MILWAUKEE ā Community leaders are speaking out and taking action after learning Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested two people inside the Milwaukee County Courthouse and Safety Building over the past three weeks.
Those arrests happened on March 20 and April 3 in public hallways, not in courtrooms.
The Milwaukee County Sheriffās Office did not participate in the arrests, and the countyās chief judge said he had reached out for more information after getting no prior notice that this would be happening.
Milwaukee County Supervisor Juan Miguel Martinez, who represents one of the countyās largest Hispanic populations, said his community is on edge knowing the courthouse and public safety building are now locations where ICE raids can happen.
āThey are afraid to go to their parks, which are supposed to be safe havens for them as well,ā said Martinez. āThey are afraid to shop. They are afraid to do anything, and with good reason. Itās justified that if they think anything they do will get them deported, then thatās a terrifying thing.ā
Christine Neumann-Ortiz with Voces de la Frontera helps provide āKnow Your Rightsā trainings.
āWhich include not answering questions, insisting on your right to an attorney, not signing anything you donāt know, knowing that ICE can lie to you to manipulate you to sign away your rights. All of those things are very important,ā said Neumann-Ortiz.
Alan Chavoya of the Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression said the Milwaukee County Courthouse and Safety Building are public places where everyone should feel welcome to seek information, get help, and take part in the legal process. He said that includes undocumented immigrants.
āThey are here for their civic duty,ā said Chavoya. āThey are here to pay taxes. They might actually be here to serve as a witnessāas a credible witnessāin an important case. So, people who might fear detention from ICE are not going to come here. That can mean a lot of different things for the function of the courthouse.ā
It's why community advocates said they are working together to try to find a solution, so this doesnāt happen again.
āSome kind of legal protocol to assure the undocumented community that they are able to still process their paperwork, and without fear. The public courthouse should be one of those spaces where they should be able to do that,ā said Martinez.
This comes as many Milwaukee city and county elected officialsā as well as courthouse and public safety leadersāare working to reassure communities it is safe to get help through official channels like the county courthouse and 911.