Youth motorsport riders of the Sliders Flat Track Racing Program have spent countless hours in recent months learning how to ride dirt and electric bikes and build motorcycles while gaining personal development.
The Milwaukee youths are preparing for Flat Out Friday, an international motorcycle race that will take place at Fiserv Forum on Feb. 21. The race features over 300 riders of all skill levels.
The Sliders Flat Track Racing Program gives underrepresented youths in Milwaukee free access to electric and dirt bikes, and eventually motorcycles, while introducing them to science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, components.
“Motorsports is not something that people of color typically participate in and sometimes we’re the only people of color there when we race,” said Venisha Simpson, founder of the Sliders Flat Track Racing Program. Parents, volunteers and new Sliders pose for a photograph on Dec. 6, 2025. (Jonathan Aguilar / Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service / CatchLight Local)
“Motorsports is not something that people of color typically participate in and sometimes we’re the only people of color there when we race,” said Venisha Simpson, founder of the Sliders Flat Track Racing Program.
Lately, Simpson and co-founder Tiger Mabato have been coaching the riders inside the Boys & Girls Club and on a dirt road in Sheboygan County for Flat Out Friday.
“I love this sport because it’s intergenerational and you’ll find people between 4 to 84 racing on the same track,” Simpson said. “The respect level is low between the young and old in the Black community, so with this event and program we’re absorbing from each other.”
Tiger Mabato and Venisha Simpson run through safety guidelines with new students during a Sliders orientation last year. (Jonathan Aguilar / Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service / CatchLight Local)
A young engineer on the track
One of the riders in the program is Tiger Mabato’s 11-year-old son Noah.
His interest in motorbikes started when he was 6 and he complained about the condition of a junkyard dirt bike his dad gifted him.
By 7, his dad gave him the opportunity to take the dirt bike apart and rebuild it on his own.
“Engineering and building things is fun to me, but I have to learn to do this on my own without any help,” Noah said.
After rebuilding the dirt bike, he crashed into a tree, leaving him hesitant about the sport and even joining the program.
Noah regained interest after seeing another kid from the program race on a dirt bike.
“I crash often when practicing and racing, but now I know what to do,” Noah said.
Currently, Noah is building a Suzuki RM 85cc dirt bike for his third Flat Out Friday competition.
“This will become my official bike because my last bike was causing me to lose pretty badly,” he said.
He placed ninth last year in the open youth class after falling and crashing his bike, but this year wants to come back stronger.
“It took me a while to get back up last year, but I’m more excited about trying it again,” he said.
According to Tiger Mabato and Simpson, Noah Mabato and Donald Amartey are the only Black youth racers who ride vintage Harley-Davidson bikes in Milwaukee.
“Noah and Donald are making history right now,” Tiger Mabato said.
Noah Mabato, age 11, waits to ride his electric bike during practice. (Jonathan Aguilar / Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service / CatchLight Local)
Adjusting quickly
Justice Osei, 9, is a second-year rider in the Sliders Flat Track Racing Program.
He started without knowing how to ride a regular bike but caught on quickly.
“They taught him that day in just a couple hours how to ride one,” his mom, Malaika Osei, said.
Justice wasn’t drawn into traditional sports or video gaming, but with motorsports found a connection to the people and skills he learned.
“When I’m racing and sometimes make a mistake, I try to lock in and stay focused after it,” he said.
Tiger Mabato is amazed to see kids like Justice latch onto the sport.
“These kids go through so many ups, downs and tears, it’s crazy how quickly they adapted to everything,” Mabato said. “This is a different level of excitement.”
Justice Osei, 9, helps another rider adjust a helmet during practice. (Jonathan Aguilar / Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service / CatchLight Local)
Prioritizing safety
Before getting on a motorbike, every rider and parent is made aware of how dangerous the sport can be.
“The hardest thing is seeing your kid crash and tumble at times, but we prepare them for that, and our biggest thing is safety,” Mabato said.
To ensure safety, the program provides students with motorbikes, helmets, gloves, padding and vests. Parents are responsible for purchasing jeans, long-sleeve shirts and racing boots.
“It’s dangerous, but it’s fun,” Justice said.
Justice broke three toes during a practice from not wearing the proper racing boots.
His mom saw him take a tumble that day on the dirt road.
“I took off running once I saw him crying and grabbing his foot,” Malaika Osei said.
Justice didn’t even realize at first that his toes were broken.
“I didn’t even know until a week later,” he said.
After purchasing a new pair of boots, Justice was ready to ride again.
Building other skills
Jeremey Prach, co-founder of Flat Out Friday, explains to a new rider the different pieces of the bike. (Jonathan Aguilar / Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service / CatchLight Local)
Motorsports is more than just racing and maintenance.
Flat Out Friday co-founder Jeremy Prach wants riders to know the sport is about developing skills that keep you improving.
“I think the thing that hurts the most is your pride when you fall because many think they’re going to do awesome in a race,” Prach said. “But without a skill base, it’ll be hard to do awesome.”
At the Sliders Flat Track Racing Program, Simpson and Tiger Mabato teach the riders confidence, self-regulation, quick problem solving and self-respect.
“These kids are tough and it takes a different type of mentality to race with these bikes,” Mabato said.
Simpson and Mabato also teach the youth riders how to network and maintain relationships with people like Cameron Smith, one of the few professional Black racers in the country.
Cameron Smith, one of the few professional Black racers in the country, signs Donald Amartey’s motorbike at the 2025 Flat Out Friday. (Courtesy of Jennifer Ellis)
It takes a community
To ensure the program has everything it needs, places like Cream City Moto, STACYC, Southeast Sales, Proplate and other local organizations pitch in to donate equipment, design graphics, cover fees for events and more.
The program also received grants from the Greater Milwaukee Foundation and Comoto Cares.
“The race community is very supportive and I love that,” Simpson said.
Tiger Mabato encourages parents to get their children involved in things that spark their interest even if it’s scary and wants them to know that the race part of the program is optional.
“There’s no better feeling than seeing your kid go around the track,” he said.
Flags of the 11 Native American tribes of Wisconsin in the Wisconsin State Capitol. (Wisconsin Examiner photo)
“How sad that indigenous people have to prove they are not illegal immigrants,” wrote Cindy Smith in response to a Facebook posting by the Lac Courte Oreilles (LCO) Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians.
On Jan. 10, the LCO Tribal Governing Board issued an immediate release that it was “closely monitoring recent events that took place in Minneapolis, and around the country involving Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Agents.”
Just a few days before, on Wednesday, Jan. 7, a 37-year-old woman, Renee Good, was shot and killed in her vehicle by an ICE agent in South Minneapolis.
Over 1,000 ICE agents were in the Twin Cities area as a major campaign that has received national attention to detain and arrest those who had reportedly violated federal immigration laws. The agents not only tracked down those without legal status to reside in the U.S., but also questioned and detained others because of their appearance, such as skin color and accent, whether or not they were legal residents or citizens. Caught up in the crackdown were at least five Native Americans who were detained, including four Oglala Sioux from South Dakota and one from the Red Lake reservation in Minnesota.
Jose Roberto “Beto” Ramirez, a Red Lake descendant, told a reporter for ICT that he was trailed by an SUV and when he parked in a grocery store parking lot, he was dragged out of his vehicle without explanation and detained for several hours. Ramirez said he felt like he had been “kidnapped”. He was subsequently released without any charges.
News reports from the Twin Cities have stated that Native Americans, who are fully U.S. citizens, had been approached by ICE agents regarding their immigration/citizenship status.
In response to Native Americans being stopped by ICE, several Wisconsin tribes issued statements voicing concern over the stops and also offering advice to their members.
“We humbly offer our sincere condolences to all those affected by these incidents,” reads the Lac Courte Oreilles release, which assured members that the Tribal Governing Board “is actively working to ensure our tribe and members are as safe as possible and is reviewing policies to implement access restrictions in areas that are non-public, employee-only, and restricted to ensure our facilities are entitled to every legal protection possible.
“In these unprecedented and uncertain times, it is essential that we remain vigilant and protect one another. We encourage everyone to stand together in solidarity to support each other spiritually, mentally, emotionally, and physically. The safety and well-being of all tribal members continues to be our highest priority. We will do everything in our power to protect our members, reservation, government buildings, and enterprises.”
Jon Greendeer, president of the Ho-Chunk Nation posted Wednesday, Jan. 14, “My office and social media feeds have been buzzing with concerned tribal members following the recent shooting of an American Citizen by an armed ICE official. Now with the news of alleged door-to-door campaigns, the threat literally hits home.”
Also on Jan. 14, the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians posted the following: “The Tribe wants to be clear: we do not support or cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Our priority is the safety, dignity, and protection of our tribal members. We are deeply concerned by reports coming out of Minnesota involving the detention of tribal members, as well as ICE actively being reported in areas near our community. As indigenous people to this land, our identity should never be questioned, challenged, or used as a reason for detention.”
On Jan. 12, the St. Croix Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians issued a statement on “opposing ICE and affirming tribal sovereignty,” which said, in part, that tribal leaders “strongly oppose the actions and presence of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) including the targeting of community members, the detention and separation of families, and the ongoing disregard of human rights.”
On Jan. 10, the Stockbridge-Munsee Community alerted members on Facebook that Native Americans “are being caught up in raids and detained.”
Like several of the tribal posts, the Stockbridge-Munsee tribe encourages its members to be prepared for being “stopped, detained and questioned regarding your citizenship.”
Even though tribal members are U.S. citizens, Wisconsin tribal members are being encouraged to carry their tribal, state and federal IDs and even birth certificates.
On Jan. 14, the LCO tribe said it would be issuing ID cards for enrolled members who live off the reservation in the Twin Cities at the Minneapolis American Indian Center Rotunda, and like other tribes, LCO noted that fees are being waived for the ID cards.
On Jan. 11, the Oneida Nation offered detailed guidance if members encountered ICE agents:
“Stay calm and ask for identification.”
“Always carry your Oneida ID.”
“If detained, say ‘I want to speak with an attorney.’”
“Report encounters to Oneida Police Department.”
“At home, keep the door closed and request a judicial warrant.”
Several tribes are notifying members that if the ICE agents do not have a warrant signed by a judge, the agents do not have permission to enter their home without consent.
ICE agents have been observed approaching homes and businesses with administrative warrants issued by ICE, which lack the legal weight of a judicial warrant.
Some of the tribes are advising members if ICE comes to their doors without a judicial warrant to not only not open their doors, but also report the presence of the ICE agents to tribal police.
The Ho-Chunk Nation said it will provide its members with door signs for law enforcement that “alert” officers of the “state, tribal and federal citizenship” status of the residents and communicate that “agents may not enter the property without a valid warrant.”
In two recent polls, a majority of U.S. adults said they use social media to get health information.
July 2025 by KFF, a leading health policy research nonprofit: 55% said they use social media “to find health information and advice” at least occasionally. Less than one in 10 said “most” of the information is trustworthy.
September 2024 by Healthline: 52% said they learned from social media health and wellness tools, resources, trends, or products they tried in the past year. About 77% expressed at least one negative view, such as “there is a lot of conflicting information.”
An April 2024 medical journal article said that over one-third of social media users perceived high levels of health misinformation, and two-thirds reported “high perceived discernment difficulty.”
The University of Wisconsin-Madison is conducting a long-term study to determine how social media affects the physical/mental health of adolescents.
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
When teacher Amanda Glunz started a robotics team at Audubon Technology and Communication High School four years ago, there were just five members.
Now, the program has grown to 32 students and two teams, including the newly formed all-girls team Av414nche. The newest team was designed to give girls an opportunity to break into science, technology, engineering and math, also known as STEM.
“We went with Av414nche at first, because you know how avalanches fall down? It’s like breaking down the barriers,” Audubon junior Lily Sanders said.
The team consists of builders, programmers and a marketing team.
The teams give students an outlet to build confidence and skills in STEM, receive mentorship and improve social skills, Glunz said.
Building the robot
Eighth grader Jorja (left) and sophomore Saniya Coates-Bonds control their team’s robot. (Jonathan Aguilar / Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service / CatchLight Local)
Several steps go into turning a concept from paper into a moving and functioning robot, said Jorja, an eighth grader at Audubon and member of Av414nche.
It all starts with a sketch.
“Then we started to actively use Legos,” she said. “Eventually we switched from Legos to Onshape (a computer-aided design (CAD) software program), and then once we had the Onshape model down, we just decided to go from there.”
After building the robot, the team uses trial and error to get it to function as best as possible.
For the team’s upcoming qualifier competitions, robots need to shoot balls into a goal. Audubon students compete against other schools across the state in several robotics competitions.
Sanders is part of the team that helps to build the robot. For their most recent competition, she tested out different wheels for their robot to see which ones launched the balls best.
“Really just figuring out what will work and what will not work,” Sanders said. “It’s really just a lot of trial and error.”
The robot is named Ava, which is short for Av414nche.
Ava, a robot built by Av4l4nche, Audubon Technology and Communication High School’s all-girls robotics team, throws a ball in preparation for an upcoming qualifier competition. (Jonathan Aguilar / Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service / CatchLight Local)
Jorja, a programmer on the team, works to make the robots move.
“The robot does not know anything until we tell it,” she said. “It wouldn’t just do it by itself.”
She said programmers first worked on the code that operates the wheels to make the robot move, then they code the wheel that makes the ball shoot.
Mentorship and higher education
When they aren’t working on the team’s social media, the marketing team looks for mentors who can introduce students to the fields of technology and engineering. (Jonathan Aguilar / Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service / CatchLight Local)
When they aren’t working on the team’s social media, the marketing team looks for mentors who can introduce students to the fields of technology and engineering.
Most mentors are students from local universities including Milwaukee School of Engineering and Marquette University. The marketing team also has its own mentor who works in graphic design.
Some students like Davin Dacio, an Audubon junior who takes a dual enrollment course at Milwaukee Area Technical College, get college-level programming experience that is used on Audubon’s co-ed robotics team, DreaMKEepers.
Davin Dacio, a junior, works on his team’s robot. (Jonathan Aguilar / Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service / CatchLight Local)
Starting at a young age
Jaida Campbell, a junior on the marketing team, said they are trying to recruit younger students to the team.
Middle and high school students at Audubon share a campus. Middle schoolers begin robotics at the school by participating in the FIRST LEGO League. League members work with coaches and teammates to build Lego-based robots for engineering competitions.
Though Jorja is only in eighth grade, this is her first year on the high school robotics team.
She started as a fifth grader in the FIRST LEGO League, and by the seventh grade, she and Glunz worked on a coding project in the Fiserv Future Techies program, where they made it to nationals.
“It really inspired me, the fifth grade LEGO League,” Jorja said. “I love Legos and I was good with technology so I was like, OK, why not join my favorite things?”
Alex Klaus is the education solutions 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.
CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA - NOVEMBER 19: A person is detained by U.S. Border Patrol agents inside a fast food restaurant that is under construction on November 19, 2025 in Charlotte, North Carolina. The man sustained injuries to his face while agents wrestled him to the ground after he tried to run. Federal Agents are carrying out "Operation Charlotte's Web," an ongoing immigration enforcement surge across the Charlotte region.(Photo by Ryan Murphy/Getty Images)
This story was originally published by ProPublica.
Immigration agents have put civilians’ lives at risk using more than their guns.
An agent in Houston put a teenage citizen into a chokehold, wrapping his arm around the boy’s neck, choking him so hard that his neck had red welts hours later. A black-masked agent in Los Angeles pressed his knee into a woman’s neck while she was handcuffed; she then appeared to pass out. An agent in Massachusetts jabbed his finger and thumb into the neck and arteries of a young father who refused to be separated from his wife and 1-year-old daughter. The man’s eyes rolled back in his head and he started convulsing.
After George Floyd’s murder by a police officer six years ago in Minneapolis — less than a mile from where an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shot and killed Renee Good last week — police departments and federal agencies banned chokeholds and other moves that can restrict breathing or blood flow.
But those tactics are back, now at the hands of agents conducting President Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign.
Examples are scattered across social media. ProPublica found more than 40 cases over the past year of immigration agents using these life-threatening maneuvers on immigrants, citizens and protesters. The agents are usually masked, their identities secret. The government won’t say if any of them have been punished.
In nearly 20 cases, agents appeared to use chokeholds and other neck restraints that the Department of Homeland Security prohibits “unless deadly force is authorized.”
About two dozen videos show officers kneeling on people’s necks or backs or keeping them face down on the ground while already handcuffed. Such tactics are not prohibited outright but are often discouraged, including by federal trainers, in part because using them for a prolonged time risks asphyxiation.
We reviewed footage with a panel of eight former police officers and law enforcement experts. They were appalled.
This is what bad policing looks like, they said. And it puts everyone at risk.
“I arrested dozens upon dozens of drug traffickers, human smugglers, child molesters — some of them will resist,” said Eric Balliet, who spent more than two decades working at Homeland Security Investigations and Border Patrol, including in the first Trump administration. “I don’t remember putting anybody in a chokehold. Period.”
“If this was one of my officers, he or she would be facing discipline,” said Gil Kerlikowske, a longtime police chief in Seattle who also served as Customs and Border Protection commissioner under President Barack Obama. “You have these guys running around in fatigues, with masks, with ‘Police’ on their uniform,” but they aren’t acting like professional police.
Over the past week, the conduct of agents has come under intense scrutiny after an ICE officer in Minneapolis killed Good, a mother of three. The next day, a Border Patrol agent in Portland, Oregon, shot a man and woman in a hospital parking lot.
Top administration officials rushed to defend the officers. Speaking about the agent who shot Good, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said, “This is an experienced officer who followed his training.”
Officials said the same thing to us after we showed them footage of officers using prohibited chokeholds. Federal agents have “followed their training to use the least amount of force necessary,” department spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said.
“Officers act heroically to enforce the law and protect American communities,” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said.
Both DHS and the White House lauded the “utmost professionalism” of their agents.
Our compilation of incidents is far from complete. Just as the government does not count how often it detains citizens or smashes through vehicle windows during immigration arrests, it does not publicly track how many times agents have choked civilians or otherwise inhibited their breathing or blood flow. We gathered cases by searching legal filings, social media posts and local press reports in English and Spanish.
Given the lack of any count over time, it’s impossible to know for certain how agents’ current use of the banned and dangerous tactics compares with earlier periods.
But former immigration officials told us they rarely heard of such incidents during their long tenures. They also recalled little pushback when DHS formally banned chokeholds and other tactics in 2023; it was merely codifying the norm.
That norm has now been broken.
One of the citizens whom agents put in a chokehold was 16 years old.
Tenth grader Arnoldo Bazan and his father were getting McDonald’s before school when their car was pulled over by unmarked vehicles. Masked immigration agents started banging on their windows. As Arnoldo’s undocumented father, Arnulfo Bazan Carrillo, drove off, the terrified teenager began filming on his phone. The video shows the agents repeatedly ramming the Bazans’ car during a slow chase through the city.
Bazan Carrillo eventually parked and ran into a restaurant supply store. When Arnoldo saw agents taking his father violently to the ground, Arnoldo went inside too, yelling at the agents to stop.
One agent put Arnoldo in a chokehold while another pressed a knee into his father’s neck. “I was going to school!” the boy pleaded. He said later that when he told the agent he was a citizen and a minor, the agent didn’t stop.
“I started screaming with everything I had, because I couldn’t even breathe,” Arnoldo told ProPublica, showing where the agent’s hands had closed around his throat. “I felt like I was going to pass out and die.”
DHS’ McLaughlin accused Arnoldo’s dad of ramming his car “into a federal law enforcement vehicle,” but he was never charged for that, and the videos we reviewed do not support this claim. Our examination of his criminal history — separate from any immigration violations — found only that Bazan Carrillo pleaded guilty a decade ago to misdemeanor driving while intoxicated.
McLaughlin also said the younger Bazan elbowed an officer in the face as he was detained, which the teen denies. She said that Arnoldo was taken into custody to confirm his identity and make sure he didn’t have any weapons. McLaughlin did not answer whether the agent’s conduct was justified.
Experts who reviewed video of the Bazans’ arrests could make no sense of the agents’ actions.
“Why are you in the middle of a store trying to grab somebody?” said Marc Brown, a former police officer turned instructor who taught ICE and Border Patrol officers at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers. “Your arm underneath the neck, like a choking motion? No! The knee on the neck? Absolutely not.”
DHS revamped its training curriculum after George Floyd’s murder to underscore those tactics were out of bounds, Brown said. “DHS specifically was very big on no choking,” he said. “We don’t teach that. They were, like, hardcore against it. They didn’t want to see anything with the word ‘choke.’”
After agents used another banned neck restraint — a carotid hold — a man started convulsing and passed out.
In early November, ICE agents in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, stopped a young father, Carlos Sebastian Zapata Rivera, as he drove with his family. They had come for his undocumented wife, whom they targeted after she was charged with assault for allegedly stabbing a co-worker in the hand with scissors.
Body camera footage from the local police, obtained by ProPublica, captured much of what happened. The couple’s 1-year-old daughter began crying. Agents surrounded the car, looking in through open doors.
According to the footage, an agent told Zapata Rivera that if his wife wouldn’t come out, they would have to arrest him, too — and their daughter would be sent into the foster system. The agent recounted the conversation to a local cop: “Technically, I can arrest both of you,” he said. “If you no longer have a child, because the child is now in state custody, you’re both gonna be arrested. Do you want to give your child to the state?”
Zapata Rivera, who has a pending asylum claim, clung to his family. His wife kept saying she wouldn’t go anywhere without her daughter, whom she said was still breastfeeding. Zapata Rivera wouldn’t let go of either of them.
Federal agents seemed conflicted on how to proceed. “I refuse to have us videotaped throwing someone to the ground while they have a child in their hands,” one ICE agent told a police officer at the scene.
But after more than an hour, agents held down Zapata Rivera’s arms. One, who Zapata Rivera’s lawyer says wore a baseball cap reading “Ne Quis Effugiat” — Latin for “So That None Will Escape” — pressed his thumbs into the arteries on Zapata Rivera’s neck. The young man then appeared to pass out as bystanders screamed.
The technique is known as a carotid restraint. The two carotid arteries carry 70% of the brain’s blood flow; block them, and a person can quickly lose consciousness. The tactic can cause strokes, seizures, brain damage — and death.
“Even milliseconds or seconds of interrupted blood flow to the brain can have serious consequences,” Dr. Altaf Saadi, a neurologist and associate professor at Harvard Medical School, told us. Saadi said she couldn’t comment on specific cases, “but there is no amount of training or method of applying pressure on the neck that is foolproof in terms of avoiding neurologic damage.”
In a bystander video of Zapata Rivera’s arrest, his eyes roll back in his head and he suffers an apparent seizure, convulsing so violently that his daughter, seated in his lap, shakes with him.
“Carotid restraints are prohibited unless deadly force is authorized,” DHS’ use-of-force policy states. Deadly force is authorized only when an officer believes there’s an “imminent threat of death or serious bodily injury” and there is “no alternative.”
In a social media post after the incident and in its statement to ProPublica, DHS did not cite a deadly threat. Instead, it referenced the charges against Zapata Rivera’s wife and suggested he had only pretended to have a medical crisis while refusing help from paramedics. “Imagine FAKING a seizure to help a criminal escape justice,” the post said.
“These statements were lies,” Zapata Rivera alleges in an ongoing civil rights lawsuit he filed against the ICE agent who used the carotid restraint. His lawyer told ProPublica that Zapata Rivera was disoriented after regaining consciousness; the lawsuit says he was denied medical attention. (Representatives for Zapata Rivera declined our requests for an interview with him. His wife has been released on bond, and her assault case awaits trial.)
A police report and bodycam footage from Fitchburg officers at the scene, obtained via a public records request, back up Zapata Rivera’s account of being denied assistance. “He’s fine,” an agent told paramedics, according to footage. The police report says Zapata Rivera wanted medical attention but “agents continued without stopping.”
Saadi, the Harvard neurologist, said that as a general matter, determining whether someone had a seizure is “not something even neurologists can do accurately just by looking at it.”
DHS policy bars using chokeholds and carotid restraints just because someone is resisting arrest. Agents are doing it anyway.
When DHS issued restrictions on chokeholds and carotid restraints, it stated that the moves “must not be used as a means to control non-compliant subjects or persons resisting arrest.” Deadly force “shall not be used solely to prevent the escape of a fleeing subject.”
But videos reviewed by ProPublica show that agents have been using these restraints to do just that.
In Los Angeles in June, masked officers from ICE, Border Patrol and other federal agencies pepper-sprayed and then tackled another citizen, Luis Hipolito. As Hipolito struggled to get away, one of the agents put him in a chokehold. Another pointed a Taser at bystanders filming.
Then Hipolito’s body began to convulse — a possible seizure. An onlooker warned the agents, “You gonna let him die.”
When officers make a mistake in the heat of the moment, said Danny Murphy, a former deputy commissioner of the Baltimore Police Department, they need to “correct it as quickly as possible.”
That didn’t happen in Hipolito’s case. The footage shows the immigration agent not only wrapping his arm around Hipolito’s neck as he takes him down but also sticking with the chokehold after Hipolito is pinned on the ground.
The agent’s actions are “dangerous and unreasonable,” Murphy said.
Asked about the case, McLaughlin, the DHS spokesperson, said that Hipolito was arrested for assaulting an ICE officer. Hipolito’s lawyers did not respond to ProPublica’s requests for comment.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Hipolito limped into court days after the incident. Another citizen who was with him the day of the incident was also charged, but her case was dropped. Hipolito pleaded not guilty and goes to trial in February.
Some of the conduct in the footage isn’t banned — but it’s discouraged and dangerous.
Placing a knee on a prone subject’s neck or weight on their back isn’t banned under DHS’ use-of-force policy, but it can be dangerous — and the longer it goes on, the higher the risk that the person won’t be able to breathe.
“You really don’t want to spend that amount of time just trying to get somebody handcuffed,” said Kerlikowske, the former CPB commissioner, of the video of the arrest in Portland.
Brown, the former federal instructor and now a lead police trainer at the University of South Carolina, echoed that. “Once you get them handcuffed, you get them up, get them out of there,” he said. “If they’re saying they can’t breathe, hurry up.”
Taking a person down to the ground and restraining them there can be an appropriate way to get them in handcuffs, said Seth Stoughton, a former police officer turned law professor who also works at the University of South Carolina. But officers have long known to make it quick. By the mid-1990s, the federal government was advising officers against keeping people prolongedly in a prone position.
When a federal agent kneeled on the neck of an intensive care nurse in August, she said she understood the danger she was in and tried to scream.
“I knew that the amount of pressure being placed on the back of my neck could definitely hurt me,” said Amanda Trebach, a citizen and activist who was arrested in Los Angeles while monitoring immigration agents. “I was having a hard time breathing because my chest was on the ground.”
McLaughlin, the DHS spokesperson, said Trebach impeded agents’ vehicles and struck them with her signs and fists.
Trebach denies this. She was released without any charges.
“No, no!” one bystander exclaims. “He’s not doing anything!”
DHS’ McLaughlin did not respond to questions about the incident.
Along with two similarchoking incidents at protests outside of ICE facilities, this is one of the few videos in which the run-up to the violence is clear. And the experts were aghast.
“Without anything I could see as even remotely a deadly force threat, he immediately goes for the throat,” said Ashley Heiberger, a retired police captain from Pennsylvania who frequently testifies in use-of-force cases. Balliet, the former immigration official, said the agent turned the scene into a “pissing contest” that was “explicitly out of control.”
“It’s so clearly excessive and ridiculous,” Murphy said. “That’s the kind of action which should get you fired.”
“How big a threat did you think he was?” Brown said, noting that the officer slung his rifle around his back before grabbing and body-slamming the protester. “You can’t go grab someone just because they say, ‘F the police.’”
In November, Border Patrol agents rushed into the construction site of a future Panda Express in Charlotte, North Carolina, to check workers’ papers. When one man tried to run, an officer put him in a chokehold and later marched him out, bloodied, to a waiting SUV.
Freelance photographer Ryan Murphy, who had been following Border Patrol’s convoys around Charlotte, documented the Panda Express arrest.
“Their tactics are less sophisticated than you would think,” he told ProPublica. “They sort of drive along the streets, and if they see somebody who looks to them like they could potentially be undocumented, they pull over.”
Experts told ProPublica that if officers are targeting a specific individual, they can minimize risks by deciding when, where and how to take them into custody. But when they don’t know their target in advance, chaos — and abuse — can follow.
“They are encountering people they don’t know anything about,” said Scott Shuchart, a former assistant director at ICE.
“The stuff that I’ve been seeing in the videos,” Kerlikowske said, “has been just ragtag, random.”
There may be other factors, too, our experts said, including quotas and a lack of consequences amid gutted oversight. With officers wearing masks, Shuchart said, “even if they punch grandma in the face, they won’t be identified.”
As they sweep into American cities, immigration officers are unconstrained — and, the experts said, unprepared. Even well-trained officers may not be trained for the environments where they now operate. Patrolling a little-populated border region takes one set of skills. Working in urban areas, where citizens — and protesters — abound, takes another.
DHS and Bovino did not respond to questions about their agents’ preparation or about the chokehold in Charlotte.
Experts may think there’s abuse. Holding officers to account? That’s another matter.
Back in Houston, immigration officers dropped 16-year-old Arnoldo off at the doorstep of his family home a few hours after the arrest. His neck was bruised, and his new shirt was shredded. Videos taken by his older sisters show the soccer star struggling to speak through sobs.
Uncertain what exactly had happened to him, his sister Maria Bazan took him to Texas Children’s Hospital, where staff identified signs of the chokehold and moved him to the trauma unit. Hospital records show he was given morphine for pain and that doctors ordered a dozen CT scans and X-rays, including of his neck, spine and head.
From the hospital, Maria called the Houston Police Department and tried to file a report, the family said. After several unsuccessful attempts, she took Arnoldo to the department in person, where she says officers were skeptical of the account and their own ability to investigate federal agents.
Arnoldo had filmed much of the incident, but agents had taken his phone. He used Find My to locate the phone — at a vending machine for used electronics miles away, close to an ICE detention center. The footage, which ProPublica has reviewed, backed the family’s account of the chase.
The family says Houston police still haven’t interviewed them. A department spokesperson told ProPublica it was not investigating the case, referring questions to DHS. But the police have also not released bodycam footage and case files aside from a top sheet, citing an open investigation.
“We can’t do anything,” Maria said one officer told her. “What can HPD do to federal agents?”
Elsewhere in the country, some officials are trying to hold federal immigration officers to account.
In California, the state Legislature passed bills prohibiting immigration officers from wearing masks and requiring them to display identification during operations.
In Illinois, Gov. JB Pritzker signed a law that allows residents to sue any officer who violates state or federal constitutional rights. (The Trump administration quickly filed legal challenges against California and Illinois, claiming their new laws are unconstitutional.)
In Minnesota, state and local leaders are collecting evidence in Renee Good’s killing even as the federal government cut the state out of its investigation.
Arnoldo is still waiting for Houston authorities to help him, still terrified that a masked agent will come first. Amid soccer practice and making up schoolwork he missed while recovering, he watches and rewatches the videos from that day. The car chase, the chokehold, his own screams at the officers to leave his dad alone. His father in the driver’s seat, calmly handing Arnoldo his wallet and phone while stopping mid-chase for red lights.
The Bazan family said agents threatened to charge Arnoldo if his dad didn’t agree to be deported. DHS spokesperson McLaughlin did not respond when asked about the alleged threat. Arnoldo’s dad is now in Mexico.
Asked why an officer choked Arnoldo, McLaughlin pointed to the boy’s alleged assault with his elbow, adding, “The federal law enforcement officer graciously chose not to press charges.”
Nicole Foy is ProPublica’s Ancil Payne Fellow, reporting on immigration and labor. journalists Nicole Foy, McKenzie Funk, Joanna Shan, Haley Clark and Cengiz Yar gathered videos via Spanish and English social media posts, local press reports and court records. We then sent a selection of these videos to eight police experts and former immigration officials, along with as much information as we could gather about the lead-up to and context of each incident. The experts analyzed the videos with us, explaining when and how officers used dangerous tactics that appeared to go against their training or that have been banned under the Department of Homeland Security’s use-of-force policy.
We also tried to contact every person we could identify being choked or kneeled on. In some cases, we also reached out to bystanders.
Research reporter Mariam Elba conducted criminal record searches of every person we featured in this story. She also attempted to fact-check the allegations that DHS made about the civilians and their arrests. Our findings are not comprehensive because there is no universal criminal record database.
We also sent every video cited in this story to the White House, DHS, CBP, ICE, border czar Tom Homan and Border Patrol’s Gregory Bovino. DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin provided a statement responding to some of the incidents we found but she did not explain why agents used banned tactics or whether any of the agents have been disciplined for doing so.
Kenosha County courthouse. (Photo by Isiah Holmes/Wisconsin Examiner)
Immigrant rights groups are condemning a move by Kenosha County Sheriff David Zoerner to join the federal 287(g) program, a cooperation agreement between local law enforcement agencies and federal immigration enforcement. Although Zoerner previously distanced his office from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), on Monday he announced that an agreement had been signed with the federal agency back mid-December.
Just a couple of months before joining the 287(g) program, Zoerner questioned whether the program would benefit Kenosha County taxpayers. “This is a rapidly evolving program,” Zoerner told TMJ4. “We are monitoring it to ensure that our participation would ultimately be in the best interest of the taxpayers of Kenosha County.” At the time of the interview, the sheriff’s office did not cooperate with ICE beyond honoring immigration detainers for people held in the Kenosha County jail.
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.
The immigrant rights group Voces de la Frontera condemned Zoerner’s policy shift. “As an elected official, Sheriff Zoerner took an oath to defend the Constitution and ensure community safety,” Voces’ executive director Christine Neumann-Ortiz said in a statement. “Instead, he has broken promises behind closed doors and sacrificed the public trust for political expediency. It is the height of irresponsibility for Sheriff Zoerner to deputize his officers as ICE agents in a city that already experienced the tragic shooting of Jacob Blake and the community outrage that sparked massive protests, unrest, and the tragic death of two young protesters in 2020.”
Neumann-Ortiz said that Zoerner’s decision “only heightens the risk to the community of harm by the militarized tactics of ICE.”
In a statement issued Monday, Zoerner walked back his previous caution about cooperating with ICE.
Zoerner said that “for well over a year” he has been working with ICE and other sheriffs “to bring the 287(g) to Kenosha County.” Saying that “this is not a new idea, and this is not reactionary,” Zoerner said that joining the program “is the result of deliberate, responsible planning focused on one mission: protecting the people of Kenosha County.”
The sheriff pushed back against what he called “misinformation” about the issue and asserted that this office “works closely and consistently with our federal law enforcement partners.” He added, “I will not tolerate the release of violent criminal offenders back into our community. Period. As Sheriff, I use every lawful tool at my disposal to protect citizens.” Zoerner noted that he currently serves on the Border Security Committee for the National Sheriffs Association, and that he’s undergone border security training and observed enforcement operations along the southern border in Texas and Arizona.
Zoerner said that he signed a 287(g) agreement under a jail enforcement model. The agreement was signed by ICE and sent back to the Kenosha County Sheriff’s Office on Jan. 12. “We have already selected staff for this program and are actively moving forward with implementation,” Zoerner said in a statement, adding that the program “applies only to individuals who are already lawfully in custody for serious criminal offenses.”
Kenosha County’s 287(g) program, Zoerner said, will focus on people arrested for violent crimes, felony drug charges, repeat offenders, or those with histories of assault, sexual violence and other serious crimes. “These are people who pose a demonstrated threat to public safety,” said Zoerner. “This agreement ensures they are not released back into our community.”
ICE cooperation a campaign issue
On Jan. 7, five days before Zoerner’s announcement, James Beller declared that he will challenge Zoerner in the upcoming election for sheriff. Beller is currently a Kenosha police captain, and said that if elected he would move forward with joining the ICE 287 (g) program.
Beller pitched the program as focusing only on serious criminal offenses, using the same language Zoerner used to describe the deal he struck with the federal government. “This is about public safety and accountability,” Beller said in a press release. “The focus will be on serious offenders already in custody, implemented professionally, lawfully, and consistent with our responsibility to keep the community safe.”
Those reassurances did not assuage the concerns of people worried about the effects of ICE surges in Chicago and Minneapolis, where violent clashes with residents have made headlines and U.S. citizen Renee Good was shot and killed last week.
There are currently 13 law enforcement agencies in Wisconsin with 287(g) programs, all of them sheriff’s offices. “This has to end,” said Nuemann-Ortiz. “We stand with Kenosha families in calling for an end to 287(g) in Kenosha.”
Voces de la Frontera is organizing a protest on Saturday at 11 a.m. at Kenosha’s Civic Park.
Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul addresses the Wisconsin Farmers Union at its annual lobby day in Madison. (Henry Redman | Wisconsin Examiner)
Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul said that Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s large presence in Minnesota, which has resulted in the shooting death of one resident and numerous clashes between community members and federal agents, is not the right way to make communities safe.
Speaking at the Wisconsin Farmers Union’s annual lobby day Wednesday morning, Kaul said he’s concerned about the federal government “obstructing” the investigation into the death of Minneapolis resident Renee Nicole Good, touted his office’s briefs in support of jurisdictions suing to get federal personnel out of cities and said he’s preparing for similar federal actions in Wisconsin.
“What’s happening in Minneapolis now could very well be repeated in other communities around the country,” he said. “And so making sure that we’re prepared if that does happen is really important to me.”
He said that targeting people based on their race, ethnicity and political beliefs weaponizes the justice system in a way that makes communities less safe.
“We do a lot of thinking about public safety at the Department of Justice, it is my top priority,” he said. “Taking actions that strengthen communities, that strengthen community ties, that build trust, that ensure that laws are evenhandedly enforced … and ensure that people who commit serious crimes are held accountable” is the Wisconsin DOJ’s focus, Kaul said.
“If you start targeting people based on any number of inappropriate factors, whether it’s their race or ethnicity or their viewpoint on political issues or any other inappropriate topic, that takes you away from the kind of law enforcement that makes a positive impact and makes communities safer,” he added.
Kaul noted he’s worked often with Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and said that the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension needs to be involved in the investigation so there is transparency for everyone involved.
“I’m very concerned that Minnesota BCA has so far been excluded from the investigative process into the death that happened,” he said. “It is critically important that there be transparency and that there be fairness. That, by the way, is important for everybody involved. If you were an officer involved in a critical incident, you deserve to have a fair investigation conducted so that the public knows what happened in that case, because without a fair, transparent investigation, there’s going to be uncertainty.”
“There’s been reporting recently that the FBI is not investigating necessarily the incident, but rather the wife of the woman who was killed,” he added later. “There’s the fact that six Assistant U.S. Attorneys, six federal prosecutors, have resigned in Minnesota because of the way that that investigation is being conducted. And I think it is really important that we distinguish between good faith efforts to get to the truth, that provide information clearly, and what’s going on in Minnesota, because what’s going on right there is obstructing full investigation and full review and risks that we not have information publicly available.”
Gov. Tony Evers said he is focusing on what can be accomplished in the final year of his term rather than what he and his wife may do once he retires from office. (Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner)
Gov. Tony Evers, who is entering his final year in office, is calling on lawmakers to help him accomplish some of his priorities in 2026 including providing property tax relief and taking action to blunt the effect of cost-shifting from the federal government to states by the Trump administration.
Evers decided to not run for a third term last year, leading to the first open race for governor since 2010. During a press briefing Monday, he told reporters “nope” when asked if he had thoughts on who in the crowded Democratic primary field could best build on his work.
While he wouldn’t comment on the field, Evers said that working on affordability in Wisconsin would be one of his top priorities — and likely one of the top issues in the 2026 campaign cycle.
Evers said he is focusing on what can be accomplished in the final year of his term rather than what he and his wife may do once he retires from office.
“We’ve worked hard for seven years and… we have a year left and it’s not all about me. All of the things that need to be addressed, many of them can be. I feel very strongly that legacy is just doing the right thing for the people of Wisconsin,” Evers said, adding he wants to leave Wisconsin in “a better place.”
The Wisconsin Legislature has work days scheduled through March, though Evers said work may need to go into April to get the state’s business accomplished. He said lawmakers could run for office and work at the same time.
“I think it will help no matter who is running for reelection, both the Republicans and Democrats, actually spending some time not getting out of town as early as possible and let’s do some things for the people of Wisconsin,” Evers said. “It’s bad politics to say we’re done in February, we’re done in March and we’ll see you at the polls.”
Evers said 2026 is starting after a year of “historic and bipartisan wins” for Wisconsinites. He highlighted actions taken in the state budget including providing state funding directly to child care centers, increasing school funding and investing in the University of Wisconsin system, and said he wants to build on that work in the rest of his term. “Our budget was a win for Wisconsin kids, families and our state’s future, but there’s no denying the final budget looked different from what I proposed,” he said.
Evers noted that the state ended the fiscal year with nearly $4 billion in reserves and $2 billion in a rainy day fund. He said projections from the Department of Revenue that will be released soon show that the state could also bring in as much as $1 billion more than this year.
Tax relief, school funding
Evers said one of his top priorities is taking action to soften the impact of property tax increases. He called on lawmakers, again, to pass a slate of policies he has proposed that could result in $1.3 billion in tax relief.
Wisconsin taxpayers’ December bills included the highest increase since 2018 — the result, in part, of Evers’ controversial 400-year line-item veto, which extended a two-year increase in the amount of money districts can raise from local property taxpayers for centuries into the future, as well as lawmakers’ decision to not provide additional state aid to schools, pushing many districts to use their additional taxing authority and others to go to referendum, asking local residents to pay more.
“Look, I get it: Republicans love to blame my 400-year veto for property taxes going up,” Evers said. “The problem with that is Wiscosinites were going to referendum before increasing the number of years — long before. The question would be why? Because of a decade of Republicans consistently failing to meaningfully invest in our kids and K-12 schools. That has consequences including forcing Wisconsinites to raise their own property taxes.”
Evers said that he wasn’t saying relief needs to be accomplished in one particular way, but that the state will be in a “world of hurt” if nothing is done about property taxes.
Proposals on the issue that he has suggested include a state program to encourage local governments to freeze property taxes, increasing state aid to public schools to help reduce tax levies and increasing the school levy tax credit.
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) has also named lowering property taxes as one of his top priorities for the year, though he and other Republicans have focused on the school revenue limit increases that are in place due to the partial veto Evers issued on the 2023 state budget. Evers brushed off the criticism, saying school districts were seeking property tax increases through referendum way before his veto.
“Before that 400-year veto, we were going to referendum all the time, so they can use that as an excuse if they want but let’s just get this done,” Evers said.
Vos rejected the suggestion in a statement Tuesday morning, saying that Evers was asking lawmakers to “backfill his mistake.”
“We will pass a repeal of his 400-year veto and we ask him to urge Democrats in the legislature to join that effort,” Vos said. “Recent property tax increases fall primarily on his shoulders and unless he’s willing to fix that, taxpayers in Wisconsin will be driven out of their homes due to these unaffordable increases.”
Evers also called on lawmakers to provide additional funding for special education. He and lawmakers put funding in the budget they calculated would bring the state’s share of special ed costs to 42% of districts’ expenses in the first year of the budget and 45% in the second year, but the Department of Public Instruction has issued revised numbers showing that the funding allocated in the budget likely won’t be enough to meet those rates.
“This has to be fixed before the Legislature goes home this year. I’m calling on the Legislature to invest the necessary funding to ensure the agreed upon percentages… are met — or better yet, make the appropriation sum sufficient,” Evers said. Sum-sufficient appropriations are not fixed amounts of money but cover costs for programs even if they fluctuate.
Evers also said lawmakers should take action to exclude certain items including diapers, toothpaste and over-the-counter medications from the state’s sales tax.
Evers said he is also open to looking at Republican proposals to eliminate taxes on overtime and tips but wants to consider more “universal” forms of tax relief. Republican lawmakers have been working to advance proposals that would align state tax policies with the new federal policies that were adopted last year.
Dealing with the Trump administration
In his letter to lawmakers, Evers told them they may need to take action to blunt the effects of Trump administration policies.
“With more chaos being created every day in Washington, new challenges continue to emerge and evolve that deserve our immediate focus and attention,” Evers wrote to lawmakers. “This includes responding to President Donald Trump’s and Republicans in Congress’ ongoing efforts to shift hundreds of millions of dollars in federal program costs to Wisconsin taxpayers and our state’s future budgets.”
A recent change to federal law means that the state could be at risk of losing more than $200 million annually in federal funds for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) program if the benefit payment error rate climbs above a certain level.
Evers told reporters that he is in conversations with lawmakers about a potential investment to ensure that the error rate for the state’s Foodshare program remains low. The state Department of Health Services has said that $69 million would help implement quality-control measures and cover the cuts the federal government has made to administrative costs.
The Trump administration has also recently frozen funds to five Democratic-run states, including Minnesota, due to child care fraud while also increasing reporting requirements for states receiving child care funds to cover services for low-income kids.
Evers said Wisconsin, not one of the five, is in a good position to ensure accountability in the system as the state already made significant changes after a fraud scandal like Minnesota’s was uncovered in Wisconsin more than 15 years ago.
“We’re making sure we’re doing everything and we are in a good place,” Evers said. “There’s lots of auditing going on… so I think we’re in a great place.”
ICE shooting in Minneapolis
Evers told reporters that it is a “huge mistake” by President Donald Trump to exclude Minnesota from the investigation into the death of Renee Good at the hands of an ICE agent last week.
“Should the people of Minnesota or Minneapolis be a part of that investigation? Hell yes,” Evers said. “When the federal government comes in and talks about things in terms of you’re going to do this or that… you want to be part of the conversation and there’s none of that going on.”
Evers said in response to a question about whether ICE was welcome in Wisconsin, “We can handle ourselves, frankly. I don’t see the need for the federal government to be coming into our state and making decisions that we can make at the state level.”
However, Evers stopped short of endorsing a proposal from Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez that would bar ICE from certain areas.
Rodriguez, who is running in the Democratic primary for governor, proposed on Monday that the state ban ICE from courthouses, hospitals and health clinics, licensed child-care centers and daycares, schools and institutions of higher education, domestic violence shelters and places of worship unless there is a warrant or an imminent threat to public safety.
Evers said when asked about the proposal that he would look at it, but that “banning things will absolutely ramp up the actions of the folks in Washington D.C.”
Evers on what else might get accomplished in 2026
Evers said he is “confident” there will soon be a proposal to release $125 million in state funds to fight PFAS contamination that members from both sides of the aisle can support. He said his administration has spent the last several months in conversation with Republican lawmakers on the issue to try to reach a compromise.
Evers said that he hopes they will be able to do the same for the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship program, which is set to expire this year.
Evers said he is open to exploring options for getting WisconsinEye, the nonprofit that provided livestream coverage of state government similar to C-Span until it went dark last month, back online, but said he isn’t supportive of just giving the nonprofit state funds without a match requirement.
WisEye went offline Dec. 15 due to financial difficulties. There is $10 million in state funding for the organization that was set aside by lawmakers and Evers for an endowment, but the organization has to raise matching funds to access it.
“I think there has to be some skin in the game,” Evers said of WisEye.
The organization launched a GoFundMe on Monday to help raise $250,000, which would cover its expenses for three months. By the end of the day, the organization had raised more than $4,000.
Evers also called on lawmakers to pass legislation that would extend Medicaid coverage for new mothers from 60 days to a year. Vos has opposed the bill and stopped it from receiving a vote in the Assembly, even as it passed the Senate with only one opposing vote and has more than 70 Assembly cosponsors.
“I’m hoping 2026 will be the year that the Speaker finally decides that bill will make it to my desk,” Evers said.
Evers also outlined his hopes that lawmakers will take action to help lower the cost of health care and prescription drug prices including by capping the price of insulin at $35, passing legislation to audit insurance companies when their denial rates are high and creating new standards to increase the number of services health insurance companies must cover.
Evers also called on lawmakers to provide funding for two sites that closed last year, one in Green Bay and the other in Chippewa Falls, that housed homeless veterans. He said ideally the Veterans Housing and Recovery Program would receive the nearly $2 million as he proposed last year.
“Whatever we can do to solve that issue,” Evers said. “Any of the things I’ve talked about today, if something happens individually, great. We have to get that done, so if they come up with a plan that I feel confident it’s going to work… then I’d sign it.”
Update: This story was updated Tuesday Jan. 13 to include a statement from Assembly Speaker Robin Vos.
The Milwaukee Police Administration Building downtown. (Photo by Isiah Holmes/Wisconsin Examiner)
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.
The Milwaukee Police Department says it doesn’t have a plan in place if federal immigration authorities mobilize into the city at a scale similar to operations in nearby Chicago and Minneapolis.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement launched one of the largest operations in its history last week, sending about 2,000 agents into the Twin Cities. That mobilization resulted in an ICE agentshooting and killing 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good Wednesday morning in Minneapolis. Minneapolis schools were closed Thursday because, in a separate incident, ICE agents deployed tear gas at a high school as students were being dismissed.
Late last year, ICE’s “Operation Midway Blitz” similarly sent a large number of federal agents into the Chicago area. While the operation was underway, ICE and other federal agents killed a 38-year-old Mexican man during a traffic stop and in another incident rammed into the car of a woman who was warning neighbors about ICE presence before shooting her five times.
The Chicago operation included at least another dozen incidents in which federal agents pointed their guns or fired less-lethal weapons at residents, according to data compiled by The Trace.
“Local police departments and many state governors have been very firm in their communication to federal law enforcement that federal law enforcement is not welcome in their cities conducting these sorts of major operations because of the fact that it is so disruptive,” says Ingrid Eagly, a law professor at UCLA who focuses on immigration enforcement. “Because people you know can be injured and harmed, and communities are living in fear. It’s causing a great amount of disruption in communities to have this kind of strong law enforcement presence.”
In cities across the country where ICE agents have been deployed in large numbers, local officials have had to decide how local cops engage with the operations and what that engagement communicates to local residents. Eagly says that operating as “a backup service for unprepared ICE agents” would be using local resources to legitimize ICE’s presence.
“To send in local law enforcement, as backup, as sort of part of the enforcement team, would be essentially being part of the of the federal police force conducting ICE operations,” she says.
The operations in Chicago and Minneapolis, two largely Democratic Midwestern cities that are frequent targets of rhetorical attacks by Republicans, are prominent displays of force in communities similar to Milwaukee. Even though Wisconsin has so far avoided the brunt of the Trump administration’s stepped-up immigration enforcement efforts, that could change.
Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel that the city had to be prepared for the “eventuality” that an ICE surge is coming.
“Given what happened [Wednesday] and the young woman who was killed by a federal agent in Minneapolis, we got to prepare on the ground,” Johnson said.
But when asked if the Milwaukee Police had a plan for managing a potential ICE operation in the city, a spokesperson for the department only pointed to the department’s existing immigration policy.
The department’s immigration policy states that Milwaukee Police officers are not allowed to cooperate with ICE’s civil immigration enforcement actions.
“Proactive immigration enforcement by local police can be detrimental to our mission and policing philosophy when doing so deters some individuals from participating in their civic obligation to assist the police,” the policy states.
But the written policy does not include any provisions for how police personnel should respond in the event of massive ICE presence in the community. Having a noncooperation or “sanctuary” policy could make Milwaukee a target for Trump’s mass deportation program. Despite that, when pressed for clarification because the policy does not state now the department would manage the fallout of an ICE surge, the spokesperson refused to answer.
“It states what our policy [is] in regards to immigration enforcement,” a Milwaukee police spokesperson said in an unsigned email on Tuesday, before the Minneapolis incident. “We do not have an operation like Chicago therefore cannot provide information about a policy of something that we do not have in our city.”
Pressed again for an answer to the specific question about managing the traffic and crowd control implications of a massive ICE operation in Milwaukee, the spokesperson again refused to answer.
“We have an immigration enforcement policy just because you do not like the answer does not mean we are going to answer different to you,” the spokesperson wrote.
After the shooting in Minneapolis, in answer to a follow-up question from the Examiner, the MPD spokesperson again cited the department’s existing policy preventing cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.
Update: After publication of this story, the Milwaukee Police Department provided further comment asserting its sanctuary policy serves as its plan to handle a large ICE presence in the city.
“We saw your article and assert that your title is misleading. Our policy reflects MPD’s course of action in working with immigration enforcement officials. To be clear, US Bureau of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement has been present in Milwaukee for many years, even prior to the current presidential administration. You asked what our plan was if immigration authorities mobilize into the city at a scale similar to operations in other jurisdictions — our response is that we have a policy in place and we will continue to abide by our policy. That does not change regardless of the number of agents who are present in our City.”
Kathy Briggs is assisted by case manager Kim Immel, left, and nursery program manager Kim Perkins as she puts on a front-loading baby carrier with her daughter Melody inside at the Women’s Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center in Vandalia, Mo. Prison nursery programs allow babies to live behind walls with their mothers — a rare and controversial approach. (Photo by Amanda Watford/Stateline)
VANDALIA, Mo. — Kathy Briggs slipped her arms through the thick straps of a brand-new baby carrier, tugging it over her beige shirt as two other women stood beside her, tightening buckles and adjusting the padded waistband.
The carrier was still stiff from its packaging, and Briggs shifted her feet as one of the women gently lifted then-6-month-old Melody into the front pouch.
Melody’s gray-blue eyes tracked the women’s hands, and her wispy blond hair — gathered into a tiny pink bow — bobbed slightly with the movement. She blinked up at the adults.
“Put your foot in there,” one of the women said, guiding Melody’s leg through the opening.
“She’s just a little chunk,” the other woman said.
Briggs’ eyes widened, and she squealed, half laughing, as Melody settled against her chest. Across the room, a few women looked up from boxes of newly arrived donations — tiny onesies and hip carriers still wrapped in plastic.
Someone let out a soft “aww.” Briggs, 29, bounced on her heels, testing the weight, her palms hovering protectively near Melody’s back.
For a moment, the room felt like any early childhood nursery: adult chatter and baby babbles, women comparing baby gear and swapping soothing techniques.
Yet the jangling of keys and the watchful eyes of uniformed officers were a reminder that this colorful corner of the world existed not in a day care, but inside a women’s prison in rural Missouri.
Programs like this one allow babies inside prisons — a rare and controversial approach that forces states to confront how punishment, public safety and early childhood development collide. As more women enter state prisons while pregnant, lawmakers and corrections officials are expanding prison nursery programs, betting that keeping mothers and infants together can reduce trauma and recidivism — even as critics question whether any prison can ever be an appropriate place for a child.
The nursery living area features couches with blankets draped over them, a flat-screen TV and a variety of toys. In the corner, women can use a kiosk to place commissary orders. A “Male on Duty” sign above the kiosk alerts the unit that male correctional officers are nearby. (Photo by Amanda Watford/Stateline)
Missouri’s program, which opened last February at the Women’s Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center, is the ninth nursery program currently operating inside of a prison in the country. The program was adopted into state law in 2022.
Each year, thousands of pregnant offenders are admitted to local jails and state prisons — most for nonviolent crimes. In 2023, the latest year with data available, about 2% of women who were admitted to state prisons were pregnant, according to the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics.
The number of incarcerated women has climbed sharply over the past several decades, making them one of the fastest-growing segments of the prison population. Some experts say the trend has forced states to confront a basic reality: Most correctional facilities were never designed to accommodate new mothers.
“Routine aspects of prison operations just really don’t consider the distinct needs of women, and particularly not of pregnant women,” said Alycia Welch, the associate director of the Prison and Jail Innovation Lab at the University of Texas at Austin. Welch researches carceral conditions and oversight with a focus on women’s experiences.
Federal reports and research have found that pregnant inmates face systemic barriers to timely care — from guards controlling access to medical treatment to logistical delays and medical fees. Shackling during pregnancy and childbirth persists despite restrictions in at least 42 states.
Prison nursery programs benefit relatively few women, and some criminal justice advocates say they reinforce the notion that incarceration — rather than community-based drug treatment or diversion — should remain the default response for pregnant women in the criminal legal system.
Some research suggests that prison nurseries can strengthen early bonding, improve maternal mental health and support the transition from incarceration back into the community after new mothers have time to parent their infants in a structured, supportive environment.
“This community just lifts us up,” Briggs said.
Inside Missouri’s nursery program
The room Kaley McDowell shares with her infant daughter, Kimber, is arranged for two mothers and two babies — twin beds on each wall, a pair of cribs nearby and space left open for feeding, rocking and play.
McDowell’s rocking chair sits in the corner, draped with a warm, butter yellow blanket. She settled into the rocker with Kimber in her arms just as a soft, classical melody drifted from one of the crib-soother toys. Kimber curled tightly against her chest; her cheek pressed into her mother’s shirt.
“She thinks she’s gonna eat now,” McDowell joked, shifting her baby upright on her thighs as the two rocked slowly back and forth. She then set Kimber down so the child could try standing.
Kimber steadied herself, then reached down toward her tiny toes as if surprised to find them there.
Kaley McDowell helps her daughter Kimber stand while sitting in a rocking chair in their room — their favorite spot in the nursery unit. Each mom-and-baby room can accommodate up to two mothers, with a total capacity of 14 mom and baby pairs. (Photo by Amanda Watford/Stateline)
McDowell, 34, is a girl mom through and through. All four of her daughters — ages 13, 9, 2 and now-7-month-old Kimber — have “K” names, a small bit of continuity she’s proud of.
Inside the nursery unit, she’s the experienced mom, the one other women seek out for advice.
McDowell isn’t set for release until August, which means Kimber will leave the nursery around 15 months old. In the meantime, McDowell is taking classes to get her GED diploma and hopes to earn her license as a certified nurse assistant.
Missouri’s prison nursery program allows eligible women to live with their newborns for up to 18 months. Women must have no more than 18 months remaining on their sentence at the time of delivery, and those who have committed violent sexual offenses or crimes against children cannot participate.
Prison officials also review disciplinary history, physical and mental health, and engagement in programming before approving someone for one of the unit’s seven bedrooms, which collectively can house up to 14 babies at a time.
Kaley McDowell reads a quote on a photo board she decorated with inspirational collages, sonogram photos and other crafts. The nursery unit is adorned with motivational quotes and reminders throughout the space. (Photo by Amanda Watford/Stateline)
About two dozen infants are expected to cycle through the nursery each year, and staff anticipate that number will climb — a sign of growing demand for the program.
“I have watched moms transform their lives,” said Kim Perkins, the nursery’s program manager.
Across the day, the nursery fills with the kinds of small, steady interactions that shape early childhood: Mothers reading baby books, caregivers rocking fussy infants, babies sprawled across play mats surrounded by stuffed animals. Correctional officers and nursery staff also often help, whether by holding a wiggly baby or fetching supplies.
“They like to come and steal the babies when they can,” McDowell said. “They’re like our in-house grandmas.”
The unit’s officers also are trained to expect round-the-clock movement, and the team includes male officers, so infants grow accustomed to hearing different voices.
Stuffed animals and a small gorilla figurine sit on a top shelf above the area where moms store their diaper bags. (Photo by Amanda Watford/Stateline)
“It’s going to be a good thing for these women,” said Lisa Unger, one of the unit’s correctional officers. While she was initially apprehensive about the program, she said she has watched women genuinely change over time with the support they receive.
When mothers cook group meals — something that happens at least once a week — the unit feels briefly like a crowded family kitchen, with women passing plates, joking and handing off infants so someone else can finish stirring a pot.
Movement across the unit is tightly restricted, though. Babies are not allowed upstairs to the sleeping and living quarters of caregivers — incarcerated women trained for the role — and mothers go there only to “shop” in the storage room stocked with donated clothing. When the weather is nice and staffing allows, the mothers can take their babies outside to the play area. The babies do not enter other parts of the prison.
Turning point
For much of her life, Kathy Briggs did not imagine a future that included her. She was first incarcerated at 15, and has now been in and out of incarceration three times.
Addiction shaped nearly every corner of her adulthood — where she slept and whom she trusted. Some nights were spent in drug houses, others on the street. She lost two pregnancies.
At her lowest point, Briggs tattooed “DNR” — which stands for “do not resuscitate” — above her left eye.
When Briggs learned she was expecting again — this time while in county jail awaiting adjudication — she doubted her ability to stay sober, to find housing, to understand motherhood at all. When she learned she was carrying twins, her panic deepened and she considered placing them up for adoption.
Who would take them? Who would trust her with them?
The turning point came with a sentence delivered calmly from the bench. Facing drug possession and firearm-related charges, Briggs expected another familiar outcome and that she’d be released shortly. Instead, the judge told her she would go to prison — and have her babies there.
Briggs protested — babies did not belong in prison. But the judge insisted. More importantly, he told her he believed in her. It was the first time, she said, anyone in a position of authority had made her feel like she could overcome her past.
She arrived at the prison nursery unit seven months pregnant. When her daughters were born, she nicknamed them “Little Lyric” and “Mighty Melody,” inspired by the music that always made her feel free.
Parents as Teachers instructor Jill Whitaker reads a children’s book to moms and caregivers participating in a parenting class. Participants also complete worksheets and crafts designed to reinforce new ideas on motherhood and child development. (Photo by Amanda Watford/Stateline)
The infants’ play space is awash in color: Rugs patterned with swirling motifs and florals; shelves crammed with books, dolls and stacking toys; rocking chairs with tufted pillows. A baby swing clicks rhythmically in one corner. Near a window overlooking an outdoor play area, a potted plant soaks up the morning sun.
Inside the nursery, Briggs’ daughters, whom she calls her “best friends,” thrive. Their father also is incarcerated, and the nursery staff are working to make sure he can receive regular updates and photos of the girls.
“Some of us didn’t grow up with good families or a lot of love,” Briggs said. “Here, they’re teaching us how to grow with our babies, and that is such a beautiful thing.”
Some of the program’s caregivers say the strength of the unit comes from the fact that no one is raising a baby in isolation — and that some caregivers bring their own lived experience as mothers to guide the others.
One morning, caregiver Tara Carroll sat on the floor, sorting a pile of donated baby clothes while several women gathered around her — some seated at a nearby table, others standing and talking among themselves.
Tara Carroll, a nursery caregiver, sorts through and catalogs donated baby clothes. (Photo by Amanda Watford/Stateline)
She organized the outfits by size, slipping the clothes onto tiny colorful hangers. As she logged each item, a few of the women began matching tops and bottoms, holding them up for one another to weigh in.
“This one will fit her, and it’s got cute little pants and a snowflake,” Carroll told one mother.
“That’s cuuuuuute,” another mom chimed in.
Carroll, 34, has been incarcerated for several years on property-related charges, and she remembers what it was like before the nursery existed.
In 2022, she delivered her now-3-year-old daughter, Dillon Rayee, at a nearby hospital and spent 48 hours with her before her husband took their newborn home.
“It was heart-wrenching, and I promised my daughter that I would do everything that I could to come home to her,” Carroll said. She hopes to use her experience in the prison to become a doula.
Until the nursery opened, her birth experience was the norm: a day or two with a newborn, then the baby went into foster care or with family and the mother returned to her cell. For Carroll, helping the women in the unit now — guiding them through feedings, showing them how to swaddle, offering advice during long nights — feels like a way of honoring her promise to her daughter.
Policies across the states
Across the country, fewer than a dozen states operate nursery programs that allow incarcerated mothers to live with their newborns.
New York operates the nation’s oldest prison nursery, which opened in the early 1900s at the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility. The program allows up to 25 incarcerated mothers to live with their infants — typically until age 1 — under a system governed by state law and administered by a nonprofit provider, Hour Children.
Newer programs — in Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota, Ohio, Washington state and West Virginia — vary widely in size, eligibility and funding. Many rely heavily on nonprofit partners or donations to cover essentials such as diapers, cribs and parenting classes.
Nebraska’s program, which launched in 1994, allows mothers to participate if their parole eligibility date or release date falls within 18 months of their child’s birth.
Rosita Vizcarra, 29, said the program has been a “blessing,” giving her the chance to bond with her now-9-month-old son, Liam, while also learning how to be a better parent to her two older daughters.
“He’s crawling and starting to stand,” Vizcarra wrote in a message to Stateline through the facility’s messaging platform. “He’s such a happy baby.”
Miranda Messenger, 37, told Stateline in a message that the program has given her what she and her now 4-month-old son, Kyle, need to succeed and stay connected to her support system while separated from her three older children.
“It’s gonna help Miranda tenfold,” said Shannon Fune, Kyle’s father, who has been able to visit the pair a few times. “I was a little bit jealous or disappointed that I wasn’t gonna be there.”
A 2018 study of Nebraska’s program found participation was associated with a 28% reduction in recidivism within three years of the initial offense and a 39% reduction in returns to prison custody within 20 years over the 20-year period of the study. The author, Joseph R. Carlson, a former professor at the University of Nebraska, also estimated that the program saved the state more than $6 million between 1994 and 2012.
A handful of states — Kansas, North Dakota, Virginia and Wisconsin — are considering or expanding nursery programs. Idaho and Wyoming explored nursery plans in recent years, but abandoned them due to space, budget and staffing issues, according to state corrections officials.
Many other states offer other programs they say benefit incarcerated mothers, such as doula programs during pregnancy or during labor and delivery, extended visitation for young children or mother-child facilities based in communities rather than a prison.
Although interest in programs for pregnant and postpartum women in the criminal legal system has grown, experts across the country say there is still not enough research to know how well these programs work — and even basic data on the number and experiences or outcomes of incarcerated pregnant people remains limited.
“It’s, for me, really unfortunate that we are doing this without evidence to inform the policies we’re putting in place,” said Rebecca Shlafer, a child psychologist and associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Minnesota. Shlafer also evaluated the implementation of Minnesota’s 2021 Healthy Start Act, which allows pregnant and postpartum women to participate in community-based alternatives.
‘A real patchwork’
It’s hard to know exactly how many pregnant people enter jails and prisons each year. The federal government does not require correctional systems to track pregnancy data, and reporting varies widely by state.
By the end of 2023, 305 pregnant women were housed in state prisons, according to the latest federal data, which was released by the Bureau of Justice Statistics in April. At least 75 women lived in prison nurseries or residential programs with their infants in 2023.
Some of us didn't grow up with good families or a lot of love.
– Kathy Briggs, an incarcerated mother in Missouri
A 2019 study of incarcerated pregnant women — drawing from both state and federal facilities — estimated roughly 58,000 admissions to prisons and jails between 2016 and 2017. The study, conducted by the Advocacy and Research on Reproductive Wellness of Incarcerated People group and published in the peer-reviewed American Journal of Public Health, is considered the first national investigation into pregnancy frequency and outcomes in prisons.
There are no federal standards for prison nursery programs, and each state sets its own rules — who qualifies, how long mothers can stay, what staffing and safety protocols look like and what reentry support is offered.
Studies of long-running programs in Nebraska and New York found that mothers who participated were less likely to return to prison than similar women who weren’t admitted. But those results, some experts say, may be shaped by the programs’ strict eligibility rules: Nurseries typically accept people with lower-level offenses and short sentences.
A study published in April in the peer-reviewed Women & Criminal Justice journal found that the existence of prison nursery programs caused stress and anxiety for those who weren’t eligible after giving birth, leaving them feeling like unfit mothers, and diverted resources from other ways to help incarcerated moms maintain bonds with their babies.
“We can think outside the prison walls for how to keep moms and babies together in ways that still maintain safety and accountability,” said Dr. Carolyn Sufrin, a medical anthropologist and an obstetrician-gynecologist at Johns Hopkins University. Sufrin also leads the Advocacy and Research on Reproductive Wellness of Incarcerated People group.
Critics of prison nurseries argue that the correctional environment is fundamentally ill-suited to meet the health, developmental and emotional needs of pregnant or postpartum women and their infants.
Prisons are usually not staffed with maternal health experts or pediatricians, and medical care is often inconsistent. The environment itself limits babies’ movement and ability to form relationships with other family members. The children can’t go outdoors every day.
Financial stability also is a major concern. Some of the existing prison nursery programs nationwide primarily depend on donations or nonprofit support instead of consistent state funding. Critics argue that this makes nurseries a fragile, resource-heavy solution that helps only a small number of women while reinforcing the broader system of incarceration rather than providing a reliable, scalable alternative.
“It’s a real patchwork out there, and every state is different, but again, just not ideal to have women and babies in these settings,” said Erin McClain, a research associate and the assistant director of the University of North Carolina Collaborative for Maternal and Infant Health, a research center focusing on high-risk pregnancies and infants.
Kathy Briggs holds her twin daughters, Melody, center, and Lyric, using front and hip baby carriers. (Photo by Amanda Watford/Stateline)
A path forward
Briggs is set to leave Missouri’s Women’s Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center for a halfway house, again with her babies, later this month. She has thought extensively about what she’ll one day tell her daughters about their first few months of life — and about how far she has come from the days when her “DNR” tattoo reflected a very different outlook.
“I want to live life, and I want to show them that they can live a good life,” Briggs said. “I want to be the light that makes them feel warm.”
Inside the program, she learned how to care for her daughters and, just as critically, how to care for herself, she said. For someone who had grown up without much love or guidance, the nursery became a place where both were taught, deliberately and daily.
She hopes to return someday to help others navigate the early months of parenthood behind bars.
“More mothers in this situation deserve an opportunity to learn to be a better mother.”
This story was originally produced by Stateline, which is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network which includes Wisconsin Examiner, and is supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity.
Jason Fenske’s Lucid Air critique triggered direct engineer talks.
Lucid outlined software fixes and upcoming UX 3.0 overhaul plans.
This isn’t typical service, but Lucid’s response stands out.
Negative YouTube reviews of cars have earned a certain reputation over the years. Some are so brutal they’re blamed, rightly or not, for helping to sink entire automakers, like the high-profile case of Fisker about a year ago. This time, though, a critical video sparked something different. A public takedown led not to fallout, but to potential fixes, and not just for one frustrated owner.
Jason Fenske of Engineering Explained leased a Lucid Air, ended up having issues with it, and has now been in direct contact with the brand. The result is going to benefit countless Lucid owners in the future.
A Critical Eye Meets a Willing Ear
When Jason Fenske published a blunt video detailing his disappointment with a newly leased Lucid Air Touring, it wasn’t a rage-bait takedown or a viral stunt. It was a long, technical breakdown of how a mechanically brilliant EV was being kneecapped by frustrating software, clumsy UX decisions, and some puzzling hardware quirks.
Rather than simply ignoring it and continuing on with its plans, the EV maker reached out. According to Fenske, what followed was a constructive discussion with engineers and even the SVP of engineering, Imad Dlala.
Evidently, the team at Lucid provided insider details and previews of upcoming changes. That’s where this story really takes its biggest turn. Lucid owners have a lot to look forward to if Fenske’s information proves reliable.
Lucid Plots a UX Overhaul
The biggest news is software. Lucid confirmed it’s actively improving phone-as-key reliability, door handle behavior, mirror positioning in reverse, percentage-versus-miles range inconsistencies, and Tesla Supercharger Plug & Charge support.
More significantly, a full UX 3.0 overhaul is planned for early fall 2026, bringing multitasking, faster profile switching, improved CarPlay stability, better voice commands, and a more intuitive interface. Owners with newer hardware, or those willing to pay to upgrade, will get access.
Lucid also confirmed vehicle-to-home power capability is coming in the first half of 2026, promising up to 17 kW peak output without requiring a separate home inverter, an area where Lucid’s hardware advantages could genuinely shine.
Fenske estimates that his Lucid could power his home for four days if they lost power, and that’s without changing any of the behavior his family is accustomed to.
Not All Feedback Gets a Reply
At the same time, he remains cautious, and rightly so. Promises aren’t fixes, and the Lucid Air still struggles with daily usability today. But admitting problems, engaging with informed criticism, and outlining concrete changes is more than many automakers manage.
In addition, this isn’t how most customers get treated. Fenske runs Engineering Explained, has a massive audience, and speaks the same technical language as Lucid’s engineering team. That context matters. Still, what Lucid outlined is meaningful. Especially for current and future owners.
Protests are expected across the state on Friday in reaction to this week's fatal shooting in Minneapolis by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent.
Local police officers stand guard as Renee Good's car is towed away after ICE officers shot and killed a woman through her car window Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026 near Portland Avenue and 34th Street. (Photo by Nicole Neri/Minnesota Reformer)
The Trump administration made its opinion known almost immediately after an ICE agent shot and killed a woman in Minneapolis on Wednesday: The officer acted heroically in defending himself from Renee Nicole Good, who was intent on running him over with her Honda Pilot in an act of “domestic terrorism.”
“The officer, fearing for his life and other officers around him and the safety of the public, fired defensive shots. He used his training to save his own life and that of his colleagues,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a news conference in Minneapolis.
A jury might very well disagree after seeing footage of the incident, like Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey who called ICE’s claim of self-defense “bullsh*t.”
But the Trump administration seems intent on blocking local prosecutors from even bringing charges against the ICE officer, who the Star Tribune identified as Jonathan Ross.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office took the unusual step soon after the shooting of ousting the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension from the investigation into the killing.
The BCA typically investigates police shootings in the state, and was on the scene in south Minneapolis on Wednesday collecting evidence as part of a joint investigation with the FBI.
Then the U.S. Attorney’s Office “reversed course” and decided the investigation would be led solely by the FBI, said Drew Evans, BCA superintendent, in a statement.
“Without complete access to the evidence, witnesses and information collected, we cannot meet the investigative standards that Minnesota law and the public demands,” Evans said. “As a result, the BCA has reluctantly withdrawn from the investigation.”
Gov. Tim Walz during a Thursday press conference expressed doubt about the results of any investigation conducted by the federal government because Minnesota officials have been purposefully excluded.
“Now that Minnesota has been taken out of the investigation, it feels very, very difficult that we will get a fair outcome,” Walz said. “People in positions of power have already passed judgment … and told you things that are verifiably false.”
If federal investigators don’t share their findings with local prosecutors, they’ll struggle to put together a case to bring charges, said former Acting U.S. Attorney for Minnesota Anders Folk, who brought federal charges against former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin for killing George Floyd in 2020.
“I don’t know how any prosecutor could make a charging decision without facts,” Folk said. “The local authorities are going to have to figure out a way to do their own investigation if they want to be able to evaluate whether a criminal charge can be brought.”
Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty, who has jurisdiction in Minneapolis, said in a statement on Thursday that her office is searching for a way for a state level investigation to continue.
“If the FBI is the sole investigative agency, the state will not receive the investigative findings, and our community may never learn about its contents,” Moriarty said in a statement.
The FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office did not respond to requests for comment.
A spokesperson for U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, who will make charging decisions based on the FBI investigation, pointed the Reformer to a post on X when asked if she has commented on the case and if she believes the use of force was justified.
“Obstructing, impeding, or attacking federal law enforcement is a federal crime. So is damaging federal property. If you cross that red line, you will be arrested and prosecuted. Do not test our resolve,” the post says.
Who might do a local investigation is unclear. Folk, who is now running for Hennepin County attorney, said he’s not aware of any cases of officers shooting someone in Minnesota in which the BCA was not involved.
“They are the law enforcement organization that we as Minnesotans look to do this kind of investigative work,” Folk said.
If the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office is able to complete a criminal investigation and file charges, they face another difficult task: convincing a federal judge that the ICE officer was not acting reasonably in carrying out his lawful federal duties.
If state charges are filed, the officer will likely ask to move his case to federal court to assert immunity under what’s known as the Supremacy Clause, which protects federal officials from state criminal prosecution if they are reasonably carrying out their duties. Attorneys with the Department of Justice may then assist with his defense.
Whether the officer’s actions are deemed reasonable could hinge on a range of facts from his training to his duties to his subjective beliefs and the U.S. Supreme Court has provided only minimal guidance on how to answer that question, according to Bryna Godar, a staff attorney with the State Democracy Research Initiative at the University of Wisconsin Law School.
Still, she emphasized local prosecutors can and have brought charges against federal officials.
“The baseline understanding here is that states can prosecute federal officials when they violate state criminal laws,” Godar said.
If state prosecutors convince a federal judge the officer’s actions were not reasonable, they could continue bringing the case in federal court on state crimes. That’s significant because a conviction for a state crime cannot not be pardoned by the president.
Godar points in a recent article to cases going back to antebellum, when free states charged U.S. marshals for capturing enslaved people under the Fugitive Slave Act. During the Prohibition Era, local prosecutors charged federal officers for using excessive force in shutting down distilleries.
More recently, local prosecutors in Idaho brought a charge of involuntary manslaughter against an FBI sniper who shot and killed an unarmed woman during the siege on Ruby Ridge in 1992. A divided federal appeals court ruled that the case could proceed because of disputed facts over whether the agent acted “reasonably.”
“Where we see those state prosecutions going ahead is where the use of force is deemed unreasonable or excessive or unlawful,” Godar said.
But that case may offer a cautionary tale for Minnesota: The case wasn’t allowed to proceed until 2001, nearly a decade later. Then the case was dropped by the newly elected prosecutor.
Good’s killing was the ninth shooting by an immigration officer in just the past four months and at least the second killing, with all of them involving firing at people in vehicles, according to aNew York Times report. On Thursday, federal agents shot two more people in Portland, Ore.
In each of the recent ICE shootings, the government has claimed the officer was acting in self-defense.
Minnesota prosecutors have won convictions in recent years against officers for killing people in the line of duty — Chauvin, Kim Potter and Mohamed Noor — but they are rare and juries are generally reluctant to convict.
Yet even if a conviction seems unlikely, filing charges allows local prosecutors to register a strong protest against ICE’s aggressive enforcement actions in the state and communicate that officers may not operate with impunity. Not charging would be an admission that federal agents are immune from local accountability as the Trump administration pushes for mass deportation.
Folk said a transparent investigation with clear standards is also important for the public’s faith in the justice system.
“Minnesota has seen firsthand how important it is to do these high-profile investigations the right way,” Folk said. “We deserve a good, thorough investigation, free of any kind of influence.”
This story was originally produced by Minnesota Reformer, which is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network which includes Wisconsin Examiner, and is supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity.
Teng Vang, 43, assigned to Oshkosh Correctional Institution died Thursday at a hospital. | Photo courtesy Wisconsin Department of Corrections
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.
A ‘physical disturbance’ involving three incarcerated people occurred on Wednesday afternoon at Oshkosh Correctional Institution, Oshkosh police said in a statement. The department said it is investigating a death that occurred after the disturbance.
Beth Hardtke, communications director for the Wisconsin Department of Corrections, told the Examiner that Teng Vang, 43, died Thursday at a hospital. He was assigned to Oshkosh Correctional Institution.
Police said a 43 year-old incarcerated person who assaulted another incarcerated person was secured by prison staff. He experienced a medical emergency and was transported to a local hospital.
Hardtke wrote that the Oshkosh Police Department is investigating the death and the Department of Corrections is fully cooperating with the investigation.
Vang was found guilty of crimes including attempted first-degree intentional homicide and first-degree recklessly endangering safety. He was released on extended supervision in 2022, which was revoked in 2024.
Bills under consideration aim to ensure cost doesn't stop incarcerated Wisconsinites from having access to basic hygiene products, including pads and tampons.
Portland police officers stand behind police tape in front of an apartment building in east Portland. (Photo by Alex Baumhardt/Oregon Capital Chronicle)
Federal agents reportedly shot and injured two people near a medical clinic in east Portland on Thursday afternoon, according to the Portland Police Bureau.
The Department of Homeland Security acknowledged the shooting on social media, though it referred to a U.S. Border Protection agent firing “a defensive shot.” Police had few immediate details to share about the incident, which occurred the day after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officershot and killed a woman in Minneapolis.
Like Minneapolis, Oregon’s largest city has been the subject of an intense immigration crackdown by federal agents in recent months. While a federal judge stymied President Donald Trump’s efforts to mobilize the Oregon National Guard and deploy guardsmen from other states to Portland, federal officials revealed in court in December that they’ve brought ICE agents from around the country to the metro as part of a major operation.
The Homeland Security Department claimed that agents were conducting a targeted stop against a Venezuelan national affiliated with the transnational Tren de Aragua criminal group, and that the driver attempted to run over agents when they identified themselves. The agency made similar claims about the Minneapolis shooting, though bystander videos from multiple angles showed that the officer fired into Renee Nicole Good’s car after he was clear of the car’s path.
No such videos were immediately available of the Portland incident, which occurred near a medical campus on Southeast Main Street.
“We are still in the early stages of this incident,” Portland Police Chief Bob Day said in a statement. “We understand the heightened emotion and tension many are feeling in the wake of the shooting in Minneapolis, but I am asking the community to remain calm as we work to learn more.”
Multnomah County Sheriff Nicole Morrisey O’Donnell said in a statement that the FBI is handling an investigation into the shooting. Attorney General Dan Rayfield announced Thursday evening that his office will investigate whether any federal officers acted outside the scope of their authority, in keeping with a November warning he and district attorneys of the state’s three largest countiesgave the federal government that the state will investigate and prosecute federal agents who engage in excessive force.
“We have been clear about our concerns with the excessive use of force by federal agents in Portland, and today’s incident only heightens the need for transparency and accountability,” Rayfield said. “Oregonians deserve clear answers when people are injured in their neighborhoods.”
Shooting reported mid-afternoon
Police received reports of a shooting on the 10200 block of Southeast Main Street at 2:18 p.m. Six minutes later, they received a call for help from a man at Northeast 146th Avenue and East Burnside, a 10-minute drive away.
The shooting occurred near an Adventist Health building with several offices and medical clinics, the health organization confirmed in an email. The clinics closed for the rest of the day, and Portland Police were seen escorting people out in the evening.
Police found a man and woman with apparent gunshot wounds. Emergency responders transported both people to the hospital and their condition is unknown, according to police.
State Rep. Ricki Ruiz, D-Gresham, represents a neighboring state House district and spoke to the Capital Chronicle near an apartment complex where the shooting victims called for help. He said the two were hospitalized at Oregon Health & Science University and he was unsure of their condition.
A woman he spoke to said she spotted U.S. Border Patrol agents roaming the area earlier this morning, Ruiz said.
Lilian Rubi Herrera, who spoke to the Capital Chronicle in Spanish outside the apartment building, receives donations from her followers on social media to buy groceries for immigrants who are fearful of leaving their homes. She was in the neighborhood distributing food when she heard about the shooting and went to the scene.
Herrera said her social media followers are extremely sad because of the shooting in Minneapolis.
“Out of all the years I’ve lived here, I never thought I would witness this type of treatment from the federal government.” she said. “They treat us worse than dogs, and that’s not fair. We must use our voices and seek help for our community.”
A Capital Chronicle reporter saw men wearing FBI gear walking around the apartment complex behind police tape.
State, local leaders condemn shooting, urge caution
Within hours of the shooting, about 150 people had gathered outside Portland City Hall, chanting “abolish ICE.” Some held candles and anti-ICE signs as they waited to hear from city councilors.
Portland City Councilor Angelita Morillo, speaking to the crowd, called upon Congress and local officials to resist ICE operations and strip funding from the agency.
“The reality is that anyone who chooses to stand in solidarity with our community is putting themselves directly in harm’s way, because that’s what it means to sacrifice and to love your neighbor,” she said. “And what I see here is we have a group of people that is prepared to do anything and everything to take care of our immigrant community.”
Councilor Candace Avalos said the recent shooting victims were her constituents in her city councils’s district, arguing that “this is what the Trump administration’s deportation agenda looks like.” She called for the audience to keep organizing until ICE agents leave the city.
“We keep each other safe when ICE shows up in our neighborhoods, it’s not politicians who stop them,” she said. “It’s neighborhood whistles, with their phones out, standing shoulder and shoulder, forcing them out of our communities.”
Portland Mayor Keith Wilson called on ICE to immediately pause its operations in Portland and urged residents to remain calm.
“We cannot sit by while constitutional protections erode and bloodshed mounts. Portland is not a ‘training ground’ for militarized agents, and the ‘full force’ threatened by the administration has deadly consequences,” Wilson said. “As mayor, I call on ICE to end all operations in Portland until a full investigation can be completed.”
U.S. Rep. Maxine Dexter, a Democrat who represents Portland, also urged her constituents to stay calm and said local law enforcement must be able to conduct a full investigation.
“ICE has done nothing but inject terror, chaos, and cruelty into our communities,” Dexter said. “Trump’s immigration machine is using violence to control our communities—straight out of the authoritarian playbook. ICE must immediately end all active operations in Portland.”
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, added that he was monitoring reports, and that “Trump’s deployment of federal agents in my hometown is clearly inflaming violence — and must end.”
Reporter Mia Maldonado contributed to this report.
10:40 pmUpdated with information about Attorney General Dan Rayfield opening investigation
This story was originally produced by Oregon Capital Chronicle, which is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network which includes Wisconsin Examiner, and is supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity.
ICE Police at Immigration Detention Center. Oneida tribal leaders in Wisconsin announced they would end a contract to build ICE facilities with a the Oneida Engineering Science Construction Group and apologized saying they were previously unaware of the agreement. | Getty Images
Oneida Engineering Science Construction Group (OESC), a Limited Liability Company (LLC) of the Oneida Nation, is taking action to terminate two contracts it has with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to provide engineering services to at least 34 ICE facilities.
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.
The action comes after tribal leaders only recently became aware of the contracts that OESC has through a subsidiary company: Oneida Environmental (OE) that is working in a joint venture with Stantec JV, called Oneida-Stantec JV, LLC.
In a Jan. 2 Oneida Live online meeting, Tribal Chairman Tehassi Hill said he had just learned of the ICE contracts on Monday morning, Dec. 29 through social media posts.
“I want to make sure that I clearly state that the Oneida Business Committee (OBC, the agency that runs the tribe when the tribal governing board is not in session) was not aware of this joint venture or the signing of the contract,” said Hill. “I also stand strong in my words and conviction that the business venture does not align with the nation’s values, our culture and who we are as Haudenosaunee People, and it is something the committee would have never entertained had it been made aware of this.”
Jeff House, chief executive officer (CEO) of OESC, took full responsibility for the contracts, adding that his motives were to provide a service to ensure the ICE facilities were habitable for residents and also as a business venture to sustain the operation of the LLC’s 500 employees.
“I deeply apologize,” House said. “The decision did come to me and I green-lighted the proposals to go forward, and I know it was a huge mistake.”
House said when he made the decision he wanted to ensure the facilities would be “up to code, making sure they meet human standards, making sure that it’s properly engineered.” And, he added, “while I don’t approve and am appalled by the ICE activities, these people are being detained and put in a facility somewhere, and what had gone through my mind was, ‘Who’s taking care of them? Who’s looking out for their best interest?’ As much as I have disdain for the ICE activities going on, that’s where my mind went, and I was flabbergasted that I didn’t reach out further and get more information.”
House said he was aware of the recent controversy involving the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation in Kansas to terminate a subsidiary contract with ICE for designing large-scale migrant detention centers, and he applauded the Potawatomi Chairman for noting how Indian people had been treated by the federal government by being placed on reservations and drew parallels to ICE activities.
House said he hadn’t considered the history of tribes and detention when he pursued the ICE contracts, but was more focused on ensuring the ICE facilities would be humane facilities.
According to the Federal Procurement Data System for Oneida-Stantec JV LLC, the recent ICE contract signed on Dec. 26 is for $3.777 million, and another contract signed on Sept. 19 is for $2.601 million.
House said the immediate goal is to begin the process of terminating the Dec. 26 contract, but he noted that the Sept. 19 contract, initiated under the administration of former President Joe Biden, would be more complicated to terminate because work had already begun under that contract.
House emphasized the LLC would sustain any loss or liability as it pursued the terminations.
To avoid potential liability to the tribe, Chairman Hill noted that the tribe doesn’t directly operate OESC or participate in day-to-day operations to maintain a “corporate veil.”
In a press release, the tribe explained the “corporate veil” is “a legal concept that recognizes a company as a separate legal entity distinct from its shareholders, and it protects shareholders from personal liability for the company’s debts and obligations (meaning the company itself is responsible for its own liabilities).”
However, the OBC does appoint members to the corporate board of OESC, and there are regular reports from the LLC to the OBC.
“It is important to reiterate that the Oneida Business Committee does not approve, negotiate or manage individual contracts of its subsidiaries,” said Hill, “and only provides high-level oversight.”
Hill read a recently passed OBC resolution that directs business decisions to reflect the Oneida Nation values and specifically states that “any employee or representative of Oneida Nation and its tribal corporations to disengage with all grant agreements and contracts that involve Immigration and Customs Enforcement.”
In the future, House said, he will keep the OBC informed of any gray areas of concern.
In 2025, House said, OESC processed $177 million in revenue and made $12 million in profit, most of which was reinvested in the LLC, with a small amount given to the tribe’s general fund. He estimated the valuation of the LLC as somewhere between $80-100 million.
House said one of his primary concerns in securing contracts, most of which are for engineering services, is keeping the LLC’s 500 employees on the job.
DOC Secretary Jared Hoy (Isiah Holmes/Wisconsin Examiner)
Jared Hoy, Secretary of the Department of Corrections (DOC), appeared before the Assembly Committee on Corrections Wednesday morning to discuss a third-party study of DOC facilities, policies and practices. “The report clearly shows our agency and our staff are working hard getting a lot right, but as expected we also learned of several areas we need to make improvements on,” said Hoy, calling the report conducted by Falcon Correctional and Community Services Inc. “a critical and necessary step forward” after he succeeded former Secretary Kevin Carr in 2024.
Hoy said that the Falcon Report focused on behavioral health, correctional practices, health care, employee wellness, leadership development, agency culture, recruitment of staff and problems in the restrictive housing unit, otherwise known as solitary confinement. The review lasted nearly a year, and highlighted a number of positive changes within DOC that Hoy listed, including:
Developing an objective custody classification system in 2023;
Restructuring the Bureau of Health Services in 2024,
Expanding the earned release program,
Transitioning the Waupun Correctional Institution to having all single cells,
Reforming restrictive housing in 2024 by enhancing training and increasing security rounds,
Implementing new systems to track the number and frequency of security rounds,
Retraining medication distribution and documentation,
Performing security audits,
Requiring supervisory meetings at Waupun at the beginning of each shift,
Implementing a new restrictive housing policy.
It wasn’t an entirely rosy picture, however. “As noted in the report, our agency is at a period of transition,” said Hoy. “We are not alone in navigating this unique point in time following the operational disruptions of the pandemic and the related staffing shortages that followed.”
Hoy urged people to view the report in that context as he went into the areas of improvement it suggested. High vacancy rates for staff at different institutions remains an issue, although the DOC has been able to fill more security positions due to pay raises approved by the state Legislature. This has created a “new and unique concern,” Hoy said, in that many staff are new and do not have much correctional experience. Additionally, many staff members were hired during the COVID-19 pandemic, and thus have skewed perceptions of what normal DOC procedures look like. The highly restrictive, atypical protocols intended to stifle the spread of COVID-19 became the formative experience of this new generation of DOC guards and staff.
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.
Mental health needs among DOC residents was another area of concern. Hoy noted that “44% of male persons in our care and 91% of female persons in our care have a mental health condition.” As a result of the study, DOC is working towards updating its mental health classification system, creating specific mental health units, better monitoring and collecting mental health data, and improving conditions within the restrictive housing unit, otherwise known as solitary confinement, and increasing programming and recreation.
“So while the results of this study are both informative and valuable, they represent only the starting point,” said Hoy. “The true measure of our agency’s success will be determined by how thoughtfully and effectively we act upon the recommendations that follow.” DOC is currently planning another contract with Falcon to develop a framework to review the report’s key findings, and implement its recommendations. Although many of the changes will need to cover the entire DOC, Hoy said the state agency will also look at specific institutions to “reimagine” their functions, and begin implementing changes at five “pilot sites” before expanding to other facilities.
Hoy took questions from corrections committee members. Public comment in response to the secretary’s presentation was not allowed. Lawmakers pointed out that the DOC remains overcrowded, with over 23,000 people spread across various prisons. Some highlighted the need for more uniformity among DOC policies across facilities, as well as a need for increased and centralized data analysis.
Hoy acknowledged that there are ongoing problems with placing people in appropriate facilities, such as people who should be in minimum or medium-security prisons being placed in maximum security institutions, or people with severe mental health needs not being cared for adequately. He also noted that because DOC is generally a paramilitary organization, staff are often “craving” direction and vision from their leadership. Hoy said that there is more work to be done to change the culture among DOC staff, emphasizing that “we need to treat everybody with dignity and respect, to treat people as human beings, and see that person no matter whether they have a cap and gown and they’re graduating and ready to walk out the door, or if they’re sitting at rock bottom in restrictive housing, that they are still a human being.”
Hygiene and feminine product access in prison
The Corrections Committee also heard testimony on three bills which were open to public comment. One Republican bill (AB 297) would provide pay bonuses to DOC probation and parole officers based on their ability to increase employment rates among their clients under supervision. Rep. Benjamin Franklin (R – De Pere), the bill’s author and a member of the corrections committee, said the bill would help reduce the recidivism rate. Franklin was questioned by fellow lawmakers about whether the bill would adversely affect people who have small children at home, or who need to prioritize substance abuse treatment and mental health care over finding immediate employment.
There were also questions about how probation and parole officers might abuse the incentive structure such as by creating revolving doors where clients get and lose jobs, only to be hired somewhere else, earning another bonus for their probation agent.
The bill was backed by Cicero Action, a policy advocacy group whose board of directors is chaired by Joe Lonsdale, a billionaire co-founder of the data and surveillance company Palentir. Lonsdale has called for the use of public hangings to demonstrate “masculine leadership.”
Members of the public who attended the hearing, including members of the criminal justice reform advocacy groups Dream.org, Ladies of SCI, Ex-Incarcerated People Organizing, and others testified that people on probation and parole already have lives dictated by the whims of their agents. One woman gave an example of a formerly incarcerated loved one who had to take time out of their day for a three hour bus ride to check in with a probation agent for just a few minutes. Others shared firsthand experiences of being placed in unfulfilling jobs for which they were ill suited by their probation agents, or being discouraged from applying for certain kinds of work.
Rep. Shelia Stubbs (Left), Sen. LaTonya Johnson (Center), and Rep. Robyn Vining (Right). (Photo by Isiah Holmes/Wisconsin Examiner)
Two Democratic bills (AB 736 and AB 741) focused on increasing hygiene products across DOC facilities and expanding access to menstrual products for incarcerated women. Reps. Shelia Stubbs (D-Madison), Robyn Vining (D-Wauwatosa) and Sen. LaTonya Johnson (D-Milwaukee) presented the bills to the committee.
Stubbs said that “good hygiene is both a matter of health and dignity, especially for those incarcerated.” AB 741 would require the DOC to provide culturally sensitive products ranging from shampoos to shaving cream, bar soap, natural conditioners, and other products through the commissary at no more than 125% of the price at the highest-grossing retail chain in Wisconsin, or no more than 100% of the sales price, depending on the product. Incarcerated people would also be given a $25 monthly stipend to help purchase hygiene products. The bill would also require sheriffs overseeing jails to provide a stipend and products to people held within jails.
During testimony, some formerly incarcerated people shared experiences of witnessing fellow incarcerated people fight because of bad hygiene. Family members of incarcerated people said that the costs to purchase commissary items, make phone calls and other expenses amount to unsustainable drains on their household budgets.
Jefferson County Sheriff Travis Maze shows Corrections Committee members a box of mensuration supplies that are provided to women in his jail. (Photo by Isiah Holmes/Wisconsin Examiner)
AB 736 would expand access to safe and appropriate menstrual products to incarcerated women. Although some prisons and jails take it upon themselves to provide such products to their residents, not all of them do so consistently nor do they provide a range of appropriate products. In some cases, women can bleed through their clothing in prisons and jails, creating embarrassing and awkward situations in which correctional staff may or may not be sympathetic to their needs.
“In this way, menstruation becomes a monthly cycle of humiliation solely borne by women simply because they are women,” said Johnson. “And that’s not fair.” Johnson called providing menstrual products to incarcerated women “a minimum standard of care in more than two dozen states,” adding that the federal prison system guarantees women access to tampons and pads in correctional facilities. “States that have implemented these policies report minimal cost and improved conditions including fewer medical complications, fewer grievances, and safer, more sanitized facility environments.”
Lawmakers, as well as members of the public, pushed the committee to consider providing menstruation cups as well as more common products like tampons, and to evaluate whether products are safe or if they come with a risk of exposing incarcerated women to toxins. Many in the committee pointed out that if public bathrooms — including those in the Capitol — provide women with menstrual products for free, then why can’t jails and prisons?
“For far too long meaningful conversations about menstruation have been avoided due to stigma, and it is my hope that as leaders in the state of Wisconsin, we can change that,” Vining said in a statement. “We need to talk about this issue now because women are one of the fastest growing populations in the U.S. And over the last 25 years, the number of women in Wisconsin’s prisons and jails has quadrupled. Our state jails and prisons, and their policies and programs, were simply not designed to safely and humanely incarcerate women.”
Login
