An immigrant rights group in Milwaukee will march against the decision by a local Sheriff to partner with federal immigration authorities about immigration enforcement. On Wednesday, Voces de la Frontera will hold a ‘Day without Latinos’ rally. This is according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
The group is demanding that Eric Severson, the Sheriff of Waukesha County, ends the partnership between his department and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The county will take part in the 287(g) jail program, which enables deputized officers to give immigration detainers to inmates who may be subject to removal from the US. Severson says that the department will not go out among the community but will work with ICE to honor detainers for those immigrants already held in custody.
Severson added that his constituents and the community wants the Sheriff’s Department to work with ICE to ensure that any criminal undocumented immigrants do not get released back into the community after arrest, and said that he wanted to join the program to reaffirm his commitment to ensuring that people’s rights are not violated.
There will be ICE training for two corrections employees in June, but no date has yet been set for the implementation of the program. Some people fear that small incidents could result in the program deporting immigrants, according to Anselmo Villareal, the president of the non-profit Hispanic help group, La Casa de Esperanza.