From Mary Michal

Barneveld

To the Editor:

It could happen here. A hard working immigrant, milking cows on a local dairy farm is driving home from work. ICE officers see the car and someone who “looks like” a target for deportation. They have the wrong person. Something very similar recently happened in Texas and in Maine, and innocent individuals were shot dead. Families were forever destroyed. Even if ICE found the person they were searching for (which they didn’t), there was no due process, just senseless, violent murder. We should all be outraged.

In Wisconsin, the Republican controlled Legislature voted along party lines and passed a bill to require all Wisconsin sheriffs to cooperate with ICE. The bill called for a 15% cut in state shared revenue for counties whose sheriffs refused to cooperate. Only Democratic Governor Tony Evers’ veto saved us from this ill-conceived proposed legislation.

Even in the absence of this legislation, the federal policy of deporting millions of immigrants is playing out in Wisconsin. ICE has a presence here. Hard working people who are our neighbors and friends could die. The Republican controlled Wisconsin Legislature is getting its marching orders from Washington. Let’s speak out against the presence of ICE in our communities. This cannot happen on our watch. And let’s all think about this when we cast our votes in this year’s critical elections.