Wood County Sheriff’s Partnership with ICE

Wisconsin Rapids, Wis. (WFHR, WIRI) – The Wood County Sheriff’s partnership with ICE is nothing new, according to Sheriff Shawn Becker. They are one of six county offices in Wisconsin to join this particular partnership in the past year. This brings the total number in the state to around a dozen. Sheriff Becker says a partnership has always existed between the federal agency and local law enforcement. This specific program doesn’t change how the Wood County Sheriff’s Office operates, and it may even provide some legal protection, according to Sheriff Becker.

Increase in Partnerships

A recent report by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Wisconsin shows a growing number of county sheriff’s offices participating in the 287(g) program. According to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) website this program authorizes ICE to delegate authority to state and local law enforcement officers. This allows local law enforcement to perform specified immigration officer functions. One of the key functions of the program is to give authority to local law enforcement to identify and remove criminal aliens.

How it affects Wood County

Sheriff Shawn Becker says the partnership they’ve had with ICE hasn’t really changed over the course of his 30-year career. The addition of the 287(g) program doesn’t change how his department operates. The only thing that has changed is the enforcement level on the federal side.

Sheriff Becker says he thinks the politicizing of this issue strikes a lot of fear in people, illegal or not. “I want you to know that, the sheriff’s department, we aren’t knocking on doors and checking people’s status. We don’t have time for it and if we just arrested people for being here that we think are illegal, yes it is a crime, our jail would probably be full within a day.” Sheriff Becker continued saying what they are doing is the same old SOP they’ve always done. “If somebody gets arrested in Wood County for committing a crime in Wood County and they are an illegal alien, all we do is notify ICE. Then it’s, period. Then it’s up to them if they want to put a hold on them.” 

Legality of a hold

With the added attention to this issue, Sheriff Becker has learned additional information. He says there are legal issues when holding someone without a partnership with ICE. Once someone is arrested and goes through the legal process in Wood County, they can’t just be held without a valid and legal reason. Sheriff Becker says if the county doesn’t have a partnership with ICE and the federal agency requests them to hold someone for 48 hours, the county could potentially be sued. The partnership protects the county from liability and doesn’t change how they work with ICE as another law enforcement agency.

ICE Holds in Wood County

There’s only one ICE hold currently in the Wood County jail, according to Sheriff Becker. That person has been accused of a homicide in Marshfield. “Once that person, I’m confident, will be convicted of the homicide, I still don’t want them going to the other country they’re from. They need to spend the rest of their life in our prisons.” Becker says if someone commits a crime in our community the key is due process for everyone, illegal or not.

Links

You can hear the full interview with Sheriff Shawn Becker on the Rapids Report with host James J. Malouf. If you have followup questions about the Wood County Sheriff partnership with ICE, Sheriff Becker welcomes you to contact his office at 715-421-8715. You can read more about how other departments in Wisconsin are handling the partnership with ICE with an article from Savanna Tomei-Olson in Dane County.