State senators hear about Wisconsin proposal to cut funding from sheriffs who don’t help ICE

A state Senate committee heard more than three hours of impassioned testimony Tuesday on a bill that would cut funding for local sheriff’s offices if those sheriffs don’t assist federal immigration enforcement.

The Republican-backed proposal cleared Wisconsin’s Assembly in March and is expected to secure Senate approval, as well. Gov. Tony Evers has said he’ll likely veto the proposal.

Under the bill, sheriffs would have to comply with administrative warrants from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE.

They’d also have to honor detainers from ICE. Those are requests for a local jail to hold someone for up to 48 hours while ICE decides whether to take that person into federal custody before starting deportation proceedings.

The bill would mandate that sheriffs ask anyone jailed on a suspected felony for proof of legal residence in the country. If a sheriff is unable to verify someone’s legal presence, the sheriff’s office would “immediately” need to report that person to federal immigration enforcement, the bill says.

Amanda Merkwae, a lobbyist who testified against the bill on behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin, said few Americans have documents readily available that would be needed to prove their citizenship.

“This framework functionally compels all people … in the state of Wisconsin, citizens and noncitizens alike, to carry identification documents on them at all times to prove their citizenship or immigration status,” Merkwae said. “Even if someone who was arrested had ready access to one of the acceptable forms of proof of status, law enforcement officers are not trained to identify the validity of these items.”

If a sheriff doesn’t comply with the bill’s mandates, the state would cut their department’s shared revenue payments by 15 percent.

State Sen. André Jacque, a sponsor of the proposal, said it’s targeted at so-called sanctuary communities.

“These [sanctuary] policies undermine the rule of law and create dangerous inconsistencies across jurisdictions,” the New Franken Republican said. “What this bill does is simple — ensures that no county in Wisconsin can turn a blind eye to known immigration violations when they intersect with felony criminal activity.”

But those testifying against the bill this week said it could encourage racial profiling. They also accused state lawmakers of taking away the discretion of local elected officials. And they said the bill would undermine trust in local enforcement, making immigrants less likely to come forward as victims or witnesses to crimes.

The bill could affect policies in place at sheriffs’ departments serving Wisconsin’s most populous counties.

In Dane County, the sheriff’s office will notify ICE when someone is scheduled to be released from jail if ICE has provided judicial authority to place an immigration hold on that person, a sheriff’s department spokesperson previously told WPR. But the Dane County Sheriff’s Office will not honor a detainer request from ICE to hold someone in jail past their scheduled release date, the spokesperson said.

While the plan is likely to pass the Legislature, it might never become law. Republicans are short of the supermajority that would be needed to override a likely veto from Evers.