A Wisconsin Congressman says there are too many unanswered questions surrounding an immigration action last year. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested 83 people in Wisconsin over four days last September. Congressman Mark Pocan said a Freedom of Information request reveals 39 individuals had no criminal record.
“When you tell us that they’re going after MS-13 gang members and drug dealers and human traffickers, and you come back with people with offenses or no offenses, that’s a lie,” Pocan said Monday. “ICE has lied over and over and over again, at the direction of this White House.”
Despite stonewalling my request & asking for multiple extensions, ICE’s response fell short & fails to address some of my key concerns.
I’ll continue to seek more info regarding these arrests & I’ll fight to ensure that ICE follows protocol w/ local law enforcement going forward
— Rep. Mark Pocan (@repmarkpocan) March 12, 2019
Hundreds of pages were redacted, but the FOIA request did reveal ICE officials referring to Madison and Dane County as home to “radical populations.” Dane County Sheriff Dave Mahoney reacted to that. “To say that Dane County or Madison or any of our other communities are radical and cannot be trusted is false,” Mahoney said. “We have never countered the mission of any federal agency, nor will we.”
Pocan said he’s prepared to sue, in order to get answers on what actually occurred when ICE made those arrests.