(Madison) With illegal immigration and the border crisis front of mind for many Americans, the Assembly Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety heard testimony on legislation to ensure cooperation between local Sheriffs’ offices and federal immigration officials. The bill requires law enforcement to ask all individuals detained for a felony if they are lawfully present in the United States and would require sheriffs to comply with detainers and administrative warrants received from the federal Department of Homeland Security.
Bill authors Senator Julian Bradley (R-New Berlin), Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester), and Representative Jim Piwowarczyk (R-Hubertus) were on hand to offer testimony.
“Let’s be clear here, this proposal will make it easier to remove dangerous criminals from our communities,” said Senator Bradley. “It’s shocking to think that a handful in law enforcement and in our government would rather protect felons than work with our federal partners to stop the flow of crime and drugs into our neighborhoods.”
As of last July, there were more than 660,000 noncitizens with criminal histories on ICE’s national docket, the vast majority of these individuals were not currently detained.
