At least 12 people have been arrested by ICE in Wisconsin over the weekend, including nine in Madison, according to Voces de la Frontera.
The Milwaukee-based immigrant rights group said that, according to community members, heavily armed ICE agents falsely identified themselves as police in some instances.
“Agents surrounded the house while the family was getting ready for the day,” Giselle Vera, whose uncle Erick Gamboa Chay was detained by ICE on Friday in Milwaukee, told Voces de la Frontera. Gamboa Chay and his wife have three children, ages 8, 4, and 1. “They banged on his door claiming to be police, but actually they were ICE. Now my uncle’s kids keep asking when their dad is going to come back. His youngest son has sickle cell anemia and requires constant care. His wife cannot work outside the home because she cares for him and the other two children. This is devastating to his kids and to our family.”
Madison city leaders were surprised Friday after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested six people without telling the city of Madison’s police department.
“We’re very disappointed in how ICE and the federal government are conducting themselves and we are making our best effort to work with community leaders and to make sure the rights of those individuals in ICE’s custody are fully protected,” Soglin said at a news conference on Friday.
“It’s disappointing that they did it on a Friday,” Soglin added. “It’s disappointing that they did it at all.”
City officials said that those how have been affected by ICE, or know somebody who has been affected, should immediately connect with Fabiola Hamdan, Dane County Immigration Affairs Specialist, at [608]242-6260.
