MILWAUKEE COUNTY

Milwaukee County's lawyer: We're in compliance with federal immigration law

Don Behm
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Citizens deserve open government, but they need to demand it and keep a close eye on public officials, writes retired editor Ernst-Ulrich Franzen.

Milwaukee County agencies do not hinder enforcement of immigration laws and the county should not face the loss of an average of $6.3 million a year in federal public safety grants, county Corporation Counsel Margaret Daun said in a letter to U.S. Justice Department officials.

Daun certified the county is in compliance with federal immigration law even though the County Board has adopted resolutions opposed to detention of undocumented immigrants without a federal court order and opposed to county law enforcement collaboration with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency known as ICE.

To show the county is not a so-called sanctuary for undocumented immigrants, Daun said Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr. spends nearly $1 million a year on enforcement of federal immigration laws and "already routinely complies with ICE detainer requests without any deference to the restrictions" requested in board resolutions.

The Sheriff's Office estimates that it holds 3,000 people a year in the County Jail on ICE detainer requests for up to 48 hours each, according to Daun. Jail costs of $150 per day are not reimbursed by the federal government, she said. 

In short, Daun is asking federal officials to pay no attention to the board's resolutions since they are not binding on the Sheriff's Office and do not establish the county as a sanctuary for immigrants being sought by federal authorities. Daun's June 28 certification letter to Acting Assistant Attorney General Alan R. Hanson met a June 30 deadline imposed by the Justice Department.

The department has threatened to terminate several types of grants from municipalities that don't fully comply with immigration enforcement efforts.

Loss of those grants would have "a significant and dire impact on key public services provided by the county," Daun said.

"To be clear, Milwaukee County has been, and will continue to be, in compliance with federal law," County Executive Chris Abele said Friday in a statement.

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U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has said compliance with detainer requests is required for municipalities to receive federal grants from the Justice Department and Homeland Security.

Daun's letter points out that several federal courts have said there is no constitutional basis to compel municipal law enforcement agencies to honor detainer requests. 

Daun also documented that the Sheriff's Office, Department of Administrative Services, House of Correction and Juvenile Detention have not denied ICE requests to exchange information on the citizenship or immigration status of any individuals. Those county departments also do not have policies prohibiting the exchange of that information with ICE, according to Daun.

To emphasize her conclusion that the county is in compliance with federal immigration laws, Daun describes County Board resolutions as "aspirational statements of belief" since they are not binding on the sheriff.

If so, Supervisor Marina Dimitrijevic is one member of the board who still aspires to establish the county as a sanctuary for undocumented immigrants.

"We want to be a welcoming place for everybody," Dimitrijevic said. "It's important to continue to put this policy forward."

"There are ways to hold the sheriff accountable to those policies, including the ballot box next year," she said. Clarke has not announced if he will seek re-election in 2018.

He recently said he withdrew from a Department of Homeland Security job that he announced he had been offered in the spring. The department never announced the appointment nor confirmed he had been offered the job.

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In February, Dimitrijevic was the sponsor of an anti-discrimination resolution approved by a majority of the board that placed the county on record in opposition to enforcement of certain federal immigration laws. The resolution asked Clarke to refuse to partner with ICE.

A few of the six supervisors voting against the resolution said the potential loss of federal funds to the county was too high a price to pay for such policy statements.