The "Keep Families Together" Package: Drawing the Line Against Authoritarianism

At its core, government in a democracy exists to serve the people, not to control them. That principle should be simple, but in practice, we’ve seen it steadily eroded.

In Wisconsin and across the country, ICE and its collaborators in law enforcement have deployed tactics that belong more in authoritarian regimes than to free societies: masked and unidentified officers, families torn apart without due process, and the transformation of schools and churches into sites of fear rather than places of safety.

The “Keep Families Together” bill package is a direct response. It says: not here, not in our state, not in our name. Each bill in this package targets a different way that authoritarian-style abuse takes root:

• The No Secret Police Act (LRB-4042) demands transparency — no more masked officers snatching people off the street.
• Due Process for All (LRB-4207) guarantees fairness by funding civil legal aid so immigrants are not left defenseless against the full weight of the government.
• The Ban on State Support for Immigration Detention Centers (LRB-4475) prevents Wisconsin’s already overcrowded, inhumane jails and other facilities from being misused to cage non-criminal immigrants at taxpayer expense.
• The bans on ICE collaboration (AB 57 and LRB-4415) protect community trust by ensuring that our schools, hospitals, and public spaces remain sanctuaries — not ambush zones and prohibits local law enforcement from detaining individuals solely based on immigration status

What ties these bills together is a recognition that authoritarianism thrives on secrecy, fear, and the erosion of community trust. Authoritarian governments throughout history — from military dictatorships in Latin America to secret police in Eastern Europe — relied on exactly these tactics. They turned neighbors into suspects, public institutions into traps, and communities into fractured, fearful places where people were too scared to speak out.

Once normalized, these abuses never stayed limited to their original targets. They spread. A government that can disappear your immigrant neighbor today can disappear you tomorrow.

The Keep Families Together package is about more than immigration policy. It is about drawing a clear boundary between democracy and authoritarianism. It is about insisting that Wisconsin’s laws reflect our values: fairness, transparency, accountability, and community safety. And it is about remembering that the government does not get to decide how much power it has — we do.

If we want a state where families can thrive, neighbors can trust each other, and the government serves the people, then we must demand it. These bills are that demand, and passing them is one way we make clear that Wisconsin will not be a testing ground for authoritarian fear.

When law enforcement officers cover their faces, hide their names, and refuse to identify themselves, they aren’t protecting the public — they’re terrorizing it. The right to know who is arresting you, and under what authority, is foundational to any free society. Without that, the line between a government that serves its people and one that kidnaps its citizens begins to blur. We’ve seen this movie before. From the Stasi in East Germany to the military juntas of South America, authoritarian regimes always relied on masked, unaccountable forces to maintain fear and silence dissent. Wisconsin should not even flirt with normalizing that behavior.

The No Secret Police Act, LRB-4042, ensures that this never happens here. It requires law enforcement officers to identify themselves by name, badge, and agency when making an arrest, and to provide the legal authority under which they are acting. It bans disguises and face coverings that conceal an officer’s identity, with narrow exceptions for medical or tactical necessity. And crucially, it imposes real consequences: violating the law is a felony offense, with fines up to $100,000. Accountability means more than words — it means consequences.

Transparency is not optional. If an officer can seize you without telling you who they are or why they are doing it, then you have no ability to challenge an abuse of power. That strips people of their rights and curates a culture of fear where everyone wonders whether their neighbor will be next. It erodes trust, it enables violence, and it shields bad officers from accountability. Public safety cannot exist where people live in constant fear of their own government.

This bill is a direct reminder of a democratic truth: the government is supposed to serve the people, not the other way around. We should never accept secret police tactics that belong to dictatorships, not democracies. By passing LRB-4042, Wisconsin can send a clear message: we will not allow fear and secrecy to define public life, and we will not allow unaccountable power to grow unchecked in the shadows.

This bill is sponsored by Representatives Sylvia Ortiz-Velez (D- Milwaukee), Darrin Madison (D- Milwaukee), Priscilla Prado (D- Milwaukee), Brienne Brown (D- Whitewater), Ryan Clancy (D-Milwaukee), Karen DeSanto (De- Baraboo), Francesca Hong (D- Madison), Karen Kirsch (D- Greenfield), Vincent Miresse (D- Stevens Point), Supreme Moore-Omokunde (D- Milwaukee), Christian Phelps (D- Eau Claire), Amaad Rivera-Wagner (D- Green Bay), Sequanna Taylor (D- Milwaukee), and Angelito Tenorio (D- West Allis) and Senators LaTonya Johnson (D- Milwaukee), Tim Carpenter (D- Milwaukee), Chris Larson (D- Milwaukee), Kelda Roys (D- Madison), and Dora Drake (D- Milwaukee).

At its core, the idea of “due process” is about fairness — the right to defend yourself, to be heard, and to have a competent advocate by your side when the government comes for you. Yet our immigration system denies that basic right. Immigrants facing deportation do not have a right to a public defender. They stand alone against the power of the state, with their families, livelihoods, and futures on the line. That isn’t fairness. That isn’t justice. It is a rigged system designed to break people.

LRB-4207 seeks to correct that imbalance by investing $300,000 into civil legal services for individuals and families navigating immigration proceedings. It also empowers counties to provide additional funding for local legal aid organizations. In practice, that means families won’t have to walk into court alone, without guidance, while government lawyers press for deportation. It means immigrants in Wisconsin — who are often long-time community members — will have a fair shot at representation.

This bill isn’t just about protecting immigrants; it’s about protecting the integrity of our courts. A justice system that only works for those who can afford it is not a justice system at all. Without lawyers, people with valid claims are deported. Families are torn apart. Communities lose workers, parents, and neighbors. In many Wisconsin towns, immigrant families form the backbone of local economies and community life. To strip them away at the whim of federal policy, without even giving them a fair chance to defend themselves, is to shred the very social fabric we depend on.

History shows us that authoritarian governments always target vulnerable communities first, denying them due process and normalizing their exclusion. If we tolerate a two-tiered justice system — one for citizens and one for immigrants — we erode justice for everyone. The government must be accountable to fairness, not cruelty. LRB-4207 is a reminder that we, not Washington, get to decide how justice is served in Wisconsin. And we should decide in favor of fairness, dignity, and the basic right to be heard.

This bill is sponsored by Representatives Ryan Clancy (D-Milwaukee), Amaad Rivera-Wagner (D- Green Bay), Priscilla Prado (D-Milwaukee), Brienne Brown (D-Whitewater), Karen DeSanto (D-Baraboo), Francesca Hong (D-Madison), Darrin Madison (D- Milwaukee), Supreme Moore-Omokunde (D- Milwaukee), Christian Phelps (D- Eau Claire), Sequanna Taylor (D- Milwaukee), and Angelito Tenorio (D- West Allis) and Senators Tim Carpenter (D- Milwaukee), Melissa Ratcliff, and Dora Drake (D- Milwaukee).

Wisconsin taxpayers should not be funding cages. LRB-4475 makes it clear: no state or local facilities, no tax dollars, no infrastructure in Wisconsin can be used to detain people solely because of their immigration status. This is not just about money; it’s about moral clarity. We are already struggling with some of the most inhumane jail and prison conditions in the country — overcrowding, understaffing, and neglect. Why would we add thousands of non-criminal immigrants into a system already buckling under its own failures?

The truth is simple: locking people up for civil immigration violations has nothing to do with public safety. These are not violent offenders. They are parents, workers, and community members. To detain them is to misuse already limited taxpayer dollars while ignoring urgent needs like infrastructure, education, and healthcare. Every dollar wasted on cages is a dollar stolen from our communities.

And let’s be clear: history teaches us what happens when governments normalize mass detention of non-criminal populations. It begins with immigrants, but it never ends there. The machinery of mass incarceration, once built, expands. That is the logic of authoritarianism — a government so bloated and unaccountable it sees human beings as disposable, as statistics to be processed and warehoused. By refusing to let Wisconsin be part of ICE’s detention network, LRB-4475 draws a necessary boundary.

The government exists to protect our communities, not to fund cruelty. If we want a stronger Wisconsin, we should invest in what makes us thrive — schools, roads, healthcare — not in cages. LRB-4475 is a step toward reclaiming our resources, our humanity, and our right to decide what justice looks like in this state.

This bill is sponsored by Representatives Christian Phelps (D- Eau Claire), Angelina Cruz, Vincent Miresse (D-Stevens Point), Brienne Brown (D-Whitewater), Ryan Clancy (D-Milwaukee), Francesca Hong (D-Madison), Darrin Madison (D- Milwaukee), Supreme Moore Omokunde, and Angelino Tenorio (D- West Allis) and Senators Chris Larson (D- Milwaukee), Kelda Roys (D- Madison), Dora Drake (D- Milwaukee), and Tim Carpenter (D- Milwaukee).

Schools, churches, hospitals, and community centers are supposed to be places of safety. They are where we go to learn, to heal, to gather, to pray. But when ICE is allowed to turn those places into hunting grounds, they stop being sanctuaries and start being traps. AB 57 bans immigration enforcement in safe community spaces like schools, churches, childcare centers, and medical facilities. LRB-4415 goes even further, cutting off all state and local collaboration with ICE, including the 287(g) agreements that turn local police into federal immigration agents.

When immigrants fear that police are acting as ICE, they stop calling 911. Witnesses to crimes stay silent. Victims refuse to come forward. Communities grow less safe, not more. The federal government may not care if it erodes trust between the public and law enforcement, but Wisconsin should. Public safety depends on cooperation, and cooperation depends on trust. No one will work with police they fear might hand them or their family over to deportation.

History is filled with examples of governments destroying trust to consolidate power. Authoritarian regimes blur the line between civil institutions and military enforcement, using fear to dismantle community bonds. If schools or churches become places of surveillance, then no public space is truly safe. When local governments sign on to 287(g) agreements, they surrender their autonomy and allow Washington to dictate policing strategies that don’t reflect local needs. That is how authoritarianism grows: by stripping communities of the ability to govern themselves.

These bills are about more than protecting immigrants. They are about preserving the very spaces that knit our communities together, and about refusing to let federal fear tactics dictate how we live in Wisconsin. Our state does not exist to serve ICE. The government is supposed to serve its people, and that means protecting community trust, not destroying it. AB 57 and LRB-4415 draw a line: our schools, our churches, our neighborhoods belong to us — not to federal agencies looking to sow fear.

AB 57 is sponsored by Representatives Ortiz-Velez (D-Milwaukee), Francesca Hong (D-Madison), Margaret Arney (D- Wauwatosa), Mike Bare (D- Verona), Brown (D-Whitewater), Ryan Clancy (D-Milwaukee), Cruz, DeSmidt, Goodwin, Haywood (D-Milwaukee), Joers, Kirsch (D-Greenfield), Madison (D-Milwaukee), Mayadev, Moore Omokunde (D-Milwaukee), Neubauer (D- Mt. Pleasant), Phelps (D- Eau Claire), Prado (D-Milwaukee), Rivera-Wagner (D- Green Bay), Roe (D- Janesville), Sinicki (D- Cudahy), Snodgrass (D- Waushara County), Subeck (D- Madison) and Tenorio (D- West Allis) and Senators Carpenter (D- Milwaukee), Drake (D-Milwaukee), Larson (D- Milwaukee) and Ratcliff (D- Dane County).

LRB-4415 is sponsored by Representatives Francesca Hong (D-Madison), Priscilla Prado (D-Milwaukee), Vincent Miresse (D-Stevens Point), Ryan Clancy (D-Milwaukee), Darrin Madison (D-Milwaukee), Supreme Moore Omokunde (D-Milwaukee), Sylvia Ortiz-Velez (D-Milwaukee), Christian Phelps (D- Eau Claire), Sequanna Taylor (D- Milwaukee), and Angelito Tenorio (D- West Allis) and Senators Dora Drake (D-Milwaukee), Chris Larson (D-Milwaukee), and Tim Carpenter (D- Milwaukee).