Terminating ICE Detainers in Wisconsin with Voces de La Frontera

The ACLU of Wisconsin has filed a petition on behalf of immigrant rights group Voces de la Frontera asking the Wisconsin Supreme Court to declare that the practice of Wisconsin jails honoring ICE detainers is illegal. The petition names five Wisconsin county sheriffs' offices—Walworth, Brown, Kenosha, Sauk, and Marathon—as respondents to terminate their practice of honoring ICE detainers.

An ICE detainer is a voluntary request to a local sheriff to hold individuals for an additional 48 hours after they should have been released under state law so that ICE can take custody of and deport them.

The lawsuit contends that honoring an ICE detainer constitutes an arrest, and Wisconsin law enforcement does not have the authority to make arrests based solely on ICE's civil administrative “warrants.”

The organization believes this issue requires a rapid and decisive ruling, as ICE continues to send hundreds of these detainers to Wisconsin jails, and people throughout the state are being illegally held for days so that ICE can pick them up. ICE sends detainers even for people with no criminal records or people who still have charges pending in Wisconsin courts.

If the lawsuit is successful, Wisconsin local and state law enforcement would not be allowed to hold anyone in jail beyond their release dates pursuant to a detainer.

This has been part of a series of work undertaken by the ACLU of Wisconsin, which recently released a report investigating immigration enforcement in Wisconsin. The report shows just how closely local law enforcement and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are working together and how law enforcement agencies are feeding the deportation machine to make money.