As Immigration and Customs
Enforcement or Ice agents
sweep the nation, making
thousands of arrests.
And what President Donald Trump
promises to be the largest
deportation operation in US
history.
Communities, including here in
Wisconsin, are on edge.
A state representative whose
district in Milwaukee represents
the largest Hispanic population
in Wisconsin has introduced
a bill to prevent state
or local police from helping
to detain people in churches,
schools, hospitals and
publicly owned buildings solely
on the basis that they are alleged
to not be legally present in
the U.S..
We're joined by Democratic
Representative Sylvia Ortiz Velez.
And thanks very much for being here.
Thank you for having me here.
How on edge are people
in your community in the midst of
these ice sweeps?
I've never seen anything like it.
People are scared about
whether or not they're going to come
home from work and be able to pick
up their kids.
People are scared
if they're going to be swept up in
raids, even regular citizens.
And the reason we're scared is
because of a past history in
this nation when mass deportations
have happened and also because some
of the directives
that extreme directives that are
coming out of Washington, D.C..
Because there is a homeland security
directive now in place
that does allow immigration
enforcement to find individuals
without legal status in
or near these sensitive areas.
And that's a real big concern for
several reasons.
One, Wisconsin, we already have
a worker shortage and we know
that there's a lot of good,
hardworking people in our state
that we depend on to put food on
our tables and the roofs over our
heads.
We also know that
we need to fix our immigration.
We have immigration reform, and
that's not something we can do here
at the state.
So people are in it for good reason.
And kids deserve to feel safe.
And that's my concern.
And the reason one of the reasons I
wrote this bill is because these
directives were coming out.
We also want to protect people's
civil rights against illegal
searches and seizures from our
government.
That's very important as well.
Again, nobody wants criminals in
our communities.
It doesn't keep us safe,
but we're afraid they're going to go
well beyond that and take the good,
hard working people that
don't pose a public threat.
Would state legislation supersede
things like Ice
directives?
Well, the way it works is they
they can certainly perform
their legal duties, but the state
is not required to help
them in that.
And I think that's important to
understand.
As far as I know right now,
there's not been any funding
coming from the feds.
And right now, our state
is all states are possibly facing
cuts from Congress.
And in these uncertain times, it's
not very wise for us to spend money
when we legally don't have to
because we don't know what we're
going to have.
Because your bill would also
prohibit the use of state taxpayer
dollars from aiding in the
deportation of immigrants.
Yeah, and that would only account.
It only applies when there's no
judicial warrant.
So certainly if they have a judicial
warrant, they have a criminal
record. We definitely want
to make sure our communities are
safe.
But what we're afraid of is people's
rights being violated.
We're afraid that they're going to
take people who pose no public
threat and we're afraid they're
going to take U.S. citizens.
And so if someone
is at their place of work
or on the street or in
their car and they are
approached by Ice agents,
is it your recommendation that
they ask to see a judicial
warrant?
Absolutely.
It is the law
that I know it to be
for more than a couple hundred
years.
Everyone has the right, regardless
if it's a state actor or a local
county, city or federal
actor to be protected
against illegal searches and
seizures.
Meanwhile, Assembly Speaker,
Republican Assembly Speaker Robin
Vos is poised to introduce his
own bill around
this.
Would that be the opposite
of what you're calling for?
Absolutely not.
Because from what I know
and again, I have seen the entirety
of the bill, My
my bill doesn't come with a fiscal
note. I'm waiting to see if his does
and his bill does not address the
sacred places.
And it doesn't protect also, it
doesn't protect the state against
possible violations
of the equal protection clause.
So one of the items that we put into
the bill is to protect public
government spaces.
And that was great. So we can avoid
violating our state
constitutions.
Us that we serve inhabitants.
So if we
do not serve everyone, it's possible
we could be.
There could be a constitutional
issue with equal protection under
the. Our laws in our state.
What I understand, having not seen
the bill myself, is that
Speaker Ross's bill would require
local law enforcement to cooperate
with Ice.
And I mean, I guess when it comes
to, you know, judicial warrants,
I understand that cooperation.
But in lieu of that,
I'm really here to talk for the
good, hardworking people
who pose no public threat and
for the for the people in Wisconsin
that need to have food on their
tables and rooves over
our heads.
And and again, you know, I'm
urging Congress to come
up with solutions to
secure our borders and solve our
broken immigration system.
How confusing are the enforcements
for people who are in the
US under all kinds
of different methods, you know,
like temporary protected status
or awaiting an immigration
hearing?
Well, it's really complex because
things are changing every day.
Some people who felt they were
pretty safe in their immigration
status, people who already
have a legal path, have had a
legal pathway feel that that
could be at jeopardy.
So there's a lot of fear as well for
people who are permanent residents,
people who
have legal statuses, TPS statuses.
They're changing every day.
They're being removed.
People thought they were safe.
So there's a lot of unknowns and
things are changing all that all the
time. And quite frankly, it's
causing quite a bit of chaos.
I think what Wisconsin needs to
focus on is Wisconsin,
and we need to take care of
Wisconsinites.
I don't believe we should allow the
federal government to come in and
violate our state constitution.
I expect them to follow the law
and not do any
illegal searches and seizures.
And quite frankly, it's a slippery
slope.
You allow them to do seizures, legal
searches and seizures here.
You know, where else does that go?
And so literally
in where you live, there are
people who are not leaving their
homes, not going to school.
So I was at an event yesterday
in my community, and there were I
noticed there were a lot of people
there that would normally have been
there and they weren't.
And it's unfortunate because
people are staying at home.
People are scared that
they're not going to come back home.
There are people who are afraid that
they're going to lose their homes
because, you know, we literally
created a way for people to buy
homes that were undocumented and
they have made investments.
But more importantly,
we're hoping that people get
prepared so
that they have a way, someone
to pick up their kids at school.
I guess the worst story I've heard
so far is
a 13 year old girl
citizen in my district,
and she's been dealing with cancer
for the last five years,
since the age of eight.
And both of her parents are
undocumented.
Her mother takes care of her every
single day because she needs medical
attention all the time.
Her father works, and
there might be a time that they're
going to have to decide whether or
not they leave their daughter here
and she passes away without her
parents or if they take her
to Mexico, if she doesn't get
the trip she needs.
But at least they'll she'll be able
to die there with her parents
surrounding her.
Representative Sylvia Ortiz Velez,
thanks very much.
Thank you.
Thank you for your time and
really appreciate you covering this
issue in these dark times.
I know that the light will guide us
home and
we'll be the better for it.
What's it?
I think we're clear.
Thank you.