On Nov. 15 and 16, organizations and activists protested the construction of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement office on the northwest side of Milwaukee. But there’s another ICE facility already operating in downtown Milwaukee. It's in an unlikely place: a rented building on the campus of the Milwaukee School of Engineering.
WUWM’s Jimmy Gutierrez spoke with four members of MSOE’s Young Democratic Socialists of America.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Jimmy Gutierrez: When did you learn about ICE's presence on campus, and what was your reaction?
Rose Fritz: At the start of the school year we became very aware that (the office) went from being more of like a visa office to being more (of a) detention and deportation facility, just feeling dread that our school was involved with that.
Gutierrez: It's interesting because the building has been under DHS (Department of Homeland Security) control for over 20 years. What do you all understand as students at MSOE know about what's happening in that office?
Conor Mika: We found out over the summer as an article was released by the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service about how ICE is holding their enforcement and removal operations headquarters in that building. So it's mainly doing enforcement and removal actions. A lot of the other processing is happening at the other ICE office downtown. So this office is really focusing on detaining people. They're able to do 24-hour holds there and working on things like forcing people to self deport and deporting them out of that facility.
Gutierrez: You've noticed this, you did the research, you've had the media attention over the past year. What has it been like communicating with the university about all of this? What have they said to you?
Adrianne Schellinger: The university has not been transparent with us at all about this. They've released statements about it, but they haven't released it to students. And when they do talk about it, they talk about it in vague terms, like GSA (General Service Administration) — even though it literally is just the Department of Homeland Security — because they're trying to remain politically neutral on it. But it's really difficult to do that when the DHS is one of the most hot topics right now.
Jamie Martig: If ICE is doing all of these awful things to people, then are they (MSOE officials) pro-ICE? Just because you don't control the tenants' actions, at some point, is it worth it to take ownership of what's happening on your land? That's a question that comes up a lot: should colleges even act as landlords at all, despite what they're doing specifically in this building.
Fritz: With the communication between the school and students, they did release a website. That website was not directly shared with students initially. It was directly shared with the press. That's how we found out about this website saying, here's what the school's policy is, here's what the school's going to do. And nothing so far has been released to students directly. And something we need as students, as people who are paying tens of thousands of dollars to this university a year, (is to know) what is going on. We need clarity directly to us.
Gutierrez: Thinking even now, with ICE's increased presence across the U.S., obviously we're seeing it in Chicago in places that are really close to us, and their inflated budget that's now kicking in, what comes next with the students at MSOE and potentially having to deal with ICE, for some of you, as you continue on your college career?
Martig: One of our biggest things right now is really trying to push for that April date [ICE's lease with MSOE expires in April] to make sure they don't extend the lease, because they're moving into this new building. So it's a really crucial time for us to try and push them out and make them uncomfortable so their move is as disrupted as possible.
Mika: Adding on to that, this facility is the only one in Milwaukee that has holding cells. So I really think right now it's up to the university to take a stand and release the lease to prove that they have no power, if that's the case, or show what can be done to slow down ICE's operations in Milwaukee. So I think it's really important for people to start putting that pressure on the university to take ownership of what's happening in the building and release the details of that lease.
Through a statement, the Milwaukee School of Engineering says its long-term goal is to have the space that ICE occupies available for university use. But the statement says for now, the school is fulfilling its duties as a landlord.
Editor's Note: MSOE is a financial contributor to WUWM.
