ASHLAND, Wis. — Representative Angela Stroud announced today she will co-sponsor the Keeping Families Together bill package, a set of four bills introduced by Wisconsin Democrats to protect immigrant families and promote accountability.

The legislation would prohibit the use of Wisconsin facilities or funds for federal immigration detention, create grants for community organizations providing legal services to families, bar state and local officials from entering into federal 287(g) immigration enforcement agreements, and require law enforcement officers to unmask and identify themselves by name and badge number when making arrests or detentions.

“Current immigration policy is being enacted by elected officials who are trying to score political points by scapegoating and terrorizing vulnerable members of our communities instead of working to solve actual problems. If we see areas in our society that need reform, then let’s make real improvements.”

“What we should not do is shovel record funding into unaccountable, masked federal agents whose only purpose is to divide families and spread fear. And we should certainly not use Wisconsin taxpayer dollars to aid and abet them in that mission. Wisconsin deserves better.”

“We need real immigration reform that recognizes the contribution that immigrants make to our communities and that provides a legal path to citizenship. That’s the federal government’s job. But as a state, it is not our job to facilitate cruelty.”