MILWAUKEE COUNTY

U.S. Justice Department warns Milwaukee to follow immigration law

Mary Spicuzza
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Thousands of people take part in the "Day Without Latinos, Immigrants and Refugees" march and demonstration Feb. 13 in Milwaukee.

The Trump administration is threatening to cut grant money for Milwaukee County over so-called "sanctuary" policies for immigrants.

The U.S. Department of Justice sent letters Friday to officials in Milwaukee County, Chicago, New York City, Philadelphia, New Orleans, Miami-Dade County, Ill., Cook County, Nevada and California warning that interfering with the ability of police or sheriffs' officials to communicate with federal authorities about immigration status of prisoners and others could cost them federal funding.

"Many of these jurisdictions are also crumbling under the weight of illegal immigration and violent crime," the Justice Department said in an accompanying news release.

In a letter to Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele, a Justice Department official demanded documentation and an official opinion from legal counsel by June 30 showing that the county is in compliance with a law barring local authorities from prohibiting or restricting information sharing about citizenship or immigration status.

At a Friday news conference, Abele and Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm said Milwaukee follows the law, and raised concerns about federal authorities spreading misleading information.

"This is neither true nor, more importantly, is it productive," Abele said. "What it is is inflammatory. This is language that encourages people to conflate immigration with crime."

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He added that he was concerned the Justice Department was communicating "via press release," and pushed back against the idea that Milwaukee is crumbling due to immigrants.

Milwaukee could lose more than $900,000 from the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program. The money has been used to fund programs such as the community prosecution unit, and has also gone to the Milwaukee Police Department.

Abele and Chisholm both questioned what good would come from cutting grant money aimed at improving public safety.

"You can imagine the burden it would place on both the state and the local taxpayer were we to lose those," Chisholm said. "And the most frustrating thing about it is we have always had a great relationship with the federal government because we do exactly what we are saying we're going to do with the valued resources we're given and we always get good results for that."

Chisholm called the threat "fundamentally offensive."

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President Donald Trump repeatedly vowed to crack down on illegal immigration during his campaign, and issued an executive order about the issue during his first week in office.

And Attorney General Jeff Sessions last month warned that recipients of federal grants could lose funding if they fail to comply.

The pro-immigration group Voces de la Frontera slammed the DOJ letters.

"This latest exercise in bullying is part of Trump and Jeff Sessions' campaign of terror against immigrant families, Muslims, African-Americans, Latinxs and LGBTQ people," the group's executive director Christine Neumann-Ortiz said in a statement. "They are more interested in overturning decades of civil rights advances than public safety."