County Board action on undocumented immigrants jeopardizes federal funds
The Milwaukee County Board Thursday took a stance opposing both detention of undocumented immigrants without a federal court order and President Donald Trump's executive orders setting immigration law enforcement priorities, a move that could jeopardize at least $1 million in federal grants to the county, officials said.
A majority of supervisors adopted a resolution opposed to all forms of discrimination, but the document did not stop there.
On a 12-6 vote, a majority of the board approved Supervisor Marina Dimitrijevic's resolution that also places the county on record in opposition to enforcement of certain federal immigration laws, including a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency program that asks local police and sheriff's offices to help enforce laws governing undocumented immigrants. The federal agency is known as ICE.
Though the resolution does not declare the county a sanctuary for undocumented immigrants, that is her goal, Dimitrijevic said.
But the county could not be a sanctuary without the cooperation of Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr., and he has repeatedly stated his intention to fully enforce immigration laws in the county.
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The resolution asks Clarke to refuse to partner with ICE. Just last week, Clarke used social media to announce his office assisted ICE in the arrests of several illegal immigrants who were convicted criminals. At that time, Clarke asked the board to reconsider becoming a safe haven for illegal aliens.
Supervisor Steve Taylor described the resolution as a "feel good" statement that "accomplishes nothing" prior to his vote against it.
In voting no, Supervisor Dan Sebring said the potential loss of federal funds to the county in adopting the resolution was too high. Joining Taylor and Sebring in voting against the resolution were supervisors Deanna Alexander, David Sartori, James Schmitt, and Anthony Staskunas.
Supervisor Willie Johnson Jr. said he supported the resolution despite a projected loss of $1 million or more in federal funds. "We need to stand on our principles," Johnson said.
In a Feb. 1 memo to the board, Acting Corporation Counsel Margaret Daun said that the resolution may put the county at risk of losing grant funds from the federal State Criminal Alien Assistance Program, known as SCAAP. More analysis is needed to determine if the resolution violates federal law, Daun said.
A fiscal note attached to the Dimitrijevic resolution states the county received $937,932 from SCAAP in 2016. To date, the county has received a total of $7.5 million in grants from the program.
Also Thursday, the board unanimously approved a resolution urging Wisconsin legislators to require outside investigations of deaths involving jail and corrections officers. The board's resolution follows four deaths at the Milwaukee County Jail in 2016. Clarke retained jurisdiction over three of the four deaths, against the wishes of family members of those who died.
Don Behm can be reached at don.behm@jrn.com and twitter.com/conserve.