Days after federal agents arrested a defendant at the Milwaukee County Courthouse on immigration-related charges, the Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office is clarifying its involvement, saying it provided "incomplete information" last week about the arrest.
According to observers, sheriff's deputies arrested the defendant after his appearance in a hearing on Oct. 30. Moments later, federal officers later determined to be from Homeland Security Investigations -- a branch of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement -- took custody of the man.
The arrest had raised questions, as local law enforcement agencies generally do not participate in immigration enforcement, which is a federal issue and typically a civil -- not criminal -- offense.
In addition, immigration arrests at the courthouse have drawn criticism from many immigration advocates and local officials, who fear the tactic deters people from showing up for court. The county's chief judge has been working for six months on a formal policy clarifying the extent of federal authority in local courtrooms.
Initially, Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office spokesperson James Burnett said deputies were involved because federal agents had a judicial warrant for the man's arrest. A judicial warrant is a court order signed by a federal judge.
But in a statement Nov. 2, Burnett clarified that the deputies were acting on a local warrant.
According to Burnett, federal agents informed the sheriff's office of their intention to take the defendant into custody on an immigration-related charge, and that they had a judicial warrant. However, before the agents could do so, a sheriff's deputy initiated an arrest instead, Burnett said.
According to Burnett, the deputy did so after learning from another deputy that the defendant had an outstanding warrant from Brown County. Brown County declined to enforce the warrant and federal agents almost immediately took custody of the defendant afterwards on the immigration charges, Burnett said.
The Brown County warrant was for driving without a license in 2007.
The deputy's involvement drew scrutiny because the sheriff's office's policy is that deputies should not participate in outside agencies' arrests other than to be present for security purposes.
In an interview Nov. 3, Burnett defended the deputy's actions and said he initiated the arrest based on the Brown County warrant, unrelated to the federal agents' plan.
"I'm not going to opine on whether or not this appears to be in the spirit of our policy or not," Burnett said.
He added: "This is the first time since this particular topic has become more heated in the public discourse that any member of our agency has been in this situation."
The sheriff's office also initially said ICE agents made the arrest. The office clarified in its statement that the agents were from Homeland Security Investigations. Homeland Security Investigations is a part of ICE, but does not exclusively investigate immigration-related issues.
Ruby De Leon, the defendant's attorney, declined to identify her client but confirmed he was arrested for immigration-related reasons.
De Leon said she saw a sheriff's deputy place her client in handcuffs. Moments later, in the hallway, she said she saw what appeared to be plainclothes federal agents taking her client into an elevator.
She has not been able to find her client in ICE's detainee database or get in touch with him since, she said.
The incident marks at least the fourth person to be arrested by federal officers for immigration-related reasons at the courthouse since April.
In Milwaukee, immigration enforcement at the courthouse has taken on increased significance since the high-profile April arrest of Judge Hannah Dugan, who was charged with two federal counts on allegations she tried to help an undocumented immigrant avoid arrest.
Homeland Security Investigations did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
David Clarey is a public safety reporter at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. He can be reached at [email protected].