A Milwaukee County Circuit Court judge has ruled that the Social Development Commission’s property corporation defaulted on mortgage payments for its North Avenue buildings and faces foreclosure in the coming months.
This judgment, which was issued Monday, Oct. 6, is the latest development for the Social Development Commission as the anti-poverty agency attempts to reconcile its budget and secure funding amid lawsuits, board tensions and government reviews.
The properties will now enter a redemption period for three months before the court can take further action, including selling the properties at auction.
“I can tell you that (SDC) is working tirelessly to be able to secure and redeem the properties,”said Evan P. Schmit,an attorney with Kerkman & Dunn representing SDC and SD Properties.
Millions owed
Forward Community Investments, a community development financial institution, filed a foreclosure lawsuit in March against SD Properties Inc., the tax-exempt corporation that owns SDC’s buildings. The lawsuit claimed SD Properties defaulted on mortgage payments in 2024 and lists SDC as a guarantor.
On Monday, Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge J.D. Watts granted a summary judgment for Forward Community Investments, which included a judgment of foreclosure against SD Properties and SDC and declared that Forward Community Investments is entitled to a money judgment.
This judgment allows the foreclosure process to advance, according to Ryan Zerwer, the president and CEO of Forward Community Investments.
The total judgment amount owed by SD Properties was just over $3.1 million, as of June 16, according to court records.
The lender’s complaint outlines that this includes $2.42 million in principal, interest and other costs for a construction mortgage SD Properties entered into in 2020 and $687,000 for an additional mortgage started in 2023.
Additional accrued interest and other costs may be added to the tally before the properties are redeemed or sold.
SDC moves out
The warehouse located at 1810 W. North Ave. is one of the Social Development Commission’s buildings facing a judgment of foreclosure. (Jonathan Aguilar / Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service / CatchLight Local)
SDC voluntarily vacated the 1730 W. North Ave. office and removed personal property, said Laura Callan, an attorney with Stafford Rosenbaum LLP, which is representing Forward Community Investments. William Sulton, SDC’s attorney, confirmed the agency moved out of both the office and the warehouse building at 1810 W.North Ave.
SD Properties still owns a property on Teutonia Avenue that is not included in the lawsuit.
Watts said that both parties have been cooperative.
“This is, of course, a major event in the community, so I’m aware of the importance of this case,” Watts said.
What’s next?
Wisconsin foreclosure laws require a redemption period, which will be for three months in this case.
During this period, SD Properties has the chance to redeem themortgaged premises by paying the total amount of the judgment and other attorney fees, costs and interest.
“The board is gonna have to decide whether they want to try and redeem the building or not,” Sulton said.
SDC is awaiting responses from the federal government on its status as a community action agency and Wisconsin departments on their audits. This is preventing the board from making decisions on the agency’s future direction and services, Sulton said.
If the properties are not redeemed after three months, the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office will arrange a public auction or sale.
Schmit said a hearing to confirm the sale will be held after the redemption period, which would be the final opportunity for SD Properties to maintain the buildings.
“We will wait for the procedure for the confirmation of the sheriff’s sale, just to be clear,” Watts said.
Meredith Melland is the neighborhoods reporter for the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service and a corps member of Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues and communities. Report for America plays no role in editorial decisions in the NNS newsroom.
Jonathan Aguilar is a visual journalist at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service who is supported through a partnership between CatchLight Local and Report for America.
Although President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” offers new tax deductions and credits across different income levels, low-income households – the bottom 20% of income earners – are largely excluded from any significant tax benefits.
“It’s particularly shocking because the law is so big,” said Elaine Maag, a senior fellow at The Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center. “Typically, when trillions of dollars are spent, you see it really spread across the income distribution.”
The bill was signed into law over the summer.
Benefits that people with low incomes do receive may be outweighed when considered alongside other provisions in the bill, said Andrew Reschovsky, professor emeritus of public affairs and applied economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
“This is the dilemma – if you count those things in with the tax side, the net will be that a lot of people are going to be worse off.”
Credits and deductions
A credit is an amount subtracted directly from the tax you owe while a deduction reduces the amount of income that can be taxed. Both can help keep more money in taxpayers’ pockets.
The bill establishes new credits and deductions.
The bill increases the:
Child Tax Credit from $2,000 per qualifying child to $2,200.
Child and Dependent Care Credit, which allows taxpayers to subtract certain costs associated with caring for children under 13 or dependents incapable of self-care.
The bill introduces new deductions for:
Workers in jobs where tips are common, allowing them to deduct up to $25,000 of tip income.
Individuals who work overtime, allowing them to deduct up to $12,500 of overtime pay.
People 65 and older, allowing them to deduct $6,000.
Limitations
These changes may appear to help people who are financially struggling. But the bill affects federal taxes, so its new deductions and credits apply only to income taxable by the federal government.
People with low income generally owe little or no federal income tax.
Older low-income adults, for example, often rely primarily or entirely on Social Security benefits and are generally not subject to federal taxes. This means that a new $6,000 deduction would not benefit them, Rechovsky said.
Rechovsky noted other reasons the new deductions are misleading or extremely narrow.
“Yes, you’re a waiter and you benefit from not paying taxes on your tips,” he said. “But take someone in the same income range who works as a home health care worker – they don’t benefit at all.”
Reschovsky also questions how those with low incomes would benefit from reducing the amount owed on overtime pay.
“One of the reasons some people are low-income is that they’re lucky to get a 40-hour workweek,” he said.
The same limitation applies to the new credits.
An analysis by Maag estimates that in 2025 about 17 million children under 17 – or one in four – will receive less than the full value of the Child Tax Credit because their parents earn too little.
The bill also changes which families qualify based on citizenship status.
The Child Tax Credit will be limited to children who are U.S. citizens and have at least one parent with a valid Social Security number.
About 2 million U.S. citizen children will lose their Child Tax Credit because of this new requirement, Maag wrote, citing an analysis from the Joint Committee on Taxation.
Safety nets
One benefit to people with low incomes from the bill is that it makes permanent many provisions from the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, including lower income tax rates and larger standard deductions.
“It’s true across the board that if taxes go down, your income after taxes goes up,” Reschovsky said.
But for those with low incomes, the increase is minimal and will likely be outweighed by changes to Medicaid, premium subsidies provided by the Affordable Care Act and changes to SNAP.
“It’s just that classic view … that, ‘Well, these people are just sucking on the teat of the federal government, so we’re going to just make it as hard as possible for them to do that, because they’re just freeloaders,’” said Anthony Myers, program director of the Riverworks Financial Clinic.
Where to get help
For people with incomes under $67,000, free tax assistance is available through programs such as the IRS’ Volunteer Income Tax Assistance, or VITA.
Although all can agree that a fatal car crash in Milwaukee on Sept. 16 was a tragedy, there is less consensus on how to prevent similar incidents in the future.
That day Pler Moo, 50, and her two sons, Moo Nay Taw, 21, and Kar Lah Kri Moo, 15, were killed and two other children seriously injured when their car was struck at North 35th and West Vliet streets by another vehicle fleeing police.
Pler Moo, 50, and her two sons, Moo Nay Taw, 21, and Kar Lah Kri Moo, 15, were killed in a crash on Sept. 16. A makeshift memorial was created near the site of the crash. (Video by Jonathan Aguilar/ Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service/ CatchLight Local)
Since the crash, some have called for changes to police pursuit policies, while others blame the crashes on those who flee police.
“It is a very complex issue,” said Ruth Ehrgott, whose pregnant daughter, Erin Mogensen, was killed in 2023 when a reckless driver fleeing police crashed into her car.
“I will always stop anybody that says, ‘Well, you know, the problem is … .’ These problems are too complex for that.”
Ehrgott takes a nuanced approach to reckless driving through the nonprofit she founded in honor of her daughter, Enough is Enough – A Legacy for Erin.
She believes the entire community has a part to play in reducing deaths and injuries from reckless driving.
Ongoing trend
Pieces of a car involved in a fatal crash that killed three lie on the ground at a memorial in the parking lot of Smoky’s near North 35th and West Vliet streets in Milwaukee. (Jonathan Aguilar / Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service / CatchLight Local)
The crash that occurred Sept. 16 likely would not have happened a decade ago, when the Milwaukee Police Department restricted vehicle pursuits to violent felonies.
In 2017, then-Police Chief Edward Flynn expanded the department’s policy to allow pursuits in cases involving drug dealing and reckless driving.
The following year, police pursuits rose 155% – from 369 instances to 940 – with about two-thirds of the chases initiated because of reckless driving, according to a report from the Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission. In 2024, there were 957 police pursuits in Milwaukee, and just under one-third ended in a crash, according to another Fire and Police Commission report.
There have been five deaths caused by crashes during police pursuits in Milwaukee since July. On July 29, El Moctar Sidiya was killed when a man fleeing officers crashed into his car on West Brady Street. On Aug. 23, Hasan Harris died after his car was struck by an individual who was fleeing police on West Center Street.
The increase of pursuit-related deaths in Milwaukee is often cited as evidence of a link between looser pursuit policies and greater traffic risks, said Geoffrey Alpert, a professor of criminology and criminal justice at the University of South Carolina and an expert on police pursuits.
MPD acknowledges the widespread effects of these pursuits.
“Police pursuits present significant challenges due to the physical, emotional and financial impact on officers, the public and fleeing suspects,” an MPD spokesperson told NNS.
Change to pursuit policy
In 2024, there were 957 police pursuits in Milwaukee, and just under one-third ended in a crash, according to the Fire and Police Commission. (Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service file photo)
Alpert said if the goal is to reduce traffic injuries and deaths, pursuits should be limited to cases involving violent crimes.
He also said it is a myth that limiting police chases to violent crimes causes an increase in other offenses, such as drug dealing. He cited a study in Virginia that found more narrow pursuit policies did not lead to higher crime rates.
There were calls to change MPD’s pursuit policy from members of the public during a Fire and Police Commission meeting on Sept. 18.
Kayla Patterson put it bluntly in her public comment.
“Committing crimes and traffic stops should not be death sentences,” she said.
Others weigh in
Mayor Cavalier Johnson, while speaking at a news conference on Sept. 18, addressed reckless driving and high-speed pursuits.
He said that traffic-calming measures had reduced reckless driving in the city, but high-speed chases involving police remain a serious problem.
Johnson said the city is considering different options, including using technology to warn people about pursuits.
But the primary responsibility for stopping chases is on those who flee, Johnson said.
“I believe that one of the most effective things we can do in order to eliminate these chases … is to listen to officer commands to pull the vehicles over and not proceed with the chase,” Johnson said.
Ald. Peter Burgelis, vice chair of the Milwaukee Common Council’s Public Safety and Health Committee, agrees.
“Criminals fleeing from police contribute to injuries and deaths,” Burgelis said in an email to NNS.
Calling the Sept. 16 crash “particularly devastating,” Milwaukee County District Attorney Kent Lovern said police must be involved in the response to reckless driving.
“It is important to keep in mind that reckless driving has injured and killed a number of innocent people in our community, without any police pursuits involved,” Lovern said. “Police cancel pursuits where the public safety concerns indicate that is the appropriate course of action.”
Drea Rodriguez, global program officer at WomenServe, suggested that police get more training, including on ideal routes to take.
In this way, she said, residents can be a part of the solution and “easily share some hot spots to be aware of.”
A spokesperson for MPD said the department is committed to making sure its training, policies and risk mitigation strategies reflect national best practices.
Ehrgott said in addition to proper training for police, there should be strong repercussions for those who flee from police in addition to greater awareness of its dangers.
“These problems are societal,” Ehrgott said. “It’s happening to all of us.”
Jonathan Aguilar is a visual journalist at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service who is supported through a partnership between CatchLight Local and Report for America.
Those who utilize FoodShare and Medicaid may see some changes soon, the result of President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.”
Here is what you need to know.
Changes to FoodShare (SNAP)
Nearly 700,000 Wisconsinites receive food and nutrition assistance through FoodShare.
Reno Wright, advocacy director for Hunger Task Force of Milwaukee, said that while no changes have been enacted yet, the bill calls for a series of modifications.
Some include:
Expanded work requirements. The age range for adults required to meet work requirements will increase from 18-54 to 18-64. Parents of children age 14 and older will now also need to meet work requirements.
Restrictions for new legal immigrants: Before the bill, many immigrants like those with refugee status were exempt from the five-year waiting period that some legal permanent residents face to qualify for FoodShare benefits. The new law removes these exemptions, effectively making many new immigrants ineligible for the food assistance program.
Stricter exemption rules: Some people like veterans, people who are homeless and former foster youths aged 18-24 are exempt from having to meet work requirements in order to receive SNAP benefits. The bill removes those exemptions.
These changes will only be implemented once the Wisconsin Department of Health Services receives further guidance from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Cheryl Isabell, a health care navigator and Milwaukee community engagement lead for Covering Wisconsin, organizes a table of health insurance resources during a community event at Victory Academy Christian School in Milwaukee on March 13, 2025. (Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service)
Approximately one in five Wisconsinites (or 1 million people) receive health care coverage and services through Wisconsin’s Medicaid programs. Almost half of Wisconsin Medicaid members are children.
The U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee Minority released a statement indicating that 276,175 Wisconsinites will lose health care coverage under both the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid because of the new law over the next decade.
Expanded work requirements: Recipients will now have to do 80 hours a month of qualifying activities like work, school or volunteering.
Restrictions for new legal immigrants: Refugees and other people in the U.S. for humanitarian reasons are generally exempt from the standard five-year waiting period to receive Medicaid benefits. The bill removes that exemption.
Recipients have to be requalified for coverage and services every six months.
Cost-sharing requirements will expand.
According to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, these changes will force working people off the program because of red-tape work reporting requirements; increase medical debt and uncompensated care; increase Wisconsin’s uninsured population; and prevent Wisconsin from innovating and designing the best program for the state.
These changes are set to take effect in late 2026.
What’s being done to help
Alyssa Blom, a communications manager with the Milwaukee County Department of Health and Human Services, said that while the full impact of the Medicaid cuts is still unclear, the department is supporting those impacted.
“We are concerned about how they may affect access to programs and services, especially for the most vulnerable in Milwaukee County,” she said. “Our priority is to continue supporting Medicaid recipients and ensuring continuity of care, while preparing for potential changes ahead.”
Wright said the Hunger Task Force has an advocacy group called Voices Against Hunger. It is a statewide platform where information is sent out to let people know about things that are going on at the state and federal level, including federal nutrition programs like FoodShare.
Milwaukee Public Schools has rolled out a new emergency protocol designed to standardize and simplify responses to emergencies.
Staff, families, students and the broader community were tragically reminded of the need for such protocol when, just weeks ago, a gunman opened fire during a student Mass at a Minneapolis school, killing two children and injuring more than a dozen others.
Shannon Jones, MPS director of school safety and security, said shooting incidents like these prompt staff to reflect and assess.
“I think after every incident that has happened nationwide, actually worldwide, we kind of look at where we are and try to take in consideration the ‘what ifs,’” Jones said. “Overall, it’s about the safety of the kids.”
Kevin Hafemann, left, and Shannon Jones, safety personnel at Milwaukee Public Schools, discuss the school district’s new Standard Response Protocol. Hafemann shows the emergency-related materials previously available at MPS, saying that the new material is easier to use in an actual emergency. (Devin Blake / Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service)
What’s new?
On Sept. 2, the first day of the school year at most MPS schools, students were introduced to the Standard Response Protocol, said Kevin Hafemann, emergency operations manager for the district.
The protocol was developed by the “I Love U Guys” Foundation, a national nonprofit that provides free safety resources to schools.
Posters explaining each response are displayed in classrooms at MPS’ roughly 150 schools.
Those responses are: Hold, Secure, Lockdown, Evacuate and Shelter.
Five emergency responses
Here’s what each response entails for students and teachers.
Hold: Students remain in their room or area, while hallways are kept clear. While holding, normal activities can continue.
Secure: Teachers lock outside doors to protect people inside buildings. Although awareness should be heightened, normal activities can continue.
Lockdown: Teachers clear hallways, lock doors to individual rooms and turn off the lights. Students hide and keep quiet.
Evacuate: Students move to an announced location, leaving personal items if necessary.
Shelter: Depending on the hazard announced by the teacher, students respond with the relevant strategy. For example, if there’s an earthquake, students should drop, cover and hold.
Easier in an actual emergency
“The neat thing about the SRP (Standard Response Protocol), it’s very simple. There’s only five, so it’s an all-hazards approach,” Hafemann said.
The posters replaced a much more detailed flipbook.
“This is where we came from,” Hafemann said, holding up the flipbook. “Very great, excellent information. But during a crisis, you lose your fine motor skills. You’re not going to have time when you’re scared to be able to read what to do.”
An English and Spanish Standard Response Protocol poster, created from “I Love U Guys” Foundation materials, shows the five recommended responses to an emergency: Hold, Secure, Lockdown, Evacuate, Shelter. (Photo by Devin Blake from materials provided by the “I Love U Guys” Foundation)
Many community partners were involved in bringing the new protocol to MPS, Hafemann said. This includes the Milwaukee Police Department and the Milwaukee Fire Department.
Fire Chief Aaron Lipski said the collaboration has helped MPS avoid “reinventing a wheel on something that might not work in the real world.”
For example, he said, it’s important for staff to know that during a fire, one of the safest areas of a building is the stairwell.
“Through good incident command and communication with folks at the building, that gives us time for them to go, ‘Hey, we got a kid in a motorized wheelchair on the west stairwell, third floor.’ That becomes a major priority for us,” Lipski said.
Some emergency protocol details cannot be shared publicly for safety reasons, but families are informed whenever changes directly affect school procedures, said Missy Zombor, president of the Milwaukee Board of School Directors.
What’s the same?
Although the Standard Response Protocol is new for the district, it is part of the district’s ongoing Emergency Operations Plan.
The plan is an overarching safety framework mandated by state law, requiring school districts to coordinate prevention, mitigation, response and recovery efforts across the district.
A range of emergency drills are also mandated: monthly fire drills; at least two tornado or hazard drills annually; one “school violence” or “lockdown” drill annually.
MPS also conducts defibrillator drills and, for younger students, bus evacuation drills each year.
What steps can be taken now?
Families should review the Standard Response Protocol poster with their schoolchildren, Hafemann said.
“Just have those discussions with children about these and that they’re aware of what to do,” he said.
Lipski advised reviewing “the basic stuff” as well.
“They probably do well to review basic ‘stranger danger’ stuff,” he said. “Yes, we want you to follow instructions that your teachers are telling you, but if you need to leave the building because there’s an emergency and you get separated, make sure you find an adult that you are familiar with.”
As children get a little bit older, Lipski added, it would be helpful for them to get CPR training and some basic first aid.
“It just reinforces that, ‘Hey, you know what – helping people is a thing you can do,’” Lipski said.
For more information
Families can update their contact information in the online Parent Portal to effectively use SchoolMessenger, the district’s emergency communication tool.
If families have safety and security-related questions, students can reach out to their respective teachers first, while parents can contact Jones or Stephen Davis, media relations manager for MPS, Davis said.
MPS also provides some opportunities for input from families through school-based councils, district surveys, board meetings and community listening sessions, Zombor said.
The Wisconsin Department of Justice maintains a statewide portal for reporting safety concerns. People can also call the tipline at 800-697-8761.
Families and students can access key safety and security documents on the MPS website.
Jonathan Aguilar is a visual journalist at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service who is supported through a partnership between CatchLight Local and Report for America.
State Rep. Ryan Clancy asks questions of a witness testifying at a public hearing on April 10, 2025, about a bill placing to restrictions on the process of qualifying for Medicaid. (Wisconsin Examiner photo)
Rep. Ryan Clancy (D-Milwaukee) has distributed co-sponsorship memos promoting a package of bills aimed at tamping down police violence and surveillance. Dubbed the “Freedom From Fear” package, the bills focus on facial recognition technology, police training and accountability.
Residents in local Wisconsin communities have called for oversight of police surveillance, including facial recognition technology, and some have raised concerns about the surge in federal operations and deployment of military forces to cities around the country. Clancy’s proposals would:
Require the decertification of law enforcement who violate “basic regulations on uses of force, among other standards set by the Law Enforcement Standards Board”.
Prohibit the use of facial recognition technology, which is known to incorporate artificial intelligence;
Ban the use of Automatic License Plate Readers, which a press release by Clancy’s office states are vulnerable to hacking, despite being used to track and monitor thousands of vehicles nationwide,
Prohibit law enforcement from requesting, obtaining, or receiving access to an individual’s personal data in exchange for payment or a thing of value and without a warrant,
Set clear policies around releasing body camera footage depicting officer-involved deaths, with a focus on delays which could give police “the motive and opportunity to edit or delete footage,”
Prohibit police trainings that include content on “excited delirium,” which the press release describes as “a nonscientific, nonmedical term often used to justify police violence and other abuses of authority,”
And prohibit “warrior-style training” methods among law enforcement which could lead to “unnecessary injury and death, in favor of aikido training focused on self-defense, de-escalation, and the disarming of threats”.
In Milwaukee, civil liberties advocates and community activists have drawn more attention to concerns around surveillance by the Milwaukee Police Department (MPD), with a particular focus on license plate readers and facial recognition technology.
Critics of the two kinds of tech have expressed concerns over the technology’s use without a warrant and their ability to gather information on numerous people who are not the target of any particular investigation. Recently, Wisconsin Examiner also found that several Wisconsin law enforcement agencies utilizing Flock license plate readers entered vague reasons for using the network of cameras.
The Milwaukee Police Administration Building downtown. A surveillance van, or “critical response vehicle” is in the background. (Photo | Isiah Holmes)
Facial recognition technology presents its own unique challenges. Questions have been raised about the technology’s ability to accurately detect and identify faces, particularly people of color. Earlier this summer, MPD announced that it was considering acquiring facial recognition technology from the company Biometrica, in exchange for providing the company with 2.5 million images and records related to people who’d passed through Milwaukee’s criminal justice system, including those who had not been convicted of a crime. In June, as the sheriff’s office began to explore a similar deal, the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors joined calls to regulate facial recognition technology.
“In this critical moment, as military forces take over cities across the United States one by one, at President Trump’s whim, we cannot continue investing more public resources and power in unaccountable law enforcement,” Clancy said in a statement. “As state legislators, we have the elected duty and authority to check government overreach in Wisconsin — that overreach is at its most dangerous when done in secret, while armed, and in cooperation with an increasingly openly fascist President.”
Clancy blasted MPD and other nearby law enforcement agencies in his statement for “giddily trading the data of hundreds of thousands of people for access to technology that will let them exploit, and inevitably misuse, the same data.” He called the technology “untested and unregulated” and questioned Biometrica’s ability to secure the data which it collects.
Protesters gather in Wauwatosa to bring attention to a “target list” created by the police department in 2020. (Photo by Isiah Holmes/Wisconsin Examiner)
Meanwhile, President Trump has elevated Immigration and Customs Enforcement as the administration’s premiere federal law enforcement agency, with an enhanced budget that surpasses the military spending of most of the nations in the world. Trump advisor Stephen Miller also recently threatened to “identify, disrupt, dismantle and destroy” left-wing movements and organizations, using language reminiscent of the COINTEL PRO intelligence programs run by the FBI for decades under J. Edgar Hoover. During the George Floyd protests of 2020, there were numerous reports of police surveillance and intelligence gathering operations.
“This bill package will prevent this ongoing abuse of sensitive data, without oversight, that MPD and other law enforcement agencies have simply given themselves permission to collect and misuse,” Clancy said in his statement. “We won’t heal the damage done, or move forward, without securing the kind of basic protections we’re proposing today. These bills are a start, but an important one.”
Rochelle Nagorski thought her son was all set to go to Burdick, his neighborhood elementary school, this year.
“I got an email stating that he was enrolled, but we weren’t getting anything stating who his teacher was,” she said.
Nagorski later learned Burdick, 4348 S. Griffin Ave., Milwaukee, was at capacity and that her son was placed on the school’s waitlist.
“Why wouldn’t he get into his neighborhood school? It’s literally two and a half blocks from our house.”
She is not alone. Others also have reported similar challenges.
Steve Davis, media relations manager at Milwaukee Public Schools, explained in an email to NNS that the school district is working to make sure not to exceed maximum class sizes at schools.
“This means more schools are at capacity and cannot accept new students, even if it is a family’s neighborhood school,” Davis wrote.
Capacity and other issues related to the enrollment process have forced Nagorski and others to scramble to find alternatives.
Frustration with central services
Citlali Torres said she already had enough on her plate after her uncle, Vincent Torres, was killed in front of his home this summer. Then, someone stole her wallet with her ID.
While she dealt with those challenges, she decided to enroll her 4-year-old daughter at Morgandale Elementary, 3635 S. 17th St.
“Morgandale is a great school. I went there all the way from K4 to eighth grade,” Torres said.
She tried to enroll her daughter but was told she needed to wait for the year to start to see if the school had space.
Once the school year started, Torres called MPS central services but was told a picture of her ID wasn’t enough to enroll her. She needed a physical ID card, which was stolen along with her wallet.
Torres said the staff at Morgandale have been helpful and supportive, but she has struggled to get help from central services.
“All I want is for, you know, to get my daughter enrolled in school.”
Nagorski also had trouble with central services. When she called, the employee told her she should have put other schools on the list in case her son didn’t get into Burdick.
Nagorski didn’t know it was possible for her neighborhood school to fill up, so she only put Burdick on the list.
Staff at central services said she’d have to come to the office and enroll her child in another school. Nagorski, who is on medical leave from ankle surgery, asked if there was another option but was told there was none.
The district has since reached out to her to schedule a home visit.
Scrambling for alternatives
Since her son was waitlisted, Nagorski has considered whether to re-enroll him in Wisconsin Virtual Academy, where he went last semester. She said online learning didn’t work well for him – she noticed him become disengaged – but it’s better than nothing.
“I’d rather get them on online learning so he’s at least got some kind of schooling going on and get some kind of structure,” she said.
Nagorski said she wished the district notified her sooner that her son was on the waitlist at Burdick.
“If I would have been notified a week prior to school starting, even if he was on a waitlist,” she said. “Give me something to work with.”
Torres was finally able to enroll her daughter in school after NNS connected her with Davis.
She began classes on Sept. 10 at Morgandale.
How to enroll your student
Davis said parents will get the fastest service by coming in person to the central services office at 5225 W. Vliet St.
Parents can apply to enroll their students by checking out this online portal.
For families who can’t come in person or navigate the online portal, Davis said they can call 414-475-8159 and ask a canvasser to visit.
The district requires identification when enrolling your student. If you don’t have a government-issued ID card, call the number above.
According to Davis, one way to help avoid parents’ school of choice reaching maximum capacity is by applying during the regular enrollment period.
“We appreciate that full classes and schools may present challenges for families,” Davis wrote in an email to NNS. “We do hope they can understand that a classroom filled above its maximum capacity can present a challenging experience for all the students, their families and the teacher.”
High school priority enrollment: Oct. 3 – Nov. 3.
Kindergarten enrollment: Feb. 7, 2026 – March 9, 2026.
Elizabeth Brown faced five years of housing troubles, homelessness and other barriers. But she can now say she’s a homeowner.
Brown, 51, always wanted to be a homeowner but said it just hadn’t happened for her. Just a few years ago, Brown was choosing between feeding her children and paying her rent. After moving into a home in Milwaukee near North 20th Street and West Auer Avenue that quickly fell into disrepair, she decided it was time to make a dream a reality.
“I just couldn’t do that anymore,” she said. “I knew I didn’t want to deal with landlords anymore.”
Brown purchased her home through Acts Housing and moved in June 27.
Brown is a mother of nine children, four of whom she still takes care of. She is a community organizer and the current president of Amani United, a neighborhood group.
“I love that she has this house now,” said Doris Brown, Elizabeth’s mother. “It feels like she’s reached the beginning of being settled, like she deserves to be.”
The journey
Brown’s homebuying process took about two years. But she spent even longer preparing for it.
“It was hard because one day I was trying to survive,” she said.
Two of Brown’s children are school-aged and two more are in college. As she prepared to buy a home, she was working to support her children and serving her community through her work as a leader for Amani United.
Brown has spent significant time giving back to the community. She said when it came to the process of buying a home, it was that same community that supported her.
Amanda Clark, housing coordinator for the Dominican Center, which often works in partnership with Amani United, has known Brown for eight years. She said she was excited to witness Brown become a homeowner.
“I don’t think anyone is more deserving than Elizabeth,” she said. “Elizabeth acted as a pilot so that we can, as a community, help other residents access homeownership without as many barriers.”
Overcoming barriers
Brown said there were many days when she just wanted to give up on becoming a homeowner.
One challenge, she said, was simply saving the money needed to purchase her home.
“When you are working with programs and following steps toward your goal, life is still happening,” she said. “I was homeless for six months during this process because the home I was living in just became unlivable.”
She said there were times when she’d have to rent hotel rooms to meet her and her children’s hygiene needs or rent other places to cook for them.
“There is always something else you need to do,” Brown said. “You think you’ve taken all the steps, then a coach will say, ‘oh you need to do this and this.’ ”
While she bought the home through Acts Housing, she said other supports, like staff from the Community Development Alliance, Milwaukee Metropolitan Community Church, Northwestern Mutual and LISC, were helpful in her journey.
A fresh start
Brown said buying a home feels like the beginning for her.
“I’m happy, and my children are so proud of me,” she said. “But there is so much more I want to do.”
Brown said homeownership is possible for anyone who wants to achieve it, so long as communities care.
“It was a long fight,” Brown said. “But I’m a firm believer everything happens for a reason, and I had my experience so that I can help others do what I did.”
Federal disaster assistance is available to individuals in Milwaukee, Washington and Waukesha counties who were affected by historic rainfall and flooding last month.
The assistance could include grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses and other programs to help individuals and families recover from the effects of the storms that occurred Aug. 9-12.
A spokesperson for Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson said that how and when the money will be distributed to individuals will be determined by the Trump administration.
People who sustained losses in the designated areas should first file claims with their insurance providers and then apply for assistance online at DisasterAssistance.gov, by calling 1-800-621-3362 or by using the FEMA App.
The request by Gov. Tony Evers for a presidential disaster declaration also included a request to FEMA’s Public Assistance Program for Door, Grant and Ozaukee counties.
On Friday, FEMA officials announced that additional designations may be made at a later date depending on what damage assessments show.
The Evers administration estimates 1,500 residential structures were destroyed and flooding caused more than $43 million in public sector damage throughout six Wisconsin counties.
“Over the past month, my administration and I have been working hard to ensure the folks and families whose homes, businesses, schools, and community centers were impacted have the support they need to recover,” Evers said in a statement released Thursday evening.
A recent Associated Press data analysis found that disaster survivors are having to wait longer to get aid from the federal government than they did in the past.
Wisconsin will receive nearly $30 million in federal disaster relief to aid victims of last month’s flooding.
President Donald Trump announced Thursday in a social media post that he had approved the state’s request to help Milwaukee and other parts of the state affected by floods. The total approved is $29.8 million.
State and federal officials found the floods caused more than $33 million in damages to private property in Milwaukee, Washington and Waukesha counties. The request by Gov. Tony Evers for a presidential disaster declaration also included a request to FEMA’s Public Assistance Program for Door, Grant, Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Washington and Waukesha counties.
In a statement, Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson called the approval “a significant stride forward in this area’s recovery efforts.”
U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore, D-Milwaukee, spoke on the House floor Thursday to advocate for federal help for the city. In a statement, she said the funds “will help my constituents pick up the pieces, and I will keep fighting for the resources they need until they are made whole.”
U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Oshkosh, received the news of the declaration from Trump.
“Thank you to President Trump for continuing to deliver BIG TIME for Wisconsinites,” Johnson wrote on social media.
U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Madison, in a statement said she would “continue to closely monitor to make sure Wisconsin gets everything we need to be on the road to recovery and the whole-of-government recovery effort does right by all Wisconsinites.”
FEMA representatives are scheduled to return to Wisconsin this month to assess damage to public infrastructure. In addition to the damages to private property, initial reports collected by the state found more than $43 million in damage to public property across six counties.
“I’m beyond excited to lead NNS through its next chapter of growth, as we continue to build on a strong foundation of trust and respect in the community,” Edgar Mendez says. “Our focus is going to be guided by their needs as we map out our future.”
Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service, the nonprofit newsroom dedicated to covering the city’s diverse neighborhoods, has promoted veteran journalist Edgar Mendez to managing editor following a national search.
Mendez, a Milwaukee native and one of the newsroom’s founding reporters, will guide the award-winning newsroom into its next chapter of community-driven journalism.
Mendez’s promotion marks a moment of growth as NNS expands its staff. Alex Klaus joins as an education reporter focused on accountability and solutions in Milwaukee’s K-12 schools, while Jonathan Aguilar, a bilingual multimedia journalist, brings reporting and photojournalism expertise to the team.
‘Trust and respect in the community’
A resident of Milwaukee’s Clarke Square neighborhood, Mendez has long grounded his work in the needs of the community. “I’m beyond excited to lead NNS through its next chapter of growth, as we continue to build on a strong foundation of trust and respect in the community,” Mendez said. “Our focus is going to be guided by their needs as we map out our future.”
Ron Smith, executive director of NNS, said the newsroom’s national candidate search confirmed what Milwaukee already knew: Mendez’s leadership, track record and connection to the city make him uniquely suited for the role.
“It’s funny how the national search for managing editor led us to a local treasure who was already in our newsroom,” Smith said. “Edgar has been with us since our beginning and has built trust in our community through his rigorous, people-centric reporting. He’s not only a champion of great journalism, he’s also a champion of the great journalists who do the work.”
A distinguished career
Mendez has built a career telling the stories of his Clarke Square neighborhood and beyond. His award-winning reporting has earned him a 2018 Regional Edward R. Murrow Award and multiple Milwaukee Press Club honors.
With Mendez’s appointment and the additions of Klaus and Aguilar, NNS is strengthening its capacity to deliver fearless, fact-based reporting to communities of color in Milwaukee.
Mendez’s deep roots in Milwaukee and his reputation for editorial excellence align with NNS’s mission to elevate local voices and cover stories that matter to the people who live, work and serve in city neighborhoods. As part of Wisconsin Watch, NNS continues to expand its impact and rebuild local news in Milwaukee and across Wisconsin.
“We want to give Milwaukee the newsroom it deserves,” Smith added. “The hiring of Edgar gives us the momentum we need to serve our neighbors at a time when fearless, community-centered journalism is needed more than ever.”
The Cole family and their attorney's talk to press outside the federal courthouse. (Photo by Isiah Holmes/Wisconsin Examiner)
For the second time, a federal trial in the 2020 shooting death of Alvin Cole by then-Wauwatosa police officer Joseph Mensah ended in a hung jury on Thursday. Deliberations began shortly after 5 p.m. on Wednesday, going until around 8 p.m. Jurors returned Thursday morning, and deliberated for a total of nearly 10 hours, more than doubling the amount of time deliberations lasted during the first trial, before deciding that they were hopelessly deadlocked. Plaintiff attorneys asked the jury for a total of $9 million ($5 million in compensatory damages, and $4 million in punitive damages), a figure far lower than the $22 million they asked for last time.
Following the trial, Mensah attorney Joseph Wirth said “it’s still proven a difficult case for the jury to reach a conclusion.” Wirth and his partner, attorney Jasmyne Baynard, declined to talk about settlement discussions with the media, but said they plan to talk to the jurors. “We have felt strongly about the merits of this case,” said Baynard. “I’ve felt strongly about my representation of Joseph Mensah and every other police officer that I represent. Feel strongly about his actions in this situation, and we’re going to go forward under that belief.”
Cole family attorneys Kimberly Motley and Nate Cade said that while they wanted a different outcome, “We are pleased that it was a hung jury.” Motley stressed that “it’s important for the public to be aware that Joseph Mensah killed three people in five years as a Wauwatosa police officer, that’s really important, and that this jury did not believe what he was saying. Now we have a jury that came back — and they were hung — but they deliberated longer, they had more evidence, and the evidence is just not good for him.” Motley said that Mensah’s story “doesn’t make sense.”
The Wisconsin Examiner’s Criminal Justice Reporting Project shines a light on incarceration, law enforcement and criminal justice issues with support from the Public Welfare Foundation.
During deliberations, jurors asked for transcripts of interviews of officers on the scene of the Cole shooting conducted by the Milwaukee Area Investigative Team (MAIT), a request initially denied by Judge Adelman, due to questions about whether the interviews had been admitted as evidence. Later, Adelman reversed his decision and allowed the jury to see MAIT interviews of officers David Shamsi and Evan Olson. The two officers gave contradicting statements to MAIT investigators in 2020 about whether Cole moved or pointed his gun shortly before Mensah fired. Jurors also asked for Mensah’s deposition testimony, in which plaintiff attorneys say Mensah implied that when he fired on Cole, he was only concerned about his own safety. On the stand this week, Mensah said that he fired to protect himself and everyone else around Mayfair Mall.
Throughout the trial, defense attorneys argued that the unrecorded officer interviews by MAIT were little more than hearsay, and attempted to limit the jury’s access to them. Besides arguing that MAIT reports are hearsay in the second trial, defense attorneys noted in the first trial that officers are not under oath when they talk to investigators after a police shooting. The debates in court raised questions about the policies and practices that MAIT relies on when investigating officer-involved deaths, which also inform whether prosecutors will charge officers with crimes after killing civilians.
Baynard said that “I don’t think that we’re in a position to comment on MAIT’s investigation, and truly that was not really an issue in this case to be decided, so no, I don’t have any issues.” Baynard added that, “I have seen plenty of MAIT investigations, I have seen plenty of investigations done by the [state Division of Criminal Investigation], I think they did a fine investigation here. I think that sometimes people forget that officers in these situations are afforded the exact same rights as anybody else would be afforded, and beyond that I’m not really interested in commenting on MAIT’s protocol.”
Cade stressed that the MAIT statements “are not heresy, ’cause they’re the statements.” Calling the heresy argument “nonsense”, Cade said that the problem with MAIT “is that they allow the officers to make decisions about it being recorded.” While Cade accepts that Mensah himself may have Fifth Amendment rights in such a case he said “the other officers don’t”. By contrast, civilian witnesses are recorded far more often than officers after police shootings. “Why do they bend over backwards for officers who are not even directly involved in terms of shooting,” asked Cade. “That’s a handicap. They said that MAIT was supposed to be designed to give the public confidence. How can you have confidence if you’re not going to tape officer’s conversations, so we know exactly what they said?”
Wirth said that Mensah “is absolutely disappointed that we weren’t able to obtain a verdict today,” adding that Mensah is no longer in law enforcement, “and it weighs heavily on him.” Wirth said “it’s a very important case to the Cole family, it’s a very important case to Joseph Mensah.”
The last day of testimony
On Wednesday defense attorneys called Joshua Boye, a video editor and graphic designer who reviewed squad car video from the Cole shooting. Boye testified that he had been paid by defense attorneys to edit the video as they directed by modifying audio, adjusting color and contrast, and adding a “spotlight” around Cole as he ran.
During cross examination, plaintiff attorneys drew attention to a timestamp in Boye’s video which does not appear in the raw version, leading plaintiff attorneys to question whether Boye had been given an altered version by defense attorneys. Later on, when this issue was raised again, Judge Adelman said that he hadn’t seen anything to suggest that the video had been tampered with. Boye repeatedly said that any edits he made to the video were done “at the direction of attorneys.”
Wauwatosa officer Evan Olson, who was one of the officers who responded to Mayfair Mall the night that Cole was killed, testified as uniformed Wauwatosa officers flowed into the courtroom to sit around Mensah’s wife, as they had during each day of the trial. A Wauwatosa PD spokesperson said in a statement to Wisconsin Examiner that “some officers chose to attend the trial in uniform to show their support for a former colleague, which is not uncommon in high-profile cases. Their attendance was voluntary and did not impact patrol staffing or the department’s ability to respond to calls of service.”
Attorney’s Jasmyne Baynard (left) and Joseph Wirth talk to press outside the federal courthouse (Photo by Isiah Holmes/Wisconsin Examiner)
Cole’s family, as well as the parents of Jay Anderson Jr., Mensah’s second fatal shooting in 2016, also attended every day of the trial. Motley and Cade took issue with the presence of uniformed Wauwatosa officers. “This isn’t the city of Wauwatosa,” said Motley, “so I was kind of concerned about what was happening in the city of Wauwatosa with all these police officers that came in uniform to sit in court for hours and hours, for a person who no longer works for Wauwatosa as a police officer, and is no longer a Wauwatosa officer period. So I think that the taxpayers should demand why that happened.”
Cade called the uniformed officers’ presence intimidating for the jury. “We aren’t allowed to say anything about the thin blue line and backing the blue, but it was obvious,” he said. During the first trial plaintiff attorneys were told that the Cole family was not allowed to wear any clothing with messages about Alvin.
Olson testified that he arrived at Mayfair Mall responding to a report about disorderly conduct involving a gun. After arriving, Olson immediately encountered at least two teens who were part of Cole’s group, and ordered them to the ground. Off in the distance, he could see Cole running from officers and mall security, before hearing a single shot. Olson testified to seeing Cole “in what I would say is a low ready position,” similar to a stance taken in football. He said that Cole pointed a firearm at him, making him move out of the way of what he thought would be more gunfire, and prepare to shoot himself. Olson called Cole a “lethal threat”, and said that after Mensah fired, Cole went from the football-like position to lying prone on the ground. Plaintiff attorneys argued that Olson was seeing Cole in the act of falling. Olson kicked the gun from Cole’s hand and assisted in CPR.
Olson, Mensah and Shamsi gave contradicting statements, opening the door for the trial. Both Olson and Mensah said that the gun was pointed in their directions, but they were positioned on opposite sides of the parking lot. Shamsi, who was the closest officer to Cole, testified that Cole and the gun didn’t move after Cole fell. Olson said he didn’t think other officers who didn’t see the gun move were lying. Every officer testified that foot pursuits are dangerous, unpredictable situations especially when guns are involved.
When Olson left the stand, he took a seat in the gallery near Mensah’s wife and the other Wauwatosa officers. Olson, like the rest of the officers, was uniformed every day of the trial. On Thursday, when the jury continued deliberations, Olson and a Wauwatosa police sergeant came to court in civilian clothes.
Sarah Hopkins, a civilian witness, claimed to have been outside the Cheesecake Factory restaurant when she saw Cole being chased by mall security. Hopkins said that Cole stopped running at one point, making her think that he was surrendering, but then that he turned and pointed a gun at the officers. Hopkins said that Cole “was like fumbling around” and that “all of a sudden we hear rapid shots.” Plaintiff attorneys questioned the fact that Hopkins described Cole doing a motion which no one else described seeing. Davion Beard, a former Mayfair Mall security guard, initially helped to locate the group of teens, and participated in the foot chase. Beard, who ran track, testified to essentially being the closest person to Cole with just a foot or two separating them. When the first shot was fired, Beard said he dropped to the ground, with Shamsi not far behind him, and that he didn’t see Cole crawl, turn his body, or point a gun.
The Cole family and attorneys talk to press outside the federal courthouse. (Photo by Isiah Holmes/Wisconsin Examiner)
Testimony concluded with Mensah’s attorneys calling Michael Knetzger, a certified instructor in Defense and Arrest Tactics (DAAT) and former Green Bay police officer. Knetzger repeatedly implied that the jurors should put themselves in Mensah’s mindset at the moment of the shooting. When cross examined, plaintiff attorneys drew attention to Knetzger’s lack of “real world experience” dealing with shootings and homicides, and that his doctorate and degrees had come from online universities including one that marketed itself as the nation’s “most affordable online Christian University.”
During closing arguments Cade reminded the jury that Cole was a kid who made stupid decisions like many young people, including his own sons who Cade called “knuckleheads.” Cade stressed that “for Joseph Mensah to be right, everybody else has to be wrong,” referring to the testimony from multiple officers, Beard, and other witnesses that Cole had not turned toward Mensah or moved after he fell to the ground. Cade said that Olson testified to support his friend Mensah, and that Mensah himself had incentive to change his story.
Attorney Baynard, representing the defense, said that Cole made “catastrophically dangerous” decisions which went beyond the sort of mistakes people make when they’re young. Baynard said that “police are not required to gamble with their lives”, and that while Cole’s death was tragic, “we are in court today because of his actions.” Baynard said that “Cole was in control of the situation” and that “he was driving the bus”, saying in her closing argument that “I’m not sure how many more opportunities he should have been given to comply.” Baynard described the turning motion Cole allegedly made as “a quick shift,” and made claims about prior witness testimony which Cade later refuted.
The Cole family said they are undeterred by Thursday’s hung jury. “We’re a strong united family,” said Tracy Cole, Alvin’s mother. Despite the hung jury, Cole said that she is encouraged because “somebody sees that my son was killed for no reason,” and that she believed her son was killed as he attempted to surrender.
“We are going to fight you Joseph, we ain’t gave up Joseph,” she added. “And my lawyers ain’t gave up.”
Motley echoed the sentiment. “It’s a good result,” she said of the hung jury, “and we’re going to keep fighting…because this is an important case.”
Every time third-year Milwaukee Area Technical College student Devin Hayden comes to the Office of Multicultural Services, student service specialists welcome her with open arms.
“It’s literally just nothing but ‘hi Devin, how are you doing? How’s your parents?’ ” she said. “I felt like I could talk to them about anything that was going on.”
Now, students like Hayden are wondering where they’ll find support once the office closes on Sept. 18.
In August, MATC announced it is restructuring the office into a new Office of Community Impact and eliminating four student service specialist positions to comply with federal recommendations to end race-based practices.
Some are questioning whether the decision aligns with the message the college sends regarding inclusivity and diversity.
‘Safe space’
Walter Lanier remembers students walking through the doors of the Office of Multicultural Services saying, “this is different when I walk in here.”
Lanier, who ran the department until 2020 and left MATC in 2022, said many students of color consider the office their “home base.” He thinks it will be almost impossible to fill the gap left by eliminating four student support specialists.
They specialize in serving the needs of Black, Indigenous, Asian and Hispanic students but also work with students from other backgrounds.
The office also rescued leftover food from the cafeteria and gave it out to students free of charge, Hayden said. She said some students came to the office for food every day.
“I would cash in on that because sometimes I don’t have enough money for lunch,” Hayden said.
Crystal Harper, a student who’s taken classes at MATC for nine years, said the office is her “safe space.” She credits the office for supporting her growth in school, even connecting her with an internship and supporting her candidacy for MATC governor.
“When eagles fly, they don’t have to move their wings. They’re just soaring. So they told me to be like the eagles — continue to soar,” Harper said. “That’s what my plans are, to continue to soar.”
Electronic signs promote support for MATC students at the front of the downtown campus student center. (Alex Klaus / Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service)
Hayden, who identifies as a Black queer woman, said she didn’t just feel like a number at the Office of Multicultural Services like she does in other spaces on campus.
Eliminating that space contradicts the college’s message of “community and inclusivity,” Hayden said.
“The message that (the college is) spreading that yes, we promote students, we promote students of different walks of life but then at the same time we’re going to eliminate this entire department is ridiculous to me,” Hayden said. “None of us are trusting that. None of us think that that decision is right.”
MATC to ‘champion holistic support for all students’
The four student service specialists received an email on Aug. 19 informing them that the Office of Multicultural Services will be restructured into the Office of Community Impact and their positions would be eliminated.
The office will “champion holistic support for all students,” MATC told NNS in a statement.
The decision comes amid the Trump administration’s efforts to revoke federal funding from colleges and universities that use “race-conscious practices” in programs or activities.
MATC leaders said they restructured the office to align with the administration’s guidance because the office solely serviced students who identify as a specific race or ethnic group.
“Fulfilling our mission to serve all students in our community while adjusting to this guidance from the U.S. Department of Education has been challenging,” read the statement from MATC. “We want to continue to stress our commitment and focus on supporting each and every one of our students, providing them with the resources they need to succeed.”
In August, U.S. District Court Judge Stephanie Gallagher in Maryland determined that the way the Trump administration attempted to threaten revoking Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs was unconstitutional.
MATC leaders said they are equally committed to supporting the employees whose positions were eliminated.
In the email, Michael Rogers, vice president of student engagement and community impact, invited support specialists to apply for two new positions within the Office of Community Impact: one that focuses on “specialized training and student events” and another for “mentorship programs,” if they wished.
Additional concerns
In an Aug. 26 MATC District Board meeting, student service specialist Floyd C. Griffin III, who worked in multicultural services for four years, asked the board why the college eliminated his position.
“I’m living through the indignity of working day after day knowing that my service, my dedication and my livelihood have already been dismissed by leadership,” Griffin said. “After years of commitment, this is how the college treats its employees of color — rushed, silenced and discarded.”
The four service specialists are people of color.
Tony Baez, the former MATC vice president of academic affairs, implemented bilingual programs at MATC in the 1990s. He said MATC President Anthony Cruz should rethink eliminating support specialists.
“MATC is an institution that is so large that with each (support specialist), you can ease them into other kinds of positions to help those students that need the support systems,” Baez said. “He had options.”
The federal courthouse in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Isiah Holmes/Wisconsin Examiner)
Another trial in the killing of 17-year-old Alvin Cole by then-Wauwatosa police officer Joseph Mensah began Monday, with attorneys battling over whether Mensah used excessive force when he killed Cole following a foot chase in 2020. U.S. District Court Judge Lynn Adelman is presiding over the case, as he did when the case went to trial earlier this year, ending in a hung jury. Mensah has claimed that Cole pointed a gun in his direction, making him fear for his life and triggering his decision to fire five shots at Cole.
An all-white, eight-member jury was selected out of a pool of 36 potential jurors, with an even split of men and women. None of the jurors are from Milwaukee. Two indicated that they have close relatives who served in law enforcement, though they said this would not sway their decision-making.
Attorney Kimberley Motley, representing Cole and his family, used a projection screen to display a photo of Cole when he was younger. She told jurors that sometimes kids do stupid things, which in this case was running from the police, but also that running alone does not give grounds for officers to use deadly force. “Some kids ran faster, some kids ran slower, and Alvin was one of the slower kids,” Motley said.
The Wisconsin Examiner’s Criminal Justice Reporting Project shines a light on incarceration, law enforcement and criminal justice issues with support from the Public Welfare Foundation.
Motley noted that Mensah was not the first officer on the scene. Yet he was the only officer to fire. She stressed to the jury that Mensah, not Cole, “is the only one on trial,” and that jurors can acknowledge that police have a hard job while also finding that Mensah used excessive force.
Cole was Mensah’s third shooting over a five-year period at Wauwatosa PD, a fact not shared with jurors. In his opening statement, attorney Joseph Wirth told jurors that foot chases are incredibly dangerous and unpredictable and that Cole made “catastrophically bad” decisions and “the escalation of danger” was “enormous”. After firing a gun he was carrying, Wirth said Cole went into a crouch-like position, fired at Olson, and then turned towards Mensah before he was killed. One of the key issues in the case has been conflicting statements from police officers on the scene, with Mensah saying the gun was only pointed at him, Officer David Shamsi (who was closest to Cole), saying the gun hadn’t moved at all, and Officer Even Olson saying that the gun was pointed towards him and away from Mensah.
“Sympathy for loss of life can exist at the same time as your duty as a juror to uphold the law,” Wirth told the jurors. He asked them to “clear your minds of sympathy” and reiterated that “Alvin Cole made catastrophically bad decisions.”
Both civilian and law enforcement witnesses were called to the stand Monday, beginning with UW-Milwaukee film and documentary teacher Sean Kafer, who’d reviewed squad and deposition videos for the trial. Kafer testified that he added a red circle to a version of the squad video depicting the shooting, and removed background noise. The video was played multiple times for jurors. Wirth also played versions of the squad video. The low quality of the video was one of the issues noted by the jurors who failed to reach a unanimous decision in the last trial.
Shamsi, now an FBI agent and a major in the U.S. Army Reserve with combat experience, was working overtime the night of the shooting. He was among the officers who “floated” to the area in case they were needed.
After the first shot went off, Shamsi testified that Cole ended up on his hands and knees, with the firearm still in his right hand. Mensah came from behind Shamsi, who said that he did not see Cole turn or take a shooter’s stance as Wirth said in opening statements.
Video from Shamsi’s squad car was also played capturing him talking to other officers, including investigators from the Milwaukee Police Department who’d come to take his statement. In those videos, Shamsi can be heard saying “he was crawling” and that Shamsi was right next to “dude” when the shooting happened. When asked about Cole aiming the gun, Shamsi said, “I did not see it move.” Shamsi cautioned, though, that the situation was chaotic and rapid, and that he may not have noticed everything. He added that it was a deadly situation, and that he was prepared to fire if needed.
Shenora Statten-Jordan, a principal at Messmer High School testified that she was leaving a Mayfair-area restaurant when the shooting happened. Driving her white SUV beside her husband and two children in the back, Statten-Jordan testified to seeing lights and commotion near the Cheesecake Factory parking lot. As her vehicle approached she could see other officers responding, hear the shots, and see a boy fall to the ground onto his stomach with his legs still kicking “as if he was still running.”
Wirth attempted to establish, as he’d done in the last trial, that Statten-Jordan was not in a position to actually see the shooting. Video from Shamsi’s dash camera and a passing Milwaukee County bus, however, showed that Statten-Jordan was where she’d testified she was. After witnessing the shooting, she was interviewed by the Greenfield Police Department as part of the shooting investigation. Statten-Jordan said she’d offered to go back to the scene with officers, but that they didn’t take her up on the offer.
The last witness of the day was Wauwatosa officer Jeffrey Johnson, who left his own patrol sector to respond to the mall that day. Johnson recalled meeting Shamsi, chasing the teens and hearing the shots that ended Cole’s life. Johnson testified that Cole had fallen to his hands and knees, and that from his position 20-25 yards away that he, like Shamsi, did not see Cole move. Nor did Johnson fire his weapon, although he drew it after the first shot was fired. Johnson said that although he didn’t see Cole move while on the ground, a lot was going on. Johnson said that officer training does not require a gun to be pointed at you to justify firing.
The trial is expected to last until late Wednesday or early Thursday, when the case will be turned over for deliberations. Dr. Weislaw Tlomak, Chief Medical Officer of the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s Office, is expected to begin testimony Tuesday.
National Guard troops, like those President Donald Trump is using to crack down on big-city crime, generally are not trained in law enforcement.
Trump sent National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., in August as a crackdown. The Milwaukee police union president said he might ask Trump to send troops to Milwaukee.
D.C. police get 21 modules of criminal procedure training, and Guard members get none, an analysis found.
The Guard’s primary law enforcement training is crowd control, said the analysis’ co-author, Mark Cancian of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
U.S. Naval War College professor Lindsay Cohn, a civil-military relations expert, said most Guard members are not trained in law enforcement, but some are spot-trained.
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, head of the Wisconsin National Guard, said Guard members are the “wrong people” to fight crime because they’re not trained police officers.
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
When Kristen Payne learned her child’s classmate at the Golda Meir Lower Campus tested positive for lead poisoning earlier this year, she said Milwaukee Public Schools had underestimated the amount of lead dust in the school.
“We have come to find out that Golda Meir had one of the highest levels of lead dust of any of the schools tested,” said Payne, founder of the advocacy group Lead Safe Schools MKE.
After MPS replaced the windows at Golda Meir in the 1990s, she said, district officials thought they eliminated a major hazard. But after starting remediation work earlier this year, they realized the problem was worse than they thought, she said.
Payne said the experience broke her trust with the district. She’s one of several advocates calling for MPS to be more transparent with its lead action plan.
As the school year approaches, lead safety groups want the district to share more documentation, open up about the money being spent on the plan and keep an eye on subcontractors doing remediation.
Advocates urge transparency
As of Aug. 29, the Milwaukee Health Department had cleared 39 MPS schools, meaning lead hazards have been removed and it is safe for children to return.
The district has posted full health department clearance reports for six schools and interim clearance reports for three schools, including Golda Meir.
An interim clearance report means all indoor lead hazards have been addressed, even if there are still lead hazards outside, said Caroline Reinwald, marketing, communications and public information officer for the Milwaukee Health Department.
“Some schools receive interim clearance reports because completing all exterior work can take months or even years,” Reinwald wrote. “In these cases, the buildings are still considered safe to occupy.”
An interim clearance report was issued for Trowbridge School of Great Lakes Studies on March 19. The school was closed last year due to lead hazards. (Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service file photo)
As of Aug. 29, the district had sent letters to families at 28 schools saying the Health Department cleared their school for occupancy, yet few of the full clearance reports are available online.
“Trust is not going to be rebuilt if they continue to withhold information,” Payne said. “There’s many of us who aren’t clear or sure that truly these schools are safe.”
Richard Diaz is the co-founder of Coalition On Lead Emergency, which works to prevent and respond to lead poisoning in Milwaukee.
He said he wants to know how much money MPS is spending on abatement efforts and how long the cleanup keeps students safe from lead exposure.
Lead hazards can reappear after abatement, so the district will need to monitor schools for future lead risks, according to the Milwaukee Health Department clearance reports. New lead hazards can also appear as the building deteriorates, the reports read.
“Because these aren’t full-fledged abatements, these are, you know, kind of just Band-Aids on a solution that will need to be addressed in years to come,” Diaz said.
Contractor concerns
JCP Construction, the company MPS hired to assist with lead remediation, started the work with about 150 painters, but about 30 painters have since left due to difficult work conditions and high temperatures, MPS Interim Chief Operating Officer Mike Turza said in the July 31 school board meeting.
Turza said JCP Construction hired Illinois-based Independence Painting to fill the void, a decision that raised concerns among advocates and the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades. The district currently has 172 painters working across buildings.
Andy Buck, political affairs director with the painters’ union, said safety is a big concern. He said people want to know and ensure contractors doing lead remediation have the necessary qualifications.
“How’s that being documented?” Buck asked.
MPS media relations manager Stephen Davis said the district holds the contractor, JCP Construction, accountable for ensuring subcontractors are compliant with state regulations and licenses.
When the public raised concerns about out-of-state contractors like Independence Painting, the district worked with JCP to ensure it had all the necessary qualifications, Davis said.
There are generally no restrictions on the use of contractors from outside the area or state, but the district mandates that any staff meet the qualifications of state and building code requirements, Davis said.
Payne said the situation is another example of why she struggles to trust the district. Like Buck, she wants to see the documented qualifications of the subcontractors.
During the July 31 school board meeting, Turza said a district staff member was always monitoring each worksite and that certified lead stabilization staff or Wisconsin Department of Health Services workers were always present.
“It’s not clear to me who is correct,” Payne said. “I would want to see actual data on that before coming to any conclusion.”
What’s next
The first day of class for most Milwaukee Public Schools was Sept. 2. As of Aug. 29, there were still 11 schools that had not been cleared by the Milwaukee Health Department.
Remediation efforts are ongoing with clearance of all schools expected by the start of the school year, according to the district’s most recent lead action plan report.
You can check on the progress of lead remediation efforts on this website.
Jonathan Aguilar is a visual journalist at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service who is supported through a partnership between CatchLight Local and Report for America.
Students in Wisconsin who receive free or reduced lunch can apply for free driver’s education classes.
“Doing what’s best for our kids is what’s best for our state and ensuring the next generation of drivers can make good and safe decisions behind the wheel is critically important to building safer roads and communities for everyone,” Gov. Tony Evers said in a statement this week.
The Driver Education Grant Program has provided $6 million annually to more than 10,000 students since it began in September 2024.
The first $1.5 million in grants this year will support the first wave of applicants with the same amount released every three months.
Common Ground pushes for access
Common Ground, a nonpartisan coalition that addresses community issues, has advocated for more access to driver’s education for low-income high school students.
“This grant program will reduce racial and economic disparities around access to driver education and the ability to obtain a driver’s license,” the organization said in an Aug. 25 news release.
Common Grounds launched a listening campaign in 2021. Its leaders spoke with about 1,000 people, and reckless driving was the primary concern.
According to data from the Milwaukee County Motor Vehicle Collision Dashboard, individuals younger than 20 years of age had the highest injury rate by age group in Milwaukee County.
What you need to know
The program will pay to send approximately 11,500 low-income students per year to driver’s education classes on a first-come, first-served basis.
Interested students and/or their families ages 14 to 19 can go to the WisDot website and fill out an application. WisDOT also created a map to help students and families find a program near them.
Funds are paid directly to the driving school. The funding covers 30 hours of classroom time, six hours of observation time and six hours of driving.
After applying, eligible students will receive a confirmation email with confirmation “coupon” numbers for the course.
They can share the coupon number with any licensed driving school in the state to start the course.
Driving schools will enter the coupon number in their student records upon course enrollment. Payment for the course will be sent electronically to the schools from Wisconsin DMV.
Jesús Daniel Ruiz Villamil wanted to be proactive, so before he started his junior year at Milwaukee’s South Division High School, he asked his counselors about courses beyond normal high school classes.
They suggested dual enrollment, where Ruiz Villamil could get college credit for taking university-level courses like Latin American and Caribbean studies and advanced Spanish taught by his high school teachers.
Now a sophomore at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Ruiz Villamil credits the dual enrollment classes he took at South Division for the success he’s experienced so far in college.
“I think those college classes … helped me to improve my writing and reading skills to be prepared for my English classes, psychology classes and political science classes,” he said.
Dual enrollment gives students the opportunity to earn college credit while still in high school. South Division is one of several Milwaukee Public Schools that offer dual enrollment in the school – MPS teachers teach college classes in the classroom.
MPS high school students at any school can also take advantage of dual enrollment on a college campus – where students can earn high school and college credit at the same time for taking college classes – through the district’s M-Cubed partnership with UWM and the Milwaukee Area Technical College.
Participation in dual enrollment is growing in Wisconsin, but Milwaukee lags behind many other districts in the state, a Wisconsin Policy Forum report found.
In Milwaukee Public Schools, 2.8% of high school students participated in dual enrollment, the study found using 2023-2024 state report card data. The report card data is based off enrollment data from the previous school year.
In Oak Creek-Franklin Joint School District, the rate is 47%, while at Racine Unified, the dual enrollment participation rate is 40%.
Concerns with state funding
Vicki Bott, UWM outreach program manager, said she thinks dual enrollment could grow at MPS, but limits in state funding force schools to weigh the benefits of increasing access with other pressing district needs.
The district covers nearly the entire cost of programs like M-Cubed or in-classroom courses like those at South Division, MPS postsecondary engagement coordinator Hannah Ingram said. Wisconsin does not give school districts funding to help cover these dual enrollment costs.
For each UWM course that a high school teacher teaches, MPS pays $330 per student at no cost to the student. For this coming school year, the district is paying a little over $3,200 per student to participate in the M-Cubed program, Ingram said.
“It’s too much of a burden on school districts and high schools, so that’s where we’ve got some inequity,” Bott said. “If it’s a matter of like, you know, repainting to prevent lead poisoning or providing tuition for dual enrollment, they’re going to choose the lead poisoning prevention.”
Other hurdles
Some schools don’t have dual enrollment courses inside the classroom because no teachers have the necessary qualifications to teach a college-level course, MPS career and technical education manager Eric Radomski said. Teachers also don’t get incentives to teach dual enrollment courses.
South Division can offer several courses in the high school because several teachers already had the necessary qualifications, including master’s degrees, Principal José Trejo said.
Trejo said not many South Division students participate in M-Cubed. He said students tend to just participate in the courses within the high school.
South Division High School Principal José Trejo said students typically do well in the school’s dual enrollment courses because students are already familiar with the teachers, and teachers are familiar with their unique needs and circumstances. (Jonathan Aguilar / Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service / CatchLight Local)
Most dual enrollment courses across Wisconsin are similar to South Division’s program, where high school teachers get credentialed to teach courses for college credit in the classroom, Wisconsin Policy Forum researcher and report author Don Cramer said.
South Division is one of 10 MPS schools that offer classes through UWM in the high school, Ingram said. Radomski said 15 high schools have career and technical education classes, eight of which offer dual enrollment career and technical education courses.
Despite the financial constraints, Radomski said, “We have seen a gradual trend in the right direction with more and more (career and technical education) teachers offering dual enrollment courses over the past several years.”
The district adds about one to two career and technical education dual enrollment courses in the high school each year, he said.
Different schools, different priorities
Another reason dual enrollment access varies, according to Ingram, is because some MPS schools choose to prioritize other programs over dual enrollment in the classroom, like Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, the Rising Phoenix program through the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, or Early College Credit Program and Start College Now, Wisconsin’s two dual enrollment programs.
At Pulaski High School, for example, three students dual-enrolled during the 2022-2023 school year, but 84% of students completed AP or IB courses.
Not all students who take AP courses take the exam, and not everyone who takes the exam receives college credit. Students need to take and score high enough on an AP exam to earn college credit.
AP exams are graded on a scale of one to five. Students typically need to score three or higher depending on the course and the requirements of the university to which the student is transferring. Students can check what AP scores their prospective college accepts using the College Board’s AP credit policy search.
Radomski said despite the benefits of advanced courses like AP and IB, a lot of MPS students see greater success in dual enrollment courses because they need to pass an entire class to receive college credit, not just a test.
“We have over a 75% pass rate, for example, in Career Tech Ed, but the number is not nearly that high for students getting a three or four on their (AP) test in order to get that credit,” Radomski said.
Ruiz Villamil said the rigor of AP courses helped him prepare for college classes, but he preferred dual enrollment. He said he failed two AP exams and didn’t earn credit despite taking the classes for a year.
Helping students find their path
At South Division, principal Trejo has seen dual enrollment courses help students gain better clarity about what they want to do after graduation. With this clarity, Trejo said, students can avoid pursuing a college degree only to realize they don’t like it.
“It’s a really good experience in terms of understanding ‘maybe that’s not what I want to do’ and it’s OK,” Trejo said. “But at least you found that out early enough so that you’re not spending so much money in college.”
For example, students interested in becoming a teacher can learn how they like working in a classroom by taking college-level education classes and participating in an internship at an MPS school — an opportunity Trejo said students might not have if they didn’t start their education career until college.
Ruiz Villamil said his dual enrollment courses helped expose him to new pathways of study.
“That’s one of the reasons that I’m doing a Spanish minor, probably major,” Ruiz Villamil said. “Nowadays, I can look back to it and appreciate that I took those classes.”
Jonathan Aguilar is a visual journalist at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service who is supported through a partnership between CatchLight Local and Report for America.
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Wisconsin’s latest budget diverts 100% of funds from the Common School Fund to pay for 12 assistant district attorneys in Milwaukee.
The constitution requires net proceeds from a county’s traffic fines and forfeitures to go to the Common School Fund. A 1973 Supreme Court ruling found the Legislature can’t have a nominal amount of that money go toward the school fund, which pays for school library books in many counties.
The Board of Commissioners of Public Lands, which oversees the fund, has asked the Legislature’s attorney for an opinion.
Editor’s note: This story was corrected to reflect that the 12 assistant district attorney positions are existing positions funded by expiring federal funding, not new positions.
A provision in the recently passed state budget that diverts $2.2 million annually from schools to fund 12 Milwaukee County prosecutors may violate the Wisconsin Constitution.
The budget act redirects all traffic fines and forfeiture revenues in Milwaukee County to the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office to fund 12 assistant district attorney positions that had been paid for with federal funding set to expire.
But under Article 10, Section 2, of Wisconsin’s constitution, all “clear proceeds” from traffic fines are required to go to the Common School Fund.
A statute later established the “clear proceeds” at 50% of total revenue, while counties could retain the other 50% to reimburse the cost of prosecuting traffic violations or seizing and managing forfeitures.
In a 1973 Wisconsin Supreme Court case, the court granted limited power to the Legislature to define “clear proceeds.” In doing so, the decision said counties couldn’t keep so large a percentage of fine and forfeiture revenue that “the sum left for the school fund is merely nominal.” It also ruled that a county can only use these funds to reimburse for the prosecution of the fines and forfeitures.
By giving all revenue to the Milwaukee County DA, the new law, part of the biennial budget, contradicts the Supreme Court’s decision that all “clear proceeds” — or net profits — from forfeitures and fines be directed to the Common School Fund.
Established in 1848 under the state constitution, the Common School Fund is used by public schools to purchase school library books and instructional materials and may be the only source of library funding for some counties. The Office of the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands (BCPL) manages the fund.
In two recent BCPL meetings, board members discussed how the amendment appears to contradict the Supreme Court decision — raising the prospect of litigation, according to meeting minutes.
“This provision appears to directly violate the 1973 Wisconsin Supreme Court opinion regarding Article 10 of the Constitution,” Tom German, board executive secretary of BCPL, said during an Aug. 19 meeting. “That opinion expressly limited the Legislature’s authority to define clear proceeds in order to prevent only a nominal amount of fines and forfeitures going to the school fund. Zero is less than nominal.”
The provision is projected to reduce revenue directed to the fund by $2.2 million annually. Wisconsin’s remaining 71 counties are still required to direct 50% of revenue from fines and forfeitures to the Common School Fund. A report from April 2025 estimated the 2024-25 library aid to be $8.3 million for more than 130,000 pupils in Milwaukee County.
The Milwaukee County DA’s office has about 120 ADAs and 160 support staff. The provision allows the county to maintain 12 ADA positions, which German says also violates the Supreme Court opinion.
The Legislature’s budget committee added the provision during the last executive session of this budget cycle under a “miscellaneous items” section of the motion as part of a budget deal with Gov. Tony Evers.
Before the provision was proposed and passed by the committee late in the budget process, the Legislative Fiscal Bureau did not publish budget papers to explain the redirection of revenue from fines and forfeitures, as it often would for other budget proposals that come before the Joint Finance Committee during normal budget deliberations.
“The DPI will work with our partners in state government and professional organizations to ensure the Common School Funds — which are critical to student learning — continue,” a DPI spokesperson told Wisconsin Watch in response to the funding change.
In the last BCPL meeting, German said he informed the Wisconsin Legislative Council — the nonpartisan state agency in charge of providing legal and policy analysis — of this violation, and the council is currently investigating the provision.
The Legislative Council declined to comment. Evers’ office did not respond to a request for comment.
A Milwaukee County spokesperson said the funding for the 12 assistant district attorneys was a “bipartisan solution” to an “urgent need” to address court backlogs in the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office.
“Without this funding, Milwaukee County will lose a dozen assistant district attorney positions, which will significantly increase court backlogs that will impact public safety efforts now and in the future,” the county spokesperson said in an unsigned email.
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The federal government has extended its lease on a downtown Milwaukee property used by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to federal lease records and the building’s owner.
The property at 310 E. Knapp St. is owned by the Milwaukee School of Engineering but will remain in use by the federal government through at least April 2026, with options to extend through 2028, said JoEllen Burdue, the college’s senior communications director.
“We do not have immediate plans for the building and will reevaluate next year when we know whether or not the government wants to extend the lease,” Burdue said.
The lease was originally scheduled to expire in April 2025.
With a new ICE facility under construction on the city’s Northwest Side, the downtown lease extension raises the possibility that the federal government is expanding local immigration infrastructure or enforcement. This would be consistent with other forms of expansion in immigration enforcement, statewide and nationally.
“I’m upset and concerned about what this means for my immigrant constituency. For my constituents, period,” said Ald. JoCasta Zamarripa, who represents the 8th District on the South Side.
Immigration infrastructure
The Knapp Street property is used by ICE as a field office for its Enforcement and Removal Operations, according to ICE.
This includes serving as a check‑in location for individuals under ICE supervision who aren’t in custody and a processing center for individuals with pending immigration cases or removal proceedings.
The Vera Institute is a national nonpartisan nonprofit that does research and advocates for policy concerning incarceration and public safety.
The most people held by ICE at a given time at that Knapp Street location during the Biden administration was six. On June 3, 22 people were held there – also exceeding the high of 17 during President Donald Trump’s first administration, according to data from Vera Institute.
The office generally does not detain people overnight but can facilitate transfer to detention centers that do.
The functions carried out at the Knapp Street office mirror those planned for the Northwest Side facility.
A new ICE field office is expected to open at 11925 W. Lake Park Drive in Milwaukee. (Jonathan Aguilar / Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service / CatchLight Local)
City records show the West Lake Park Drive property will be used to process non-detained people as well as detainees for transport to detention centers.
The records also state that the property will serve as the main southeastern Wisconsin office for immigration officers and staff.
The U.S. General Services Administration, the federal government’s real estate arm, initially projected the new site would open in October. However, a spokesperson said there was no update and did not confirm whether that timeline still stands.
Neither ICE nor the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, responded to NNS’ requests for comment.
Rise in immigration enforcement
As local immigration enforcement grows, so does enforcement throughout the state and the rest of the country.
The Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse is a nonprofit at Syracuse University that conducts nonpartisan research.
Not only are more people being detained, but they are being detained for longer, said Jennifer Chacón, the Bruce Tyson Mitchell professor of law at Stanford Law School.
A July 8 internal memo from ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons instructs agents to detain immigrants for the duration of their removal proceedings, effectively eliminating access to bond hearings.
Eighty-four of 181 detention facilities exceeded their contractual capacity on at least one day from October 2024 to mid-April 2025, according to a July report from the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse.
The Dodge County Jail, which ICE uses to detain people apprehended in Milwaukee, is one of the facilities that exceeded its contractual capacity. On its busiest day, it held 139 individuals – four more than its 135-bed limit.
In addition to Dodge County, Brown and Sauk county jails have also entered into agreements with ICE to house detained immigrants, according to records obtained by the ACLU of Wisconsin.
ICE’s unprecedented budget
Noelle Smart, a principal research associate at the Vera Institute, notes that it remains unclear whether increased immigration enforcement drives the need for more detention infrastructure or expands to catch up with more infrastructure.
But, Smart said, with ICE’s unprecedented new budget, the question of which one drives the other becomes less relevant.
Trump’s proposed ICE budget in 2025 was $9.7 billion – a billion more than ICE’s 2024 budget. An additional $29.85 billion was made available through 2029 for enforcement and removal as part of the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.”
“We know this administration intends to vastly increase the number of people subject to arrests and detention, and we expect to see increases in both given this budget,” Smart said.
Jonathan Aguilar is a visual journalist at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service who is supported through a partnership between CatchLight Local and Report for America.
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