ICE Operations in Small-Town Wisconsin (Hour 1)

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As I said, it's a great show.

It's a packed show.

After the 9.30 news, we are going to be speaking with Henry Redman, who is a reporter, a journalist for

the Wisconsin Examiner talking about an article that he wrote recently about ICE's presence in Wisconsin, specifically in Baldwin as well as Hudson, Wisconsin, just across the St.

Croix River.

We're going to talk about how that is related to the Minneapolis occupation of ICE and what the residents as well as the law enforcement are doing.

during that time in the actions they are taking part in.

That is all part of a conversation with Henry this morning.

And then after the 10 o'clock news, I will be speaking with my friend.

I'm going to call her my colleague too, because, you know, she writes.

Articles for the Recombobulation Area, Recombobulation Area is a part of Civic Media.

Civic Media is where I work, so we are colleagues, but more importantly, we are friends.

Angela Lange has returned.

She is the Executive Director and Founder of Black Leaders Organizing Communities.

We will be talking about a whole bevy of things that we want to cover.

First, we're going to cover, and this is the most important thing, is the, not just the proposed, but the amendment that will appear on, or the, yeah, the amendment that will appear on our ballots this fall regarding

hiring practices that is seen as a death knell to DEI hiring practices in Wisconsin.

That will be on your ballot this fall.

We will talk about that more throughout the months, but Angela will talk about it today.

We spoke to State Senator Dora Drake about it, but I want to get her.

Angelos perspective because I know she has opinions on the matter.

We talked about it a couple weeks ago, but diving deeper.

We're also going to talk about Bad Bunny, the halftime show.

I know it was a couple of days ago.

I know it seems like old news, but we're going to talk about that in concert with what happened at the Grammys with regard to Jelly Rolls comments on being politically disengaged due to

his life history.

We want to talk about that.

It's going to be a deeper topic.

If we can get into that, it'd be great, but we're going to be focusing on a DEI amendment mainly.

And then at 1035, it's Thursday.

It's time for sports.

We're talking to a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter, writer, friend, person on the social media is Mr. JR Radcliffe about all things sports, pitchers and pitchers and catchers report.

Today, Dom, I'm trying to think, can you do me a favor?

Look that up.

I forgot to pull it up before we got here.

Dom,

by the way, is

our producer up in Madison, but pitchers and catchers are reporting very, very soon.

I think it might be today or tomorrow.

There is a countdown clock very, very, I'm very, very excited about that with all the trade news that's been coming down, but still it's baseball and that just means one thing, spring.

So we'll be talking to him about that.

And then we'll have one handy tip from Greg to round out the show and we'll be good to go.

What we got here, Dom, is it?

I mean, it depends on the, you know, it depends on the team.

But yeah, they are all starting in February, February 10th, 11th.

So they already started.

Perfect.

They've reported.

We're doing it.

Baseball is here.

Thank you very much, Dom.

But yeah, we have a great show.

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But we're going to open up the conversation right now.

discussing data centers.

I'm going to keep saying it until there is some sort of, I don't want to say resolution, but we're going to keep talking about it because people are coming aware of what's happening with data centers here in Wisconsin and across the country in the Wisconsin examiner are actually our guests coming up in a little bit.

Henry Redmond has the byline Wisconsin Public Service Commission data center hearings draws public outcry.

So what happened was there was a public hearing.

that was held on Tuesday with the Public Service Commission.

They basically wanted to talk about a proposal from WeEnergies on what's called a massive tariff for very large companies, essentially.

It's literally called a very large customer tariff.

I read the documents from WeEnergies.

And what this would do is would subject these companies to a tariff that would basically be

if they had a combined energy load of 500 megawatts.

Now, to break that down, 500 megawatts is equivalent to 400,000 homes.

The data centers were trying to get these rates and abilities adopted into a new tariff that basically puts a lot of the cost onto them, but not enough as it says in the article here.

Essentially, the first phase of Microsoft's $13.3 billion data center project in Mount Pleasant is projected to require 450 megawatts.

So that almost hits the cap.

The problem is, as the critics that were there and as we're going to see in this article that we put in the show notes, there were a lot of people there.

Concern residents, energy experts, they said that even with this tariff, customers

residents will still be on the hook for as much as 25% of the infrastructure cost that is associated with increasing the state energy load.

So we give that tariff to increase the energy load that still doesn't keep the residents from paying a certain amount.

And I want to point to a conversation we had last month where the president of Microsoft came out and said that this needs to be on them.

This cannot be something that is burdened by the taxpayer, by the customers, and even

President Trump himself, any true social post, said that these data centers, these companies need to pay their way and it can't be the American citizens who are footing the bill.

That being said, with this very large tariff, there is an increasing demand on the energy, which will then increase the cost of construction, which will increase the cost of energy use.

And basically, that is what the people were there to...

discuss at this meeting on Tuesday.

Now, there were a lot of people who attended this meeting on both sides of the argument.

And again, you know, I know some of you have called in before, you can call or text 855-752-4842-855-75 Civic, leave a comment on that live stream.

But we have people saying that this is an unfair rule that is going to

directly affect the people even though it's being proposed as to put more burden on the company.

It says in what would be equivalent to the legislative documents.

Chris Larson, he is a state senator from Milwaukee.

He said, quote, the worry and fears transcend political divides and income brackets, residents and small businesses alike fear that these data centers will fundamentally alter and potentially destroy our Wisconsin way of life.

And with good reason, the scale of the proposed development is unprecedented.

We are seeing these go up at a major, major speed, if you will.

They're being developed.

They're being proposed.

They're being passed.

And we're seeing groups like

no data center deforest going into meetings and demanding that this does not happen.

And this point of the Wisconsin public commission, I'm sorry, the, I'm sorry, the public, my apologies, public service commission is presenting what could be another roadblock for folks like that.

We talked with, we talked to Trisha from that group and we talked about the fact that people can see these types of measures from huge companies.

being massive roadblocks to make people say, well, there's nothing I can do about it.

It's we energies.

It's Microsoft.

It's the government.

What can I do?

And there was, I think, and this is very important to to echo here, the concerns of a man named Ted Craig is a Milwaukee residents.

He said that basically that the public service commission is acting as a rubber stamp, that they are going to be taken in all these findings.

He says that they have 1000 people testifying with the best evidence and arguments imaginable.

and the public service commission sitting there, checking their boxes, they will end up giving we energies whatever it wants.

I say that because I know it seems daunting to you folks out there, folks who are concerned about this, but I want to present to you no data centers deforest, the people of Caledonia, many other areas around the state who have stood up and said to their local leaders, we do not want this.

People standing up to the public service commission saying,

We need more transparency on this.

We need better options like renewable energy because the fossil fuel costs of building this along with this push to keep green energy alternatives from not just existing but excelling here in the state.

I don't want you to think that you are up against a giant wall.

You have a voice.

You can do something about this.

We have

I keep saying it elections coming up this year folks running for the job People who want to represent you.

This is something that while It's something that gets me very upset because I don't want to see individuals who are feeling like they have no voice and again

no data centers deforest.

They made their voice clear.

They made it clear and deforest is not getting a data center.

We didn't talk about this because it was happening the night of the interview, but they voted down the measure to have the data center there.

And I think this is the time where we talk to our leaders about things like this, where we're giving massive, massive swaths of energy to these companies, allowing them to hook onto our, our utilities.

And we will foot that bill to a certain extent.

We will see those costs go up.

And we can't have a public service commission that's just going to listen to everyone, 1,000 people.

And then one big business says, we want this.

And they said, yeah, go ahead.

We'll find out more in May because the decision on the tariff will be decided at that point.

But folks out there, it's very, very important to me that you hear these things because we talk about the folks standing up against them.

We talk about the bills that want to create transparency.

But what we don't talk about things like this, the Public Service Commission, getting people in front of them saying, we do not want this.

A larger version of what we're seeing in smaller villages, towns, and cities.

And we want to make sure that they are listening to the facts and being held accountable to what the decisions they make, because this could be massively expensive.

It will be massively expensive.

And while I appreciate what the president of Microsoft said, I think it's very, very important that...

It's implemented they foot the bill they handle the cost and we do not have to see our energy prices go up any more than they already are I've seen ours in my home go up quite a bit this year and this will make it even worse and I do not think also as a point to that senator Larson said this is not a commentary on Economic development here in the state just because we're trying to protect the people doesn't mean we don't like economic development Don't mean we don't want these companies to come in we just want them to

pay their fair share to foot the bill.

They'll be using the energy.

They'll be using the land.

They should be responsible for the cost, not us at such a high rate.

And what are they putting back into the community then that makes this a worthwhile deal to be a part of?

But we will talk more about this in the coming weeks when the Public Service Commission issues their decision on whether or not this tariff, it's being referred to as a tariff.

The very large customers tariff will go through

benefiting, we energies benefiting these companies and possibly putting us further on the hook for these costs.

But when we come back after the break, we're going to be talking about a town hall that was held by Senator Ron Johnson, his thoughts on the save act as and why he may not have all the information correct based on the questions he got.

And we got some facts for you on that as well, but don't go anywhere.

When we come back, we'll be talking more about, we'll be talking more about talking more with Henry Redmond from Wisconsin examiner.

Don't go anywhere.

Stay tuned.

Stay close.

You are listening to Civic Media Radio.

Welcome back to civic media mid mornings here on the civic media radio network.

I am Frank Bach.

I'm your host, your buddy, your pal, and I'll give you a ride to the airport if you actually need one.

But we are here on the show this morning.

You are with us.

We appreciate your time.

We appreciate you.

Get a touch 855-752-4842-855-75 civic leave a comment on the live stream.

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Still ahead, Henry Redmond from the Wisconsin Examiner discussing his article on

the ice presence in Minnesota and how it pertains to an ice presence in Wisconsin across the St.

Croix River.

And speaking of Minnesota, I just want to say this really quick.

This just came over my phone here, and I wanted to look it up.

And we'll talk about this more another time.

But according to U.S.

Borders R. Tom Holman, he has announced that they have made, quote, success and arrests for public safety is down.

threats to public safety is down and therefore they are going to be ending the surge in Minnesota.

This is something they have put out, information the surge of the federal immigration enforcement in Minnesota is concluding.

He says that this is in concert with discussions had with local law enforcement.

The winding down also has the stamp of approval from Donald Trump.

Tom Holman US borders are says that the surge in Minnesota is coming to an end more information as we find out last week he announced they were getting rid of 700 agents.

Now they're saying this operation will be coming to an end.

So there I don't know if we'll be able to discuss that with Henry because I don't know how much information he will have but I wanted to put that out there.

I'm sure you'll hear that throughout the day.

Just wanted to get that to you.

But yep, we'll see what happens.

I think it's good, but I want to see more details on what's next.

So really quick here, Wisconsin State Senator Ron Johnson held a telephone town hall two days ago, and he answered a bevy of questions, a bunch of topics.

I wanted to take the time we did have right now and focus on

one topic because it's something we've been discussing a lot and we discussed, we're gonna be discussing tomorrow as well.

And that is on voting rights and the SAVE Act.

He got questions from folks on the phone asking questions about the SAVE Act, which, in my opinion, seeks to restrict a lot of voting, will make it more difficult specifically for married women.

It will put a lot of undue burden upon people with regard to paperwork, documentation.

And he answered a few questions, and I'll just give you a few examples.

Wendy from Milwaukee, she said, how, how did the SAVE Act could be enforced at the state level?

He was also asked by a gentleman in Madison whether voter ID requirements impose an undue cost.

And then another caller noted that the law would make voting harder for Americans lacking specific documents.

Johnson's response was he, he says, what it does, it's pretty simple.

It says constitutionally, you can only vote in federal elections if you are a citizen.

just reaffirms that you have to prove your citizenship once you're registered.

Voter ID, which is very popular nationally, about 80%.

He's not wrong.

It's a popular topic.

But there's a bigger conversation beyond that.

80% of Americans agree and support voter ID.

And he goes on to say, I still do want states to be in charge of their elections.

That was a story we talked about where he bucked up against a comment from the president saying that they needed to nationalize them.

He goes on to say, but that doesn't mean the federal government shouldn't have basic standards that state states have to follow in carrying out federal elections.

All that being said, those are his answers to the questions.

This story in the Racine County Eye, which, by the way, is a great publication.

Racine County Eye does amazing reporting.

Support your local papers and websites because they are doing the good work here in southeastern Wisconsin.

They went on to say what the facts actually were, and that is the SAVE Act would require specific forms of proof.

for citizenship to vote in federal elections.

And I want people to pay attention to this because if this goes through, this is what we will be required to have.

A U.S.

passport, which fewer of half of Americans have and which costs $130 as of this moment, doesn't mean it won't go up.

A birth certificate plus a government issued photo ID with matching names, which nearly 70 million married women don't have because they took their husband's surname.

Also, military service papers which are not standard ID and often contain sensitive personal information.

They went on to say that despite Johnson's claim that voter ID is broadly supported, support often drops once the requirements, costs, and access barriers are clarified.

Not to mention the true reasons for them.

There is no evidence of widespread non-citizen voting in federal elections.

A 2020 CISA report and multiple studies have consistently found fraud rates are vanishingly low.

Vanishingly low.

We'll put that story in the show notes because it gives all of the points they make out there and all of their sources.

This is a big topic and I wanted you to hear that because that's the list of things you will need if you want to vote.

$130 sounds like a poll tax to me if you ask me, but I don't know.

I'm not a lawyer and I'm not a politician.

But there are also many other questions.

He talks about immigration.

He talks about that.

He talks about healthcare.

He talks about filibusters, judges, and the Epstein case.

All of that is in that article.

I beg to you look at that and then look at how they are pointing out that what he is saying is not exactly true.

Jeannie from Eau Claire is on the line right now.

Jeannie, you've got very, very little time.

What would you want to say this morning?

How are you?

Hi.

This is Kate McCall.

Yeah.

Trump just got an award for reinvigorating the coal industry.

We've got to pay attention to this.

in the types of industry, what they're doing with the EPA, not paying attention to health hazards.

They're trying to push that through.

We got to really get together and say no way, Jose, because they'll just say, well, coal is cheap.

And boy, that's a real big polluter.

So I just wanted to bring that up.

And another thing real quick is that when I was getting that going to get up,

ID.

I had to have not only birth certificate, but marriage certificate to because when your name changed, so that's that's a real big deal.

Thank you very much.

Have a good day.

No

problem.

Thank you so much for calling yet.

We'll be talking about those those aspects because yes, it will require you to spend money's time and energy on these documentations.

It doesn't

help anything.

It doesn't solve a problem because the problem isn't there to be, to be made into law.

But we'll be talking more about that in the months to come.

When we come back, Henry Redmond from the Wisconsin Examiner discussing his article on ISIS presence here in Wisconsin, go grab a snack, grab some water, come on back.

You're listening to Civic Media mid mornings.

Stay tuned.

Stay close.

Welcome back to Civic Media.

Mid mornings here on the Civic Media Network.

My name is Greg Bach.

I'm your host, your buddy, your pal.

We are here today with you until 11 AM.

Thank you so much for joining us.

You can always call or text 855-752-4842, 855-755.

Leave a comment on that live stream.

We're currently streaming on Facebook, YouTube, and the platform we still call Twitter.

Still ahead, we are going to be speaking with...

Black leaders organizing communities, executive director and founder, Angela Lange, my friend, about the proposed DEI amendment, not proposed, the DEI amendment that's up for voting in fall and what that means for everyone.

All Wisconsinites.

And then we'll be talking to JR Radcliffe from the Journal Sentinel about sports and then we'll be wrapping it up with a handy tip from Greg.

But right now we are bringing in our first guest this morning.

He is a staff reporter for the Wisconsin Examiner who focuses on covering Wisconsin's towns and rural areas.

Mr. Henry Redmond is our guest this morning.

Good morning, Henry.

How are you doing?

I'm good, how are you?

I'm doing well.

I'm doing really well.

You wrote an article last week we talked about entitled Twin Cities Ice Presence Extends Into Wisconsin and I wanted to know regarding the article, can you describe what's been happening in Baldwin, Wisconsin as well as those surrounding areas?

Yeah, I mean since I surged into the Twin Cities in December, they have been regularly crossing the St.

Croix River conducting arrests in sort of all of those

border communities from, you know, Hudson Baldwin all the way as far east as Eau Claire, you know, these places that are essentially excerpts of the Twin Cities ice, you know, is not stopping at the state border, you know, they're traveling into Wisconsin pretty regularly.

And I guess that it's so that would bring me to the next question of like, what is the overall ice presence in Wisconsin compared to other states?

But also, this article shows that they're here

They've been coming here for a while.

They've been Wisconsin for a while.

This is not new

Yeah, we looked at data.

I think it was early last fall comparing isaress in Wisconsin with all of our surrounding, you know neighboring states and Isaress had increased in the under Trump compared to Biden about 20% which was far less than Iowa, Minnesota, Illinois, Michigan so

Ice has been operating in Wisconsin.

They have been increasingly operating in Wisconsin, but not as much as we had seen, for example, in Chicago last year, which saw a big, you know, surge of ice personnel.

But of course, you know, there have been ice arrests, a few high profile ones, like the one that led to the felony conviction of Hannah Dugan in Milwaukee, and a big arrest of dairy workers in Manitowoc County last year.

And in one of the articles, I think it was the one regarding the 20% rise.

It said that in Iowa, it went up 293% now because they're there as much as they are.

But why do you think they are crossing the border?

Why do you think they're crossing the border here to Wisconsin during what's now apparently going to be shut down according to Tom Holman?

But why do you think that is?

I mean, I think it's just proximity.

I mean, with Western Wisconsin,

Has a sizable Hispanic community dairy farms and Ashley furniture and all sorts of, you know Small to medium sized kind of manufacturing businesses Mexican restaurants in Baldwin last week with the rate included a Mexican restaurant You know that they're they're trying to you know bump up those numbers so you know, it's 45 minutes from the Twin Cities to Hudson like you know

might as well swing across the border.

You know, you're already in the area.

Yeah.

And I mean, I feel like a lot of people would probably think themselves, well, they have their operation in Minnesota.

Why would they violate their operation?

But I think you said is like, if they can get in a car and go a little bit west or wherever and arrest more people to bump up their numbers, it makes sense to them.

I should say it makes sense to them.

What have you been hearing from the community?

in the reporting it's very clear there are opinions on this matter but what is the the climate the temperature like in these communities right now with this happening

yeah i mean i think you you touched on a little bit there but even though these communities are so linked to the twin cities people work in the twin cities people who work in these wisconsin communities live in the twin cities they shop there they i met people in baldwin who said they got health care at the

VA hospital where Alex Pretty worked.

They get Twin Cities TV news.

But for a lot of the Trump voting section of this very rural conservative county, it feels separate.

And oftentimes they are cheering on ICE actions in the Twin Cities and even in their own communities.

But there has been, I think,

a growing sense of discomfort in the area on ice in these small communities and how that's, and it is dividing people.

Someone told me that they had started to talk in kind of codes, winks and nods, trying to suss out who is on their side on things because it is a little different.

from the Twin Cities and that everyone's more spread out in rural Wisconsin.

If ice is on your street, you don't have, you know, dozens of neighbors who can step outside and be right there to witness, but you do have people trying to observe ice actions in these communities.

You have people

bringing groceries to Hispanic families that are essentially in hiding because in Wisconsin, if you're undocumented, you can't get a driver's license.

You have people driving them around to doctor's appointments and to work and kids to school.

And so there is this community response happening, but it is under different circumstances because it's such a red Trump supporting place.

And that's something I had a question here for you regarding what the community is doing who support here.

Those who want to protect the immigrant community have created, it's like their own network.

And it includes the, you know, winks and nods and texting and calling and doing everything you can to vet people in your community without letting on.

like it's like an underground network they've created in this small town to help these individuals.

Can you talk more about like what they've developed?

Is it like, is it really like an official code?

And also you said that they are becoming legal observers as well.

So it seems like they're building even a small area of very, a very tight network of supporters who can operate almost in the shadows.

Yeah, I don't think it's an official code.

I think it's just you know talking to someone trying to look for signs that they might not be supportive of what ice is doing.

I think there is a lot of paranoia in the community because ice has been around and because there are there is a significant subset of the residents who support ice's actions in

you know, these communities, I had a hard time trying to, you know, report on what exactly local residents are doing because they're scared to let people in.

They're scared, you know, the feds are, you know, driving around the area, parking outside of school buildings, and then you have like this added interpersonal conflict with people who, you know, you see all the time, these are small tight-knit rural Wisconsin communities,

But you know who they voted for and likely that they're still supporting ICE.

So what does that do for your sense of well-being and trying to get by in this small place where you can't really hide?

If you're just joining us on Civic Media, mid mornings, we are talking to Henry Redman, who is a staff reporter for the Wisconsin examiner.

He focuses his stories on Wisconsin towns and the rural areas.

You brought up a really good point there that I wanted.

I was going to bring up a little later, but I'll talk about it now and ask you a question here.

With regard to people talking about this topic with you, I imagine the folks who support the immigrant community were nervous.

Did you talk to anybody who was just like, yes, let's do it?

Or are they even hesitant to show their support as not to be outed as someone who's for this very unpopular action that we're seeing across America?

What was the support for?

like out there, anyone talking to

you?

Yeah, I talked to a few people in my email inbox after the story came out was full of people saying, you know, sharing their support for ISIS actions in St.

Croix County.

I mean, a little bit, I think that that it's there's not a ton of that in the story because it's not that interesting to me that people in a Trump supporting county support the Trump administration.

So, you know, yes, there's plenty of

People still supporting Trump in this red county when I was at the candlelight vigil in Baldwin a few weeks ago You know people were angrily honking their horns and yelling at their windows as they drove by So like it is divisive people, you know are still supporting or supportive of Trump and of ice in the area a few people I spoke with do feel like there is some movement as it you know becomes

a little uncomfortable for people when it's right on their doorstep and, you know, their favorite Mexican restaurant has to shut down.

And that is, you know, I think that's an important thing you just brought up there.

And I wanted to write that I wrote this down because I thought it was, you know, apart from the mental and for some people in this article, spiritual problems, this is causing for them.

This has an economic impact on the community because employees

and small businesses are being directly affected, which directly affects the communities.

Can you speak more on that as well, as far as who they're arresting, where they are arresting them, and what has happened because of it?

Yeah, it's, you know, restaurants, Mexican, like, you know, Hispanic grocery stores, and I, in my reporting, learned that, you know, a handful of gas stations had had to shut down in the Baldwin area, the Hispanic grocery store, restaurants.

Thai and Indian restaurants, even not just, you know, Mexican and, you know, these small communities, there's only so many businesses and the ripple effects can, you know, end up being quite large when, you know, people aren't going to work or businesses aren't

open.

with regard to, you know, like when you look at the communities, the Twin Cities versus Baldwin and Hudson and those, they're very, very small communities.

Do you, do you believe that maybe one of the reasons why they chose to come into these areas is because of small communities, they're not able to organize the way the Twin Cities are?

Like you said, people on corners taking video, making themselves known versus these smaller communities where it's a lot easier to come in and arrest people because there's not a lot of folks out there and

Folks do support this.

Do you think that may be one of the reasons why they chose these small communities?

I think that could be part of it.

I spent a lot of time talking to people on how they're thinking about response and supporting Hispanic communities in Western Wisconsin specifically because it's more difficult and how the strategies

by necessity have to change.

If you're on a dairy farm, the closest person could be 10, 15 minutes away.

So what are the people trying to help do if you can't get there to observe?

And oftentimes it has been helping with the after effect.

Someone gets arrested by ICE and is taken away and detained.

What is their family doing?

How are their kids getting to school?

How are groceries getting to their house?

Things like that.

When we come back on the other side, we're going to talk with Henry Redmond, who is the author, I mean, the writer, author, you know, you write, of the article, Twin Cities Ice Presence Extends into Wisconsin in the Wisconsin Examiner.

He is a staff reporter for the Wisconsin Examiner.

We're going to talk more about this, this going on here.

How is affecting the local police and how that relationship between the police and community is being.

There's more tension now, but we're gonna talk more with Henry on that on the other side of the break.

Don't go anywhere.

Stay tuned, stay close.

You're listening to Civic Media, mid-morning.

Welcome.

Welcome back to Civic Media.

Mid mornings here on the Civic Media radio network.

My name is Greg Bach.

I'm your host, your buddy, your pal, your believer in the oncoming weekend and your right to relax.

I hope you're having a good morning.

I'm glad you're here sharing your time with us.

If you want to be part of the conversation, 855-752-4842, 855-755 Civic.

Leave a comment on that live stream.

We are on Facebook, YouTube and the platform we still call Twitter.

Angela Lang still ahead after the 10 o'clock break talking about the DEI ballot measure.

on the in the fall election.

And then we'll be talking sports with JR Radcliffe.

But right now we are continuing our discussion with Henry Redmond, who is a staff writer with the Wisconsin Examiner.

He put out a piece last week regarding Twin City or ICE's presence in Wisconsin as a in concert with their, which will be now being ended their presence in Minnesota.

But one of the things we talked about during the break is that you wrote a brief yesterday regarding

Baron County Sheriff and what he had to say regarding concern of ICE in their community.

Can you talk more about that?

Yeah, so Baron County just a little bit further north from St.

Croix, which we've been talking about.

ICE was in Baron County last weekend on Sunday looking for some people that apparently they were unable to find.

This caused, you know, a kerfuffle in the community of people trying to figure out what's going on.

And the Sheriff posted on Facebook essentially

Okay saying like do your own research don't you know just believe the headlines about

ice

saying you know You should get your information about ice activity from the ice website and the people they say they're apprehending Which like you know the Trump administration has been saying you know since last year You know, we're going after the worst of the worst Mm-hmm.

I think there's no way that you know, you can look at the data we've seen and think

that

that is anywhere close to true CBS news

like, earlier this week, you know, looked at the data and found that less than 14% of the people arrested by ICE have been charged or convicted of violent crimes.

Data from Wisconsin showed mostly, you know, people they've been arresting here has been, you know, people who have been charged with but not yet convicted of crimes, often not violent crimes.

And, you know, if you, if you're picking someone up before

that process in the county circuit court is over this county circuit court system doesn't get to conclude its case which you know especially if it's a violent crime leaves the victims hanging on getting you know real closure on that case instead this person just kind of disappears into this federal system and you know then the locals don't really know what's going on i mean i

The police, the sheriffs across Wisconsin have signed up for cooperating with ICE.

They've, you know, signed these 287G agreements

to

essentially make deputies, you know, ICE agents in all but name.

But, you know, I don't think you can say, but I think it's impossible to say that ICE has been truthful about what they've been doing in Wisconsin or across the country.

I mean, I think, I think, you know, from my opinion standpoint, it's, it's, it's a lot of what we've seen regarding the administration on the whole.

It's a lot of show.

There's not a lot of planning.

It's about shock and awe and look what we did.

And then worry about the details later.

And then the 287 G program is something that's, that was brought up for possible bill to four sheriffs to work with them.

As you mentioned during the break, I believe that backed off, which is good because it was, there was a punishing factor in there, but talking about the police.

Can you speak more on, you know, St.

Croix County's relationship with ICE as far as how they are working with them officially versus not officially?

Yeah, so officially the St.

Croix County Sheriff's Office and departments like the Baldwin Police Department say that they are not cooperating with ICE.

The St.

Croix County official written policy is they're not going to ask victims and witnesses of crimes for their

immigration status, if they have someone in the jail who they believe might be undocumented, they are allowed under the policy to call ICE.

The Baldwin police department, the chief told me that they are not cooperating with ICE.

However, I heard report after report from members of the community seeing Baldwin PD and ICE officers

chatting it up before and after arrest operations in the community which is straining the relationship in this community like we said before the break that is already you

know

kind of at the seams with how this is affecting the interpersonal relationships depending on what side of this issue you fall on and you know like

immigrant advocacy groups all over have said since this started, like if the cops are perceived as helping ICE, then you're going to process from Hispanic communities.

You know, if someone's a victim of a crime and they're worried that the local cops are friendly with ICE, they're not going to report the crime.

If someone witnesses the crime, they're not going to come forward and say like what they saw.

So it does have these effects on

local crime that I don't think makes these places safer.

I mean, honestly, you answered what was going to be my last question, which is how is this, how is this relationship slash non-relationship affecting the community?

And you said perfectly right there that it's for the police.

Cause you know, their job is to solve these crimes to work on these cases.

And if people aren't participating cause they're like, I don't trust you, this is definitely a problem.

Uh, Henry Redmond is a staff reporter for the Wisconsin examiner.

We will make sure that both

The article itself we talked about as well as the brief that we just brought up will be in the show notes as well.

Henry, thank you so much for being here this morning.

I appreciate your time.

Yeah, thanks for having me.

When we come back, we will be talking to the executive director and founder of Block Black Leaders Organizing Communities, Ms.

Angela Lange, my friend about the DEI amendments on the voting.

the ball at this fall, as well as her thoughts on bad bunny and jelly roll.

Don't worry that all connects, but don't go anywhere.

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