MADISON—The ACLU of Wisconsin today announced that it 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.
“We believe that state and local law enforcement are overstepping their authority under Wisconsin law by honoring ICE detainers, regardless of whether they operate under a 287(g) agreement with ICE that purports to delegate certain immigration enforcement powers to local law enforcement,” said Tim Muth, a senior staff attorney with the ACLU of Wisconsin. “This is an important issue that must be addressed quickly, as our immigrant neighbors are living in fear and constantly at risk of being unlawfully held and apprehended by ICE.”
Christine Neumann-Ortiz, Executive Director of Voces de la Frontera, affirmed that “the US Constitution extends protections to all people living in the U.S, regardless of immigration status. The notion that immigrants can be denied those rights is offensive and unlawful. Too often, simply driving without a license or committing other minor infractions can lead to prolonged detention, deportation, family trauma, and separation.”
“The unlawful collaboration between local law enforcement and ICE destabilizes communities and erodes trust in law enforcement and has a chilling effect on victims and the vulnerable who might otherwise seek help from the police. It diverts scarce public-safety resources away from truly urgent community needs, and it doesn’t make us safer; it instead spreads fear and dehumanizes our immigrant neighbors. Wisconsin should be investing in keeping families together and strengthening communities, not working with ICE to exploit and intimidate people who are essential to our state’s economy and social fabric,” she added.
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.
A copy of the lawsuit is available here
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