Marchers organized by Voces de la Frontera demanded immigration reform from the federal government. (Photo | Joe Brusky)

A family friend who lives in Mexico flew into Chicago last week to visit his college-aged son. We exchanged messages about getting together. Could the two of them come up to Madison, I asked. “The truth is with everything that’s been happening in Chicago, and the arbitrary arrests, we almost haven’t gone out at all these last three days,” my friend wrote back. “This stuff with ICE, it’s unbelievable,” he added. “But there it is. It’s happening.” 

Sadly, he felt safer staying in his son’s apartment and then dashing to the airport Saturday to fly back to Mexico than driving across the border to visit us in Wisconsin.

The same day we exchanged messages, an ICE raid on the northeast side of Madison, not far from my home, swept up seven people. Madison police didn’t even know about the ICE raid until it was over, according to chief John Patterson.

So far, Wisconsin has not been targeted for the massive escalation in immigration raids taking place in neighboring states. But the Thursday morning arrests in Madison and a Sept. 25 sweep of dairy farm workers in Manitowoc mark a sudden shift.

Darryl Morin of the nonprofit Forward Latino addressed the Madison and Manitowoc raids at a Friday press conference in Milwaukee. “While other states such as California and Illinois have borne the brunt of these new immigration enforcement actions,” he said, “I fear we are turning the page and entering a new chapter, a new sad chapter, in immigration enforcement right here in our great state.”

“What we’re seeing in Chicago is now starting to hit closer to home,” agreed Jennifer Maldonado, an immigrants’ rights advocate in Manitowoc, who joined the press conference by video link. She described fielding calls from terrified family members after the crackdown in her area. “Many are people asking, ‘Should I send my children to school? Should I go to work?’” she said.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security claims it disrupted an international sex and drug trafficking ring when it grabbed the 24 Manitowoc farm workers at a Walmart parking lot and in a door-to-door operation targeting workers’ homes. 

But this is the same Department of Homeland Security that insisted a Mexican-born Milwaukee resident wrote a letter threatening to assassinate President Donald Trump — even after the person who actually wrote the letter, Demetric Scott, admitted that he was the real author and that he was trying to frame the other man to keep him from testifying against Scott at trial. Long after that confession a statement from DHS Secretary Kristi Noem celebrating the detention of “this illegal alien who threatened to assassinate President Trump” remained on the DHS website, uncorrected, connecting the wrong person to an image of the letter written by Scott. 

Dubious hype about immigrant workers, portraying them as dangerous, violent criminals, is the now-familiar backdrop to a crackdown that does not, in fact, have anything to do with fighting crime. Fewer than half of the people ICE has arrested under Trump are convicted criminals. Of those, only 7% have been convicted of violent crimes and only 5% of drug-related crimes, Tim Henderson of Stateline reports.

In Manitowoc, “This [criminal network] narrative was pushed without any basis to try to paint a negative image of an entire community,” Christine Neumann-Ortiz of Voces de la Frontera said during the Friday press conference. Of the 24 people arrested, ICE identified one person who faced serious criminal charges. But, as Henry Redman reported, that person was not among those rounded up and was already sitting in custody during the Sept. 25 raid. 

Neumann-Ortiz described seeing disturbing videos documenting ICE actions — agents barging into a home “as if this were some kind of cartel, when it’s a working class family” and of a father who was grabbed by ICE while taking out the garbage. “It’s disturbing. It’s very, very disturbing,” she said. 

One bright spot, she said, has been the community response to “the tragedy that we’re witnessing around the U.S. and here in Wisconsin as well.” She praised Wisconsinites’ sense of “urgency to build community — to support each other.” 

Voces and other groups have been training community members across the state, with Know Your Rights seminars and instruction on how to effectively document ICE activity without escalating a dangerous situation. They’ve been lobbying local communities to reject 287(g) ICE cooperation agreements along with the cash incentives the federal government is offering local law enforcement in exchange for rounding up immigrants — a system Neumann Ortiz described as allowing local police to “essentially function like bounty hunters.” And they’ve been trying to help immigrants prepare for the worst, connecting them with immigration attorneys and helping them make contingency plans by naming caretakers for their property and guardians for their children in case they are deported. Forward Latino is sharing helpful information in a “family separation toolkit.”

Advocates, Neumann-Ortiz said, are getting good at “combatting lies,” connecting immigrants with legal support, and moving fast.

Several Manitowoc workers have already been deported, she said, and another was moved to detention outside of Wisconsin, where it’s hard for his family members and his lawyers to be in touch with him. 

Morin said he was on the phone with a Wisconsin resident who had been detained by ICE and he could hear an agent yelling in the background that the man had to sign a self-deportation order. Morin was also yelling, telling the man not to sign, and that they had to let him see a lawyer. “That’s happening on a daily basis,” Morin said. “The violation of constitutional rights is happening right now on a daily basis.” 

Against a gale of misinformation, immigrants’ advocates are fighting to get out the truth. 

“You can fight your deportation. But people need to know that and not be tricked or conned into signing deportation orders,” Neumann Ortiz said.

“It’s not a crime to be undocumented in the US. It’s a civil violation,” Morino added. 

Farmers, alarmed at the prospect of losing the immigrant workers who perform 70% of the labor on Wisconsin dairy farms, have been communicating with each other and with immigrants rights groups, Neumann-Ortiz said, trying to help their employees protect themselves. 

“We need to scale it up even more, so that people are not tricked into giving up their rights,” she said. 

The federal immigration crackdown, and the way it has seeped into local communities, does nothing to improve public safety. We are all safer if immigrants are confident enough to call 911 to report crime and abuse “or if their neighbor’s house is on fire,” as Morin put it. 

Despite the dire news, advocates see progress in community engagement and responsiveness. 

“In the early days we were getting flooded with false reports,” Morin said. “People wanted to spread fear.” Now, through training and preparation, advocacy groups have created a reliable channel for information about ICE raids and are able to screen out unsubstantiated rumors.

And some communities that have been tempted to accept federal dollars and cooperate with ICE have begun to think twice.

In Palmyra, where the local police department signed an agreement with ICE, community pushback has slowed down implementation of the agreement. In Walworth County, Neumann-Ortiz said, public pressure helped persuade the sheriff to reject a 287(g) agreement and Ozaukee County rolled back an agreement to accept federal money in exchange for detaining immigrants arrested by ICE.

The massive increase in funding for ICE — and the incentives it offers local law enforcement agencies to pursue immigrants in their communities — is funded through the same “Big Beautiful Bill Act” that slashes health care, food assistance and education funding. “We’re taking away food from hungry kids, medical care, money from schools, to do what?” Neumann-Ortiz said, referring to the push to terrorize immigrants. “That does not promote public safety.”

A police officer stands watch as activists protest outside of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility on Sept. 5, 2025 in Broadview, Illinois. Immigrants without legal status who have been detained undergo processing at the facility.  (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON — Attorneys on behalf of a dozen U.S. House Democrats Thursday pushed for a federal judge to force the Trump administration to comply with an appropriations law that allows for unannounced oversight visits at Department of Homeland Security facilities that detain immigrants.  

“We don’t know what detention will look like in the future,” said Christine Coogle, a senior staff attorney for the group Democracy Forward, which represents the lawmakers.

Coogle argued before federal Judge Jia Cobb that because of the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration crackdown, the number of immigrants detained has ballooned. Coogle said that Democrats’ ability to conduct oversight visits without preapproval is not only needed, but already signed into law.  

The suit, filed in the District Court for the District of Columbia, charges that the Trump administration has overreached its authority in creating a policy to require members of Congress give DHS seven days’ notice, plus approval from an agency official, before visiting a facility where immigrants are detained. 

The suit also argues that the DHS policy is unlawful due to the appropriations law.  

DOJ argues against Dems

Appearing on behalf of the Trump administration, Department of Justice attorney Alexander Resar said that the entire case will be moot in three business days, citing the looming government shutdown by next week. He argued that because the appropriations law will expire, lawmakers will not have the authority to conduct oversight provided under that provision. 

Coogle pushed back and said that even the House’s seven-week continuing resolution to avoid a partial government shutdown, passed last week, contained the oversight provision.

“We expect it to be included,” in the fiscal year 2026 appropriations, Coogle said. 

Resar also argued that because that provision is attached to appropriations law, the administration views it as not as enforceable as a separate law passed by Congress.  

He added that Congress has multiple tools to conduct oversight of DHS facilities, such as withdrawing funding from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement or impeaching officials. Republicans control both chambers in Congress as well as the White House. 

Cobb questioned why two administrations, that of Biden and the first Trump administration, signed the appropriations bills into law for the past five years if they had an issue with the provision.

Resar said because the provision is attached to an appropriations bill, the Trump administration argues that it doesn’t reach the level of statutory authority. 

Blocked from entry

Democrats detailed in their suit that since June, DHS officials have blocked them from entering facilities that detain immigrants. 

Coogle said members of Congress being able to show up unannounced is an important tool, as in the past lawmakers have detailed how DHS has quickly made changes in preparation for planned visits. 

She said some of those changes include painting facilities and moving detainees.

Resar argued that “if the facilities are being changed for the better,” then planned visits seem beneficial overall. 

The oversight policy that allows members of Congress to show up unannounced at DHS facilities that detain immigrants, including ICE field offices, stems from the first Trump administration’s policy of separating children from their parents at the southern border in 2018. 

At that time, Democrats such as Rep. Veronica Escobar of Texas, who represents the border town of El Paso, were unable to conduct interviews with separated immigrant families and often denied entry into the facilities. 

That led to the inclusion of a provision in the fiscal year 2019 appropriations law that codified a member of Congress’ ability to conduct in-person oversight visits at DHS facilities where minors were detained. 

The provision later was expanded to include all immigrants detained at DHS facilities, not just children, and allowed for unannounced visits by members and the inclusion of congressional staff to enter with their members during oversight visits.

Twelve Democratic House members are part of the suit including Joe Neguse of Colorado, Adriano Espaillat of New York, Jamie Raskin of Maryland, Robert Garcia of California, J. Luis Correa of California, Jason Crow of Colorado, Veronica Escobar of Texas, Dan Goldman of New York, Jimmy Gomez of California, Raul Ruiz of California, Bennie Thompson of Mississippi and Norma Torres of California. 

U.S. Marshals and Homeland Security Investigations agents take a man into custody at the intersection of 14th and N streets NW in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 3, 2025. (Photo by Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)

WASHINGTON — A siren blared down one of Washington, D.C.’s busiest thoroughfares. And then, a loud noise. 

Residents in nearby apartment buildings peered through windows and from balconies to find a dark-colored SUV bumped up against a moped lying on the ground. A dog walker called 911 to report the incident before it became apparent that the unmarked vehicle belonged to federal law enforcement, when men in U.S. Marshals Service flak vests exited.

The rear driver-side tire on the Chevy Tahoe had completely blown and the marshals struggled to find a jack and spare while a uniformed Washington Metropolitan Police Department officer stood guard.

Bystanders pulled out phones to record and heckled. “Shame, shame, shame,” one repeatedly yelled. Another from a nearby apartment balcony screamed “Nazis!” Eyewitnesses began exchanging bits and pieces of what they said they saw, that the driver of the moped fled the scene.

“He didn’t get away though, did he? He’s down there in custody,” a U.S. marshal responded, gesturing to where the driver ran. 

The incident was like so many that have played out on the streets of Washington since Aug. 11, when President Donald Trump declared a federal crime emergency in the District of Columbia: A detainee is taken away by federal agents, often with local law enforcement standing by, and with little information provided to the public.

On the night of Sept. 3, a States Newsroom reporter witnessed and recorded most of the incident at 14th and N streets NW. 

U.S. marshals and Homeland Security Investigations agents detain a man at the intersection of 14th and N streets Northwest in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025. (Video by Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)  

Earlier this summer, Trump ordered National Guard troops and Marines to the streets of Los Angeles as his administration launched an immigration crackdown, muddling the messages on violent crime and immigration status. 

In recent days Trump has threatened to send National Guard troops to Chicago, Boston, Baltimore, New Orleans, Portland and other Democratic-led cities. As of Monday, the administration announced a wave of federal immigration agents were headed to Chicago.

“This is a big issue,” said Mike Fox, legal fellow for the Cato Institute’s Project on Criminal Justice.

Fox, whose think tank advocates for limited federal government, told States Newsroom in an interview about Trump’s federalization of law enforcement in cities that he believes the strategy breaks down trust.

“You have unidentified federal agents coming in, seizing people’s property, but more importantly, seizing people. It undermines the very premise upon which community policing is supposed to work,” Fox said.

Despite multiple inquiries, States Newsroom was not able to get any additional information on the man taken into custody.

Moped drivers 

On the night of Sept. 3, as U.S. marshals continued to struggle with the tire, Homeland Security Investigations agents arrived a short time later with a detainee in the back of a separate unmarked SUV. 

Eight marshals and Homeland Security Investigations agents surrounded the man to switch his restraints to a new set with chains around his waist and between his ankles. HSI is a law enforcement agency within U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, under the Department of Homeland Security.

News outlets including The New York Times, The Washington Post and Bellingcat have reported on the detainments of moped drivers in the district, and publicly crowd-sourced alerts from online monitor “Stop ICE Alerts” have included sightings of federal agents stopping mopeds. 

The 30-day federal crackdown has drawn widespread criticism and protests from district residents. District Mayor Muriel Bowser, however, has agreed to keep federal law enforcement on the streets beyond Trump’s emergency, which ends Wednesday.

Moped drivers who run food deliveries are a routine sight on D.C. streets, and many are from Latin America. Until recently, it wasn’t uncommon to see groups of moped food delivery drivers along 14th Street NW before a day’s work or on breaks between orders.

Law enforcement mum

A States Newsroom reporter saw the man being taken into custody but his name and his citizenship or immigration status could not be determined, nor the reason why police chased him. Officers on the scene did not respond to shouted questions.

The U.S. Marshals Service and Homeland Security Investigations have not provided information requested by States Newsroom regarding the incident, including whether the detainee was wanted on criminal charges or what happened to the moped that was left behind at the scene on a nearby sidewalk.

U.S. marshals are officers of the federal courts who usually apprehend fugitives and manage or sell seized assets. In January, Trump directed numerous federal law enforcement agencies, including the Marshals Service, to “investigate and apprehend illegal aliens.” 

States Newsroom has filed Freedom of Information Act requests with both agencies for body camera footage and reports about the incident and apparent impact between the SUV and moped, among other records.

Similarly, the Washington Metropolitan Police Department did not provide information on the incident, despite its presence on the scene.

When asked by States Newsroom if the agency made any records of assisting federal agents that night, MPD spokesperson Tom Lynch responded, “There is no publicly available document for this matter.”

‘It should scare people across the country’

Cato’s Fox said information on the federal crackdown in the district is scarce. 

“And that should scare everyone in D.C. It should scare Congress. It should scare people across the country. This is not a D.C.-specific issue,” Fox said. 

The American Civil Liberties Union’s D.C. Director Monica Hopkins told States Newsroom in a statement that “there are huge gaps and limitations in the accountability that is available to people” when it comes to federal law enforcement.

“Despite the Trump administration’s attempts at fear and intimidation, everyone in D.C. has rights, regardless of who they are and their immigration status,” Hopkins said.

The ACLU-DC is urging Congress to pass legislation barring federal immigration authorities from wearing face coverings and obscuring their agencies or identification when engaged in enforcement actions.

The Homeland Security Investigations agents and U.S. marshals at the incident witnessed by States Newsroom did not have their faces covered and were wearing vests identifying their respective agencies.

However, agents carrying out detainments in balaclava-style face coverings or bandanas and plain clothes, donning vests that only say “police,” have been witnessed and recorded by members of the public and journalists.

Later that night

As the scene wrapped up in Northwest D.C. on Sept. 3, immigrant advocates on bicycles arrived.

The volunteers said they were with the Migrant Solidarity Mutual Aid group, a network in the D.C., Maryland and Virginia area collecting information on immigration arrests and raids. The group runs a hotline for arrest reports and for family members seeking relatives who may have been detained.

States Newsroom contacted the mutual aid organization but could not obtain any details about the Sept. 3 incident.

Roughly an hour after police cleared that night, a States Newsroom reporter witnessed a small group of people surrounding the moped. A few tried to start the engine and removed at least one item from the under-seat storage compartment.

The moped was no longer there the following morning.

U.S. Marshals and the Department of Homeland Security have not responded to questions about the whereabouts of the moped.