(The Center Square) – Bills that would require Wisconsin sheriffs to identify and report people illegally in the country to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement passed a committee vote after a contentious meeting Thursday.
Sheriffs would need to request a U.S. passport, ID, or other “proof of legal presence status” from individuals held in a county jail for an offense punishable as a felony.
Assembly Bill 24 and Senate Bill 57 aim to end “sanctuary counties” that refuse to follow federal immigration laws within the state. To enter America from another country, if not a U.S. citizen, a visa or some other travel authorization is required to be presented at a port of entry.
“Removing dangerous criminals from our streets should not be controversial,” bill coauthor and Assembly Speaker Rep. Robin Vos, R-Rochester, said in a statement to The Center Square.
“This bill is a continuation of a simple effort that if someone commits a crime, the sheriff runs their name to see if they’re here legally,” Vos said. “If not, the sheriff then cooperates with ICE to ensure they’re appropriately taken care of at the federal level.”
If signed into law, a sheriff’s failure to comply would result in their county’s shared revenue being defunded by 15% for the next year.
The committee meeting spurred an argument not just about the bills, but also about President Donald Trump’s immigration policies, protests in Los Angeles and compliance with federal law.
According to Sen. Chris Larson, D-Milwaukee, a major problem is that the bills “ignore” the right to due process.
“If we are choosing to spend our resources and forcing our 72 sheriff departments in the state to suspend other activities and to turn over people who have not finished the due process to be guilty of felonies … we are setting a priority that is more important than frankly doing the other law enforcement activities that they’re doing,” Larson said.
Larson called ICE a “lawless organization,” saying Wisconsin’s law enforcement community doesn’t “want to be a part of Trump’s racist deportation army.”
The bills would only apply to individuals confined in jail while their charge or arrest is pending, not people already convicted of a felony, according to legislative council Margit Kelley.
Sen. Tim Carpenter, D-Milwaukee, said the legislation would likely pass but be vetoed by Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, which committee chairman Sen. Chris Kapenga, R-Delafield, conceded.
However, Kapenga nonetheless defended the bills as a common-sense standard for law enforcement.
“In this country we can all have our opinions and our feelings on if a law is right or not right, but if a law exists it is the duty of the government to carry out and enforce that law,” Kapenga said. “If we become a nation where we can just do what we want based on our feelings there will be no civil society, and that’s very concerning for me.”
The bills are set to be voted on by the full Senate and Assembly.
