WEST BEND, Wis. — Washington County Sheriff Marty Schulteis talked with TMJ4 about his decision to sign a collaboration agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, saying the policy itself isn't new, even though the formal agreement is.
READ ALSO | Local law enforcement and ICE: What we know about collaboration agreements in Wisconsin
Schulteis signed the Warrant Service Officer Program agreement several months ago, joining 13 county sheriff's offices in Wisconsin with similar arrangements.
The agreement specifically allows his office to serve and execute administrative warrants, meaning they can hold people on immigration detainers if inmates in the county jail have committed crimes and are not in the country legally.
"We have been honoring ICE detainers, the administrative warrants, for at least since 2012 and probably much before that," Schulteis said.
Under the agreement, select jail sergeants are credentialed and sworn as immigration agents with the sole authority to issue administrative warrants.
"We have a select group of our jail sergeants that are credentialed and sworn as immigration agents with the sole authority just to issue those administrative warrants," said Schulteis. "So it's, it's literally signing the warrant and handing it to an individual, that kicks in at 48 hours of time."
Watch: Area groups push back against ICE collaborations with local authorities
The sheriff shared a 2018 letter from the American Civil Liberties Union to the previous sheriff warning that holding people based on ICE detainers exposed the county to "risk of steep financial liability and protracted litigation." The letter also raised concerns about "The Trump Administration's increasingly inhumane deportation policies."
Schulteis believes the new agreements created under the Trump administration reduce any potential liability to the county.
"We have a daily population of maybe about 230 to 240 individuals, we are holding six individuals on ICE detainers, meaning they are still serving their state sentences here, Schulteis said.
All six are in jail on felony charges.
The 10-page agreement requires staff training and certification.
He stresses the collaboration agreement with ICE is limited to only inside the jail and not with anyone who calls or needs emergency services in the county.
"My fear is that it became such a hot topic, is that you might have individuals that need law enforcement assistance, medical assistance, fire assistance, that they're hesitant to reach out for that service for fear that they'll be detained on the sole basis of being here illegally," Schulteis said.
The ACLU opposes these new agreements, saying they contribute to "the jail to deportation pipeline."
Watch: Washington County Sheriff talks about ICE Collaboration Agreement
This story was reported on-air by Charles Benson and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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