Communities Look For Answers After String Of Arrests By ICE Officials In Western Wisconsin

Western Wisconsin residents are still trying to make sense of the arrest of 12 people by federal immigration officials earlier this week.

On Monday evening, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials showed up at the household of the Cruz family in the town of Sparta. Mrs. Cruz, who didn’t want to give her full name because she fears deportation, said the officials were looking for a man with a criminal record who had the same name as her husband, but their photos did not match. She said ICE officials took her husband into custody anyway, and now she doesn’t know where he is.

Mrs. Cruz said he does not have a criminal record.

“We have been really good people here for quite a few years,” Cruz said. “I don’t know why they did that. I don’t know why they don’t even call me. He cannot call me. I need some help.”

Mr. and Mrs. Cruz have lived and worked in the area for 13 years as undocumented immigrants, and have two children.

Mr. Cruz was among a total of 12 men were arrested in Monroe, Trempealeau, and Vernon counties on Monday and Tuesday, among An ICE spokeswoman. She said 11 had been criminally convicted of battery, carrying a concealed weapon, drunken driving, resisting an officer, or bail jumping. One person was arrested for returning to the U.S. after having previously been deported, though that person does not have a criminal record.

Lawyers, religious leaders, and immigration advocates are still trying to sort out the details. Some of them think that more than 12 people were detained. Chuck Berendes, an immigration attorney with Catholic Charities in La Crosse, is still gathering information on each case, but he said that chances are, not every person who was arrested may have committed major crimes.

“If people commit felonies, I guess part of me is like, you got to face the music, right?” he said. “But, there are a lot of people that are felons who could realistically be on this list. Now, their wives are at home, wondering what to do.”

Catholic Charities and other organizations are working with the families of the detained immigrants.