Wisconsin’s Democratic Gov. Tony Evers is pushing back after Trump’s border czar suggested state officials like Evers could face felony charges if they’re found to have obstructed Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The remarks came after Evers issued a memo to state workers last month. Officials with the state Department of Administration said that guidance came in response to questions from state workers about what they should do if federal authorities show up at a state agency or office.
The memo warned agency employees to consult the state’s legal counsel before giving any information to ICE agents or letting them conduct a search.
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In response, Republicans in Wisconsin have accused the governor of ordering state employees to obstruct federal authorities.
“The very fact that Tony Evers is instructing his employees to either break federal law or not cooperate with law enforcement is a new low for Tony Evers,” Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, told reporters last month.
This week, Border Czar Tom Homan responded to a question from the far-right website Gateway Pundit about that memo.
“You cannot support what we’re doing, and you can support sanctuary cities if that’s what you want to do,” Homan said in response. “But if you cross that line of impediment or knowingly harboring [and] concealing an illegal alien, that is a felony, and we’ll treat it as such.”
When asked by Gateway Pundit whether leaders should be arrested for shielding people without legal status from deportation, Homan said: “Wait to see what happens.”
In a video message shared Friday, Evers described Homan’s remarks as an apparent threat of arrest.
“Chilling threats like this should be of concern to every Wisconsinite and every American who cares about this country and the values [we] hold here,” Evers said. “These threats represent a concerning trajectory in this country. We now have a federal government that will threaten or arrest an elected official or even everyday American citizens who have broken no laws, committed no crimes and done nothing wrong.”
Evers said he hasn’t broken the law nor directed anyone else to do so.
And he accused Republicans of lying about the contents of the memo to “fuel the fake controversy of their own creation.”
“As disgusted as I am about the continued actions of the Trump administration, I’m not afraid,” Evers said. “I’ve never once been discouraged from doing the right thing.”
In an interview with WPR last month, American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin attorney Tim Muth rejected Republicans’ assertion that the Evers administration had ordered employees to “obstruct” ICE.
Among other instructions, the memo warned employees to ask an agency attorney before letting ICE search databases or enter non-publicly accessible sections of state offices. The guidance said employees should take those steps even if the agent presents a judicial or administrative warrant.
“Knowing what’s a valid warrant or not a valid warrant is something that the average layperson may not be able to determine by themselves,” Muth said last month. “This [memo] was a pretty plain, vanilla document that is consistent with the Fourth Amendment.”
Separately, a judge in Milwaukee County is now facing federal charges after federal prosecutors say she impeded an arrest by ICE at the county courthouse.
In an affidavit submitted late last month, FBI agents alleged that Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan led a man through a back door of her courtroom so he could attempt to avoid arrest by immigration agents.
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