After an unexpected visit over the weekend, federal immigration officials arrested a total of 83 people in Wisconsin, 20 of which were in Dane County.
Between Friday and Monday, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents launched a “targeted enforcement” effort across the state. Some detainees remain in ICE custody pending deportation, according to a press release from the agency Tuesday.
“This operation targeted criminal aliens, public safety threats and individuals who have violated our immigration laws,” said Ricardo Wong, field director for ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations arm in Chicago. “Operations like this reflect the vital work our ERO officers do everyday to protect our communities, uphold public safety and protect the integrity of our immigration laws.”
The majority of the detainees are originally from Mexico, but others came from Columbia, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Thailand and Vietnam. Of the 83 arrested, ICE reported half had criminal records.
City officials and campus leaders have spoken out in the wake of the arrests.
Madison Mayor Paul Soglin joined state Senators Tammy Baldwin and Mark Pocan in criticizing the way ICE made arrests, the conditions at their detention centers and the rhetoric they used to describe immigrants.
“We speak collectively in calling these recent actions what they clearly are: racist and xenophobic,” Soglin said in a press release Wednesday. “We are heartbroken as we consider the plight of our Madison residents who were literally taken from their homes, their place of work or, in some cases, parking lots.”
Soglin went on to echo the Latino Consortium for Action, Dane County Immigration Collaborative and Voces de la Frontera in calling the arrests traumatic for the entire community.
“These ICE actions have had a horrific effect on our community that will last long after they leave,” representatives from those advocacy groups said in a joint statement. “We are continuing to work to support our communities and families.”
UW-Madison urged students impacted by the arrests to seek support from the Dean of Students Office or the Multicultural Student Center. A spokesperson reminded students in a statement that UW-Madison or the UW-Madison Police Department aiding ICE would go against university policy and that ICE cannot arrest students in private campus-owned spaces.
