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There's a lighting too much over here on my left side.
How's the lighting?
You look fine.
Do I?
Emma?
Okay.
I see others are on here already.
Um, so boss, we're going to give folks a couple more minutes and then we're going to kick it off.
Okay.
It says, it admit.
This is somebody's work still.
The mace phone.
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Recording in progress.
Hi, everybody.
Thank you so much for joining the Congresswoman's press call.
We have a decent amount of folks on.
So we're going to kick everything off.
I'm going to hand it over to the Congresswoman and she's going to debrief you all on her visit to the Dodge County jail.
To see Ramon Morales Reyes.
And if you have any questions after she speaks, just use the raised hand option. Thank you.
Thank you so much for that.
Thank you all for joining me today.
I did go up to the Dodge County jail for the second time.
This week.
And this time I was successful in actually meeting with Ramon Morales Reyes.
I am happy to report that that he is in decent health.
His health care needs are being met to his satisfaction.
He actually does have diabetes type one diabetes.
And he feels confident that his health care needs are being met.
I can tell you that he was a very humble man, very religious person saying that he's receives pastoral care twice a week.
From members of his religious affiliation and strangely enough, he said he felt no animus toward the man who victimized him twice.
Not only stabbed and robbed him, but then also put forth a horrific lie that he had sent a death threat to the President of the United States.
And I told him, sir, you are so much better than me, because I would have a lot of hard feelings, particularly, well, just being stabbed and robbed and then lied on in this manner.
But what I am really outraged about is that as you open up the website of Homeland Security, the first thing you see on their homepage is this disinformation about Ramon Morales Reyes.
They have his picture, the letter that he supposedly wrote, the whole description of how he threatened to kill the President.
And, you know, it's when I spoke with the sheriff, Sheriff Dale Schmidt, last Monday, he had agreed that all that had been debunked and no one believed that to be true.
And yet, when you open up the Homeland Security website, that is the first thing that you see.
And that, I don't know if he knows that, I don't think he has access to the Internet, but he continues, he gets visits, his family is allowed to visit him.
But he is very, very concerned about the safety of his family, and this website that continues to spread this disinformation is something that I'm concerned with.
One of my first tasks will be to commit to paper, a request from the Department of Homeland Security, Christie Gnome, that they please take that disinformation down and take it down and clarify what has happened, you know, to report that the perpetrator has, in fact,
been arrested and is being held.
I feel concerned, because I think, because there was supposed to be a bond hearing from Mr. Morales Reyes, that was postponed.
And his attorney is using this time to gather more information to support his case that he actually does have a lot of ties to the community and no serious criminal records that he does have family and three American children, two of whom are minors.
He's the major breadwinner in his family.
And to really be able to create a record that would demonstrate that he ought to be able to at least enjoy his freedom while his you visa claim, which would cover him and his wife is being processed.
He was to be a witness in the case against the gentleman who stabbed him, stole his bike, and then lied on him, and did it and wrote this letter deliberately to have him deported so that he wouldn't be available to be a witness.
And I hope that it won't take his fight. I hope that that's not the attitude of ice as they go into the proceedings. He's going to be seeing next Tuesday for his bond hearing.
And this information is still a part of a part of what he has to be concerned about.
I, again, Mr Morales Reyes reported that that he didn't have any complaints about the place.
And he said, you know, come see, come sign that it was okay that he had no other complaints that that there was that he was allowed privileges to go outside to the open airspace in the prison, and that he felt that he was being treated very decently.
If I turn it over for questions, I just want to make one point.
I'm concerned about Mr Ramon Morales Reyes, but this is way bigger than this one person.
I think that that we've seen this time and again, when that when there is no sense that there are any consequences for perpetrators of crime against immigrants or against LGBTQ or any of these other people that it emboldens people who are having
an opportunity toward crime to harm them. My concern is that, you know, this case, if Mr Morales Reyes is indeed deported, deported because he came to the attention of ice because he was a victim of crime that we can we can just forget about
being able to get any cooperation out of immigrants that they will not help local police and their enforcement efforts won't help the FBI in securing the whereabouts of people who truly are criminals.
People who people who truly are writing letters threatening the life of the president. This is a much bigger issue.
And I think that Mr Morales Reyes is a victim. He's a victim. And that's the lens through which he needs that his proceedings need to go forward.
His UVSA, the visa that is set aside specifically for people in Mr. Morales Reyes position that they are that they that there are threats against them that he's a very perfect example of why he that this should bully his case to stay in this country.
He's he has a stable work situation that if he receives his bond, he believes he'll be able to return to work and be a useful immigrant. So, Samara.
Hey, boss, have you wrapped up your briefing? Sure. Okay. Um, so we can open it up for questions. If anyone has any questions, just raise your hand or meet yourself.
Hi, this is monster with CBS and Telemundo. Could you explain why he is still under detention and what that next process will be like for him, please?
Thank you for asking that question. We went up Monday. We spoke with Sheriff Dale Schmidt and asked him that very question.
And his response in his defense was that, look, we have a contract with ICE.
We don't know the exact number of detainees that they have there. It may be as many as 100.
They say that we're just contractors. All we do is detain people and provide transportation. We don't have anything to do with the adjudication of cases.
Right wrong, you know, or indifferent that they're not that there's no court appearances that are that are conducted by the Dodge County court that these are all federal and that if Mr. Morales is that they'll transport him to Milwaukee or they will enable video.
But he's still there because the Dodge County Sheriff has not been any given any directives to do anything except to hold them.
Congresswoman Moore, we do know that DHS did issue somewhat of a clarification saying he's no longer under investigation for threatening the president, but they have made it clear they do want him deported.
So how active, how involved will you be in this process now in trying to prevent that from happening?
Well, I mean, as you well know that I have a record for supporting victims of violence.
And again, as I said, this would be a very chilling make have a very chilling impact on getting us to have immigrants for the going further with whether legal or undocumented to participate in investigations.
Now, because he's he's like I said, he's a double victim. He's a victim of a crime.
And were we to just deport him?
The message would be loud and clear to all the traffickers out there.
All the batterers and murderers that that that anything you do to an immigrant will be just fine because you can threaten them by their immigration status and say, look, I'm going to do.
What the, this guy did I'm going to send a letter and we're going to tell DHS and tell ICE on you.
Otherwise, you will continue to be my prostitute.
You will continue to be my mule trafficking drugs back and forth.
You will continue to give me your money or whatever threat that there is.
It would have a very chilling impact on being able to bring perpetrators of crime to justice.
Okay, I'm seeing a couple more questions. Let's start with Ruth and then Marissa.
Hi, Congresswoman Moore. I am wondering, it's Ruth, kind of from the Wisconsin Examiner.
I'm wondering if you've had any luck communicating with ICE. I know you and Representative Pocan had talked last week about the difficulty in getting any answers out of them.
And also, if you have any sense of how many people in Wisconsin have been detained by ICE since the start of the Second Trump administration.
Well, one of the things that we did with trekking back up there was to get to gain the confidence of Mr Maraleez Mayes and to get a release form that would authorize our office to speak to ICE regarding his situation.
And we intend to use that authorization immediately, if not sooner, to ask some of these questions, like, and to really share our concern and belief that this will undermine the safety of any of everybody for them to deport him.
And particularly to deport him before the process, the UV sub process is played out.
What we have talked about continuously throughout this is that everybody citizen or not, regardless of your immigration status, everybody on our soil is entitled to do process.
And I would hope that if I were to go to Mexico or Poland or China or anywhere else, and I were detained, particularly for some erroneous reason that I would have due process.
And our Constitution guarantees that, and he does have a UV sub application and it's being reviewed that will take all things into consideration, hopefully.
And so while ICE claims that they've clarified, I'm going to ask them to take that off their website, because, you know, when the average American goes to the DHS site, the first thing they see is his picture and this disinformation.
Could you tell me if you talked to them yet and how many people in Wisconsin have been detained if you know.
Okay, the second part I don't know. The sheriff did not know.
I am thinking that there, that there's space, maybe for up to 100.
These, the, the Dodge County Jail is just a contractor.
We did ask Mr. Morales Ray said, of course he doesn't know.
He, there's one other person, a cellmate next door to him, who speaks Spanish that he has some confidence in, but I don't think that person may necessarily be an ice detainee.
He knows that there are women there. He does not know how many women are there.
And as I said, I think we'll be able to get more information. We do have a direct number for ice. And as a matter of fact, an ice agent was supposed to meet us there.
And I don't know what happened to them. They texted us later on and asked if we were, you know, still going to come.
Maybe they got their signals mixed up, but we thought for sure that we would have had the opportunity to speak with someone from ice.
So we did email them back to let them know that we had met with him and that we do intend to follow up and follow through.
Are you planning on going back then? Is that part of the follow through?
Well, our prayer is that he's going to be bonded out. He has a bond hearing on Tuesday.
He's not a danger to the community. He has ties to the community. He has a wife and children. He has a job that he can go back to. He's not a flight risk.
And so I am hoping that I don't have to go back.
That's another question. If I may, the due process, I think it's been a larger conversation, especially considering just a new role.
I know the MPS teacher's aid, who is also threatened deportation when she has a TVSA. This man has a UVSA.
What do you think that speaks to the process and government as these victims could be deported while they're asking the federal government for protection?
Well, it certainly is a departure from our current law, past law.
And, you know, that is something that we're going to be raising with ICE. Why can't we follow the protocols and the legal protocols to which we have been accustomed.
They have these these processes are in coat and that ought to be honored.
Are there any other questions?
Let me, let me thank you for joining me today.
This is very distressing to me because, you know, Ruth to really sort of.
Tag on to your last comment and intervention. We do have a broken immigration system.
It moves entirely too slow.
It there are no guarantees for due process.
I think that right now, if we follow through with reporting, particularly.
Well, either one of these individuals, Ms. Oriano or Mr. Mr. Reyes, it will embolden criminals just to take a slight tangent.
But to make my point, I was the author of the Violence Against Women Act.
When we put in the provisions to protect indigenous women who were nine, ten times as likely to be murdered and raped and end up missing.
And why was that? Because tribal chairman tribal tribes had no authority to arrest non-indians.
And so, you know, you could just go up there, go, you know, near a reservation.
Find some Indian woman, you know, maybe go to a bar or something and just rape her knowing.
That there was no Barney Feist coming out to get you.
There was no sheriff or local police and tribal tribes had no right.
Before that intervention through the Violence Against Women Act that enabled it.
And I mean, how does a regular American know these things?
Who knows, but they seem to know, they seem to know that if you want to rape somebody, a good victim is an Indian woman because there's nobody that the Calvary is not coming.
And that's the message that will be sending.
If we deport these individuals. So when you, if you're some pimp out there.
Some trafficker, some drug pusher.
And you want to find, you know, someone to abuse.
All you got to do is find an immigrant.
Sorry.
Yeah.
I just want to know if Mr Morales rest had any message to the president or DHS after being.
Cused in such a very public way. And does he have a sense that he's in the middle of this.
Big debate and big controversy around immigration in our country on what should happen.
Well, you know, thanks for asking that question because I'm not sure that he's aware of what's happening outside of his jail cell.
We did reassure him that people were concerned about him.
That there's a community, especially in Milwaukee that cared about what was happening to him.
And, and honestly.
He said he's praying for this man.
That stabbed him robbed him and lied on.
And like I said to him, you know, God bless you. You're better than me.
And so I don't know.
He was very humble.
He was very humble.
And I believe he was very sincere when he said that he's praying for the man.
And so I don't know that he is fully aware.
I know that he is scared. He does not want to be deported.
He does not want to be separated from his family.
And I don't know that he has any awareness.
You know, he, you know, I did take a staff person with me.
He spoke fluent Spanish.
And so I don't know.
I don't know that he has television or any privileges like that,
that he would even be able to understand it if it were in English.
Thank you.
And again, you're all my friends.
You got Samara's email address. If you have any questions,
we'll keep you in touch with, with everything that we do.
We're going to work on this letter like immediately, if not sooner.
And, and, and try to make some impact.
Before Tuesday.
Thank you all for covering this issue and staying on top of it.
And yes, like the Congresswoman said, I will be keeping you all aware of any updates
and any work that the Congresswoman continues on Mr. Reyes's situation.
We're going to close out now. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Recording stuff.
Thank you.