MADISON, Wis. (WRN) — Legislation to require Wisconsin sheriff’s departments to cooperate with federal immigration officials moves out of a state Senate committee.
The sheriff’s departments could risk state funding cuts if the do not comply.
“ICE is a great organization. It is an organization that was created to follow the laws. And in this country, we can all have our opinions and our feelings on is a law right or is a law not right. If we become a nation where we can just do what we want based on our feelings, there will be no civil society,” said Delafield Republican Senator Chris Kapenga.
“Our local law enforcement agencies, which have limited resources because they’ve been underfunded, to focus on national issues, to force them to partner with ICE under penalty of losing a quarter of the entire budget for their county if they’re not doing that,” said Milwaukee Democrat, Senator Chris Larson.
Democratic Governor Tony Evers has said he’d likely veto the bill, which passed the Assembly in March.