In recent weeks, at least 39 people in the Milwaukee area were detained by ICE. Videos of the arrests show agents using aggressive tactics like breaking car windows and pinning people to ground. The operation seems to have cooled off, but what should people know about potential increased aggression from ICE officers?
Two Milwaukee Journal Sentinel investigative reporters pored over videos of the ICE arrests – verifying and documenting – and then asking experts what they saw. David Clarey and Eva Wen talked with WUWM’s Jimmy Gutierrez about what they saw in those videos.
"We reviewed about two dozen videos of 17 separate incidents," says Wen. "In one incident, at least two agents pulled out a gun right when they surrounded a car, while the driver did not seem to be resisting. And in at least three incidents, they broke car windows to pull people out of the car. There were also pinning people on the ground and against walls, that sort of thing."
This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
Jimmy Gutierrez: You brought in experts, people that are familiar with these tactics, and you asked them to tell you what they saw. So the first video is Estenderly Marte Polanco. She's the 31-year-old mom, arrested June 27 on 26th and Mitchell, and her car gets pinned in. The thing that's really difficult with her video is she has her 7-year-old in the back seat.
Eva Wen: So the video shows two broken car windows, one on the driver's side and one on the passenger side. And we saw two videos, and one of the angles, agents pulled Estenderly out, and she was on the ground for a moment before they picked her up and then shoved her into the ICE vehicle behind their car. And from the other angle, there was an agent who took out a taser and pointed it briefly at the driver, whose window was also broken, and the driver appeared to be cooperating. So the agent put the taser away.
What did the experts say that they saw in that video and the use of force?
David Clarey: So we talked to three experts for this story. One is a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville. Another one works at the University of South Carolina and then a former Department of Justice staff member who would review police conduct. We had some differing opinions from the experts. However, I would say two out of the three took issue with the breaking of the windows. And, they wondered if it was necessary to begin with, or if there was any effort before that took place to try to get the person to comply, or was there enough time taken to comply?
What else do we know about the people that were picked up? ICE said that these were people with criminal backgrounds, which is not what we're hearing from people that knew folks, like Estenderly and some of the other people that were picked up.
Wen: That's true. So we reached out to the Department of Homeland Security and asked them what makes a person targeted, and what they said was their immigration status. If they don't have documents, they are a target. So we know that this operation was targeted, but it was not specific to people with any criminal records, although there were people with criminal records also [arrested].
With the expansion of ICE’s budget, with the expansion of ICE’s personnel, the increased activity we're seeing in the Midwest, what can we expect about the potential of more aggressive tactics here in Milwaukee?
Wen: Advocates are saying that we should be expecting some more tactics in the near future, although there may not be as many ICE agents and as intense operations here. That remains to be seen. But they also say people who feel there are risks should know their rights and carry their documents around if possible. And also, have family planning in case of emergency.
