Wednesday, February 27, 2019

MILWAUKEE – On Tuesday, Milwaukee County Sheriff Earnell Lucas released a statement announcing that “absent a judicial warrant, the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office is not sharing information with ICE regarding persons detained in the Milwaukee County Jail.” On Wednesday, Sheriff Lucas held a press conference to further discuss this and other reforms. Voces de la Frontera issued the following response:

“We applaud Sheriff Lucas for taking this stand and working to restore trust with immigrant communities,” said Mario Ramirez, Lead Organizer of Voces de la Frontera. “Ending warrantless collaboration with ICE will keep families together and improve public safety. Immigrants, and family and friends of immigrants, will be safer to report crimes, knowing that interacting with local law enforcement will not lead to deportation and the separation of families. This will decrease discrimination and ensure that local law enforcement is respecting people’s Constitutional rights. Sheriff Lucas campaigned on ending collaboration with ICE and he won his election handily. This shows the importance of voting, and it sets a strong example for all local officials of how they can stand with immigrant families in the face of the Trump Administration’s campaign of terror against immigrant communities.”

Contact: Sam Singleton-Freeman, sfreeman@vdlf.org, 414-469-9206