Bice: Letter details Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke's plan for immigration enforcement
A week after posting a photo of it, Milwaukee County Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr. has released his letter seeking federal authority so his deputies and correctional officers can enforce immigration laws locally.
"I seek that with all due haste our two agencies take immediate steps to enter into a formal partnership, under a joint Memorandum of Agreement (MOA), in order to receive delegated authority for immigration enforcement within Milwaukee County," Clarke wrote March 8 to Thomas Homan, acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The program, called 287(g), allows officers who have been through a four-week training program to interview, arrest and detain anyone thought to be in violation of immigration laws. ICE has agreements with 37 law enforcement agencies in 16 states, but none in Wisconsin.
Clarke said in the letter, which was obtained via an open records request, that he hopes eventually to have his "detectives" use this authority to identify and process undocumented immigrants in the community. But for now, he wants his correctional officers to have the power to perform the function of immigration officers at the Milwaukee County Jail.
"I am officially requesting Jail Enforcement Officer (JEO) training for correctional officers from Milwaukee County, at a number to be determined," Clarke wrote.
Clarke aides did not say whether the sheriff — a big fan of President Donald Trump's crackdown on undocumented immigrants — had received a response from federal officials.
Christine Neumann-Ortiz, head of the immigration rights group Voces de la Frontera, denounced the letter after I provided her with a copy for reaction.
“A man recently died of dehydration in Sheriff Clarke’s jail, a newborn baby died in his jail, yet what he cares about is making his guards into immigration agents,” Neumann-Ortiz said. “He is trying to be provocative and stoke fear, all to increase his political standing among an extremist fringe and acquire personal wealth.”
Neumann-Ortiz went on to call on Gov. Scott Walker to take the unusual step of ousting Clarke, a political ally. Four Democratic state lawmakers have made similar requestsof the second-term Republican governor.
“Governor Walker can remove a sheriff for inefficiency, neglect of duty, official misconduct, or malfeasance in office, and Clarke is clearly guilty of all four," Neumann-Ortiz said. "He must be held accountable for the deaths and human rights violations in his jail. He has blood on his hands."
But earlier this year, Walker made it clear he would leave the issue to voters.
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Clarke's office announced his interest in the 287(g) program by posting two pictures on the Facebook page for the Sheriff's Office showing Clarke signing the two-page letter of intent and posing for a photo with signed document.
Fran McLaughlin, spokesman for Clarke, said at the time that the document could be obtained only via an open records request.
In the letter, Clarke noted he was responsible for overseeing the 960-bed jail, which he said is usually operated at more than 90% capacity. He said a number of inmates "are found through investigation not to be legal citizens." He added that he was "deeply concerned about the potential threat posed by aliens" to county residents.
The sheriff said he would "ultimately seek consideration for my detectives" to obtain immigration powers but that he first wanted it for officers working at the jail.
"Such law enforcement partnerships with our federal government will allow our deputy sheriff and correctional officers to assist in enforcing immigration laws and ensure that individuals who commit crimes, and are in this country illegally, are properly identified and turned over to federal authorities for potential deportation," Clarke wrote.
In January, Trump signed an executive order on immigration enforcement that included measures to ramp up the 287(g) program. Later in the month, federal immigration agents, with the help of Clarke's office, arrested 16 Mexican nationals in the Milwaukee area with criminal records.
Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn has said he has no interest in trying to get the authority to deputize his officers as immigration officers under the ICE program.
In response, Walker said late last week that there could be problems if Milwaukee city and county law officials take different approaches to enforcing immigration laws.
"I think in the interest of all the citizens of Milwaukee County, I would hope they work together — as sheriffs and police chiefs and others do across the state," Walker told WITI-TV (Channel 6).
Contact Daniel Bice at (414) 224-2135 or dbice@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter @ DanielBice or on Facebook at fb.me/daniel.bice.