State Rep. Brent Jacobson is backing a bill requiring county sheriffs to cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in identifying and deporting illegal aliens arrested for felonies.
Under the proposal, sheriffs must verify citizenship status when they make an arrest. If the individual is not a citizen, they would have to report to ICE. If a detainer has been issued for that individual, the sheriff would have to hold them. Sheriffs that do not comply would face a penalty of 15 percent to their shared revenue funding.
Under the proposed Wisconsin bill, sheriffs don’t have to report those not detained for a felony offense.
Such funding helps departments provide public safety, transportation, emergency and other services.
“Many local law enforcement departments across Wisconsin are already cooperating with federal agencies to enforce the law,” said Jacobson. “However, a minority of sheriffs and Gov. Evers have decided to stand in the way. This common-sense bill ensures that our sheriffs cooperate with ICE to keep dangerous illegal aliens off our streets.”
“Enforcing the law and keeping our communities safe is not a partisan issue,” said Jacobson. “If someone is committing felonies while they are in our state illegally, they should be deported. Now that the bill has been introduced, I hope Gov. Evers will reconsider his impulsive decision.”
Evers has announced that he will veto the bill.
“We shouldn’t be threatening law enforcement with deep budget cuts, we should be working together with local law enforcement to improve public safety, reduce crime, and keep dangerous drugs and violent criminals off of our streets,” Evers’ spokesperson Britt Cudaback said.
The ACLU of Wisconsin says the bill “sends the wrong message.”
Similar bills are also being introduced nationwide in state legislatures including Indiana and North Carolina.
According to a post on X by Wisconsin Right Now, state Sen. Chris Kapenga said it costs about $35,000-$45,000 a year to house an inmate in a county jail. He contacted four Wisconsin counties and asked how many illegal immigrants are currently in their jails. He learned:
“Washington Co doesn’t report. They don’t know how many illegal immigrants are in their jail because they don’t check identification to see if someone is here legally;
“Jefferson County is the same – “they don’t know,” Kapenga said;
“Waukesha County has about 5 illegal immigrants in their jail, costing about $200,000 a year. They usually have 20-25. ‘That’s a significant cost; up to a half million dollars,’ said Kapenga.
“He learned there are 25 different languages that the court system had to find interpreters for – Waukesha County spent $190,000 on that alone. Kapenga said there are ‘significant costs. A lot are illegals.’
“The Dodge County jail has a contract with the U.S. Marshal’s service, ‘where a lot of the illegals go,’ and he was told that they ‘have right around 100 (illegal immigrants in that jail) that we are paying for with taxpayer money right now just in Dodge – who (allegedly) committed crimes all over the board. Could be around $3.6-4.5 million’ per year.”
For more information, read the Wisconsin Examiner story or The Capitol Times story.