Friend –

Last week, we revealed that multiple Wisconsin sheriffs' departments have been helping detain, jail, and transport immigrants in exchange for money from ICE.

Earlier this week, we released a new report investigating immigration enforcement statewide, documenting just how closely local law enforcement and ICE are working – and how financial inducements from ICE are spurring more cooperation.

In an update to our 2022 findings, our new report reveals that:

• Many more Wisconsin sheriffs are entering into 287(g) agreements with ICE, deputizing local officers to conduct federal immigration enforcement. Thirteen law enforcement agencies now participate in the program, with six of those agreements coming this year.
• Sheriffs are continuing to send ICE personal data about immigrants for federal funding. The SCAPP grant partially reimburses local and state governments for the costs of incarcerating certain non-citizens in exchange for sharing information about them with ICE, adding a significant financial incentive to participating in Trump's mass deportation machine.
• Most Wisconsin sheriffs are honoring ICE requests to hold immigrants in jail for up to 48 hours past their scheduled release date, allowing the agency to pick up individuals before they leave jail. Even though these detainers often aren't accompanied by a judicial warrant and lack legal authority under Wisconsin law, ICE made thousands of these requests from 2021 to 2025.

The increasing integration of local law enforcement into the federal immigration apparatus is accelerating the cruel mass deportation agenda, ripping apart families and communities, and diverting substantial local resources away from meeting the needs of residents.

Immigrants have been an essential part of the fabric of Wisconsin for many years. They are a part of our families. They are our coworkers, friends, and neighbors. This regime is destroying the lives of beloved members of our communities, ripping them away from their families and homes, and funneling them into the shameful detention and deportation regime. Local authorities have no business contributing to that effort.

Immigrants belong in Wisconsin, and we'll never stop fighting for them.

In solidarity,

ACLU of Wisconsin