proposal that forces our neighbors, family members, and constituents to carry papers proving their legal status. We urge the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office to remain focused on actual public safety instead of enabling the worst policies of Trump extremists.”
The statistic of nearly 1 in 10 American citizens lacking readily available documentation to prove their legal status comes from the research conducted by the Brennan Center for Justice. Their analysis, in partnership with VoteRiders, the Center for Civic Democracy and Engagement (CDCE) at the University of Maryland, and Public Wise, found that over 9% of American citizens of voting age – approximately 21.3 million people – do not have proof of citizenship readily available.
The study also uncovered that nearly 11% of Americans of color lack readily available citizenship documents, compared to just over 8% of self-identified white American citizens.
For more details, see the full analysis from the Brennan Center for Justice here: Millions of Americans Don’t Have Documents Proving Their Citizenship Readily Available.
NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.
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