Thread: Milwaukee Sheriff Cheers Sanctuary City Funding Cuts

Sheriff David A. Clarke pledges to lobby ICE to remove Milwaukee from the list if officials back an effort to deputize offers as ICE agents.

By Beth Dalbey (Patch Staff) - March 23, 2017 7:54 pm ET

MILWAUKEE, WI — Flexing more muscle to pressure so-called sanctuary jurisdictions, the Department of Homeland Security released a list of 118 cities and counties, including the city of Milwaukee, that could lose federal funding under an executive order signed by President Donald Trump earlier this year. And true to form, Milwaukee County Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr. didn’t miss the opportunity to applaud the action and poke at city officials who don’t share his zeal to have law enforcement officers deputized as ICE agents.

On Facebook, Clarke taunted media outlets in terms that mirror those used by Trump to describe news coverage, calling the stories that have been written about him “fake news” and assigning unflattering names to some of them.

Clarke, who recently asked U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a division of Homeland Security, to give Milwaukee County Jail corrections officers the authority to enforce immigration laws under the 287(g) program, said that if other officials support the application, he will “work with ICE to have Milwaukee taken off the list.”

He specifically mentioned Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele and Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn, writing in the Facebook post: “If this criminal illegal alien-supporting trio does not write a letter of support, I will support the cut in federal funding for Milwaukee.”

Clarke also suggested the three could work with the Christine Neumann-Oritz, who heads the immigration rights group Voces de la Frontera, “to hold a bake sale to make up the funding gap.” Neumann-Oritz has been critical of Clarke’s application to deputize correctional officers, and eventually the department’s detectives, as agents under the 287(g) program.

Homeland Security made the list public at the directive of Trump, who wants similar lists of detention requests turned down by local jails published weekly, USA Today reported. In his Jan. 25 executive order, Trump said the list informs the public of “the public safety threats associated with sanctuary jurisdictions.”

Sanctuary city isn’t a legal definition but one that generally describes jurisdictions that don’t assist federal immigration agents in law enforcement matters. Barrett has said Milwaukee doesn’t fit the definition, and that the current policy of Milwaukee police to refer undocumented residents who have committed violent crimes to federal agents will continue. Those charged with minor offenses, such as traffic infractions, aren’t reported.

“We don't have the capacity to have them work as, in essence, border guards for the federal government,” Barrett told WITI-TV. “That’s the federal government’s responsibility.”

Barrett made his comments in reference to a Republican-sponsored bill in the state Legislature that would fine cities that stop their police departments from cooperating with federal immigration agents. Small cities could face fines of $500 a day, while larger jurisdictions like Milwaukee with populations of 250,000 or more could face fines of $5,000 a day.

Similar anti-sanctuary legislation was proposed last year, but failed after an estimated 20,000 people swarmed the state Capitol in Madison in a Voces de la Frontera-led rally.

Rep. Janel Brandtjen, a Menomonee Falls Republican who reintroduced the proposal, told Wisconsin Public Radio her bill is “common sense” legislation.

“It’s unfortunate we have to have the conversation saying we need to uphold the federal laws that exist in our communities,” she said. “This is part of keeping our communities safe – and there are bad apples that need to be taken off the streets, that's just the truth of it.”

In a statement, Neumann-Oritz said the organization will again fight the legislation, which she said “aims to turn local government employees and law enforcement into an arm of Trump’s campaign of terror against immigrant families.”

“Local police chiefs across the country are opposed to legislation like this because it will make community members afraid to report crimes, making all less safe,” she said. “This legislation hurts the economy by targeting workers that key industries like dairy and manufacturing depend.”

Voces de la Frontera has called for a national general strike on May 1 in protest of Trump’s immigration policies.

http://patch.com/wisconsin/milwaukee...y-funding-cuts

Rep. Janel Brandtjen, a Menomonee Falls Republican who reintroduced the proposal, told Wisconsin Public Radio her bill is “common sense” legislation.

“It’s unfortunate we have to have the conversation saying we need to uphold the federal laws that exist in our communities,” she said. “This is part of keeping our communities safe – and there are bad apples that need to be taken off the streets, that's just the truth of it.”

In a statement, Neumann-Oritz said the organization will again fight the legislation, which she said “aims to turn local government employees and law enforcement into an arm of Trump’s campaign of terror against immigrant families.”

“Local police chiefs across the country are opposed to legislation like this because it will make community members afraid to report crimes, making all less safe,” she said. “This legislation hurts the economy by targeting workers that key industries like dairy and manufacturing depend.”

Oh my God, another STUPID PERSON.

Can't some of these people come up with some other reason other than the same old 'mantra'.

I wonder if anyone ever asked them who was doing these jobs before the illegals came?

We had plenty of manufacturing being done in this country and as far as I know, the cows were being milked.