Immigration agents would require judicial warrants for police cooperation under proposal

Immigration agents would require a judicial warrant for cooperation from Milwaukee police under a proposal submitted by the Police Department on Thursday to the Fire and Police Commission.

However, the requirement would not preclude police from cooperating with Immigration and Custom Enforcement when a potential threat to the public is perceived, according to the draft proposal submitted to the commission at its regularly scheduled meeting.

The proposed revisions to the Police Department's Standard Operating Procedure 130 include administrative changes, along with changes to language governing participants in the federal U-VISA program, which creates a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrant victims of crime.

The proposed judicial warrant requirement comes after video surfaced showing Milwaukee police officers assisting ICE agents in the arrest of an undocumented immigrant in September.

The video sparked protests by immigrants rights group Voces de la Frontera, which says the video proves collaboration between ICE and Milwaukee police.

Proposed revisions to SOP 130 from Voces, also submitted to the commission Thursday, include the judicial warrant requirement but do not include the preclusion mentioned in the Police Department draft.

"Our proposal is simple. At its core is that unless a valid judicial warrant has been issued for an individual, MPD shall not use any resources for immigration enforcement," Tommy Molina, lead organizer for Voces' Milwaukee chapter, said before the commission's meeting.

"This does not prevent MPD from doing its job in responding to a situation but ensures an individual's constitutional rights to due process are protected."

Voces de la Frontera Executive Director Christine Neumann-Ortiz was not at the meeting.

When asked via email if there were any mitigating circumstances that would warrant police intervention or assistance in ICE enforcement actions, Neumann-Ortiz deferred to Molina's statement. 

A Police Department spokeswoman said Police Chief Alfonso Morales would not be available for comment to reporters after the commission meeting.

During the meeting, however, Morales told commissioners his department's proposed revisions include changes to immigration enforcement policy proposed by Waukesha police that were applauded by Voces.

"We're not just ignoring anyone," Morales said.

Under the proposed Police Department revisions, officers would be prohibited from detaining or arresting an individual solely for a suspected violation of immigration law.

The proposal also states that police would notify and cooperate with ICE only if an individual is:

• Engaged in or is suspected of terrorism or espionage.
• Is reasonably suspected of participating in a transnational criminal street gang.
• Is arrested for any violent felony.
• Is arrested for a sexual offense involving a victim who is a minor.
• Is a previously deported felon.
• Is suspected of a serious felony that presents a safety threat to the public.

"It shall be the policy of the Milwaukee Police Department to implement an immigration enforcement strategy that is consistent with the mission of reducing the levels of crime, fear, and disorder in the city of Milwaukee," the proposal states.

"However, this strategy must also be in balance with the jurisdictional responsibilities of the federal government and the corresponding jurisdictional limitations of local law enforcement."

Public comment limited

In an unusual if not unprecedented step, before calling the meeting to order,  commission chair Steven DeVougas announced that public comment on the proposed revisions would be limited to five speakers.   

Members of Voces, who packed a hearing room at City Hall, questioned the reasoning behind the limitation.

"This is the thing. This is our meeting, I'm the chair, I run the meeting, and so I get to set the agenda," DeVougas replied, adding that the issue would be taken up at a public hearing and that comments could also be submitted to the commission by phone or in writing.

"We choose not to," one man said.

"That's what I did," DeVougas replied, "I choose to do what I do."

The proposed revisions will be the subject of a public hearing by the commission's standards and policy committee Oct. 31, DeVougas said.