The Assembly passed a bill along party lines Tuesday that would require Wisconsin sheriffs to cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and detain undocumented immigrants who commit crimes or risk losing state aid.
Gov. Tony Evers has pledged to veto the bill, which is now on its way to the Senate.
The bill, authored by Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, and Sen. Julian Bradley, R-New Berlin, would require incarcerated people to provide proof of residency. If they are unable to provide documentation, sheriffs would be required to report them to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Additionally, sheriffs in Wisconsin are required to comply with detainers and administrative warrants from the federal government regarding individuals in their custody and seek reimbursement for related costs. The bill also makes sheriff’s offices responsible for verifying residency and holding people in jail facilities for ICE.
To ensure their compliance with this bill, sheriffs must certify their adherence to these requirements annually to the Department of Revenue. If they fail to do so, this will result in a 15% reduction in the county's shared revenue payments for the following year.
The proposed bill also requires sheriffs to maintain records of individuals verified as unlawfully present and their reported crimes, reporting this data to the Department of Justice and the state Legislature. Furthermore, the bill provides immunity from criminal or civil liability for law enforcement actions taken under these provisions.
At a pre-session news conference Tuesday, Assembly Republicans defended the bill. Vos called it a way to emulate immigration practices happening in other parts of the country.
“It shouldn’t be controversial,” Vos said during the news conference. “If someone commits a crime who is already here illegally, the simplest thing is for the sheriff's department to run their names to ensure that they are here legally, if not to cooperate with ICE.”
The Dane County Sheriff’s Office previously said in a January statement they would no longer participate in the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP), citing a desire to honor community values.
In a February statement, Dane County Sheriff Kalvin Barrett called the bill an “unfunded mandate” that will fall on taxpayers to fund.
"Public safety decisions should be made by those who understand the complexities of policing and the unique needs of our communities. The separation of power between the Legislature and law enforcement is imperative to ensure that political narratives do not interfere with or influence our responsibilities as law enforcement,” Barrett said.
SCAAP provides funding to agencies that give names of individuals who have spent at least four consecutive days incarcerated and have committed at least one felony or two misdemeanor convictions to ICE. While SCAAP has previously provided about $90,000 yearly to Dane County, the funds were not directly given to the sheriff’s office.
Rep. Jim Piwowarczyk, R-Hubertus, a cosponsor of the bill and former law enforcement officer, expressed support for the bill.
“I’ve seen first hand how important it is to keep dangerous individuals off the street,” Piwowarczyk said at the news conference. “This bill ensures that we take every opportunity to hold individuals who threaten public safety pending federal action.”
Evers has been critical of the bill and outspoken in his criticism of President Donald Trump’s immigration policies.
“I think that’s a decision to be made county by county. Sheriffs are public officials or run for election. They should be able to make those choices,” Evers said Feb. 4 at an event near La Crosse. “We don’t need the Republicans and Madison telling sheriffs what to do.”
