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Advocates sound alarm over ICE office relocation in Milwaukee

Documents obtained by TMJ4 state that the government office would be used to process non-detained report-ins and detainees for transport to holding facilities.
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MILWAUKEE — For years, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, agents have worked out of an office in Downtown Milwaukee. 

That will change in the near future as the Department of Homeland Security plans to move its office on Knapp and Broadway to Lake Park Drive, just off Interstate 41 on Milwaukee’s northwest side. 

Documents obtained by TMJ4 state that the government office would be used to process non-detained report-ins and detainees for transport to holding facilities.

Wednesday afternoon, city and county leaders, along with community members, gathered outside the new ICE office.

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Fernanda Jimenez, a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipient, is dedicated to advocating for immigration reform alongside her organization, Comite Sin Fronteras

“What we've been working mostly on is making sure that we protect our immigrant community but also fight for a pathway to citizenship,” she said.

Fernanda Jimenez
Fernanda Jimenez

Currently, a significant concern for Jimenez and her group is the planned relocation to a new processing facility on Milwaukee's northwest side.

This issue dominated their discussions on Wednesday, as Jimenez understands the implications of such a move.

Brought to the U.S. as a child, Jimenez is undocumented but protected from deportation by federal policy (DACA). Despite her protections, she remains anxious for friends and family who do not share the same status.

Watch: Advocates sound alarm over ICE office relocation in Milwaukee

Advocates sound alarm over ICE office relocation in Milwaukee

“Even though it's not considered a detention center, it's just a place where they're going to process people. It gives them the ability, they're closer to the highway, and they're able to take them to a detention center. That gives them more expansion to be able to process anybody,” she explained.

The proposed facility has ignited fear for some within Milwaukee's Latino community, according to fellow DACA recipient Mario Rubio and Cesar Hernandez, who lives on Milwaukee’s south side.

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“Some people, with this happening, are afraid to work. So you're losing out on income. You're losing out on groceries. You know, you're slowly putting yourself in this corner where it just becomes more lonely,” Rubio said.

Mario Rubio
Mario Rubio

In response, an ICE spokesperson told TMJ4 that no ICE detention facilities are planned for the location in question.

“I call BS,” said Cesar Hernandez, a Milwaukee resident. “I think that it's a line they're feeding to the media as well to try to keep some of the outrage or some of the outcry and response and organizing to a minimum, but I think we know better.”

Cesar Hernandez
Cesar Hernandez

He shared his concerns over the facility in question.

“I was disgusted. It didn't surprise me that DHS didn’t so much as reach out to the local elected officials as an act of good faith, or at least work in collaboration with the local elected officials that they would have to be working with if they plan to implement those facilities,” he said.

As discussions continue, it remains unclear when the Department of Homeland Security plans to move into the new building.


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