Milwaukee ICE enforcement, city accuses feds of violating ordinance

MILWAUKEE - Milwaukee leaders accuse U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement of breaking a city ordinance, while an agency spokesperson stands by officers' decision to "protect themselves" on the job.

ICE in Milwaukee

Big picture view:

ICE said it arrested 39 people over the weekend. The federal agency said those people were in the country illegally and that many had criminal histories, including for sexual assault and DUI.

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Voces de la Frontera denied that and shared recent images at a news conference of federal immigration agents masked in Milwaukee. And on Wednesday, a fight erupted over what ICE agents are wearing during the arrests.

"For ICE to be doing this, which is again, against our ordinance, it drives me insane," said Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson.

Masked agents

The backstory:

In April, Milwaukee's Common Council and mayor approved a new ordinance. It bans all law enforcement from wearing masks in public when on duty. It provides exemptions if wearing it for health or safety reasons.

"There’s no need to do that, have masked police in the United States of America," said Johnson. "We don’t have a Gestapo police in the United States. We shouldn’t have a secret police in the United States. If you engage with a law enforcement officer, you should be able to clearly identify who they are, their badge, their name, and they should identify themselves as such," Johnson said.

Milwaukee's ordinance also requires all law enforcement to either wear their name on their uniform and their agency – or when asked – to share that information. It also requires cars be labeled – except for undercover assignments.

"It isn’t that it is not working, it is that it is not being respected," said Milwaukee Ald. Marina Dimitrijevic. "We will hold people accountable."

Fines for feds?

What they're saying:

Breaking the masking and ID ordinance could lead to a fine up to $10,000.

"Who’s going to fine them? It’s not going to be MPD. How do you the fine the federal government? An officer is not going to write a ticket and then give it to an ICE officer," said Alexander Ayala, Milwaukee Police Association president.

MPD said in a statement that it has requested a formal written legal opinion from the city attorney's office about the mask ordinance. The city attorney already signed off on the ordinance as legal and enforceable.

Milwaukee County action

The backstory:

Milwaukee County also recently passed an ordinance to ban law enforcement from staging in county parks without prior authorization. The county's attorney said the legislation couldn't just target ICE because that would violate constitutional principles, so it said all law enforcement.

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Milwaukee County Supervisor Juan Miguel Martinez shared images of what he said were federal agents at the Mitchell Domes.

"Right now the idea is to document and know as much as possible and make sure everybody has eyes on the park…and are looking and documenting to see when and what parks that they are staging at, so later on we can sue them for staging without a permit," he said. "These are kind of small things that we are trying to get done, but, now allowing them in our parks is the idea here, to slow them down or stop what they are doing, from terrorizing our community as much as possible."

ICE responds

The other side:

In a statement, a U.S. Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said:

"ICE is targeting criminal illegal aliens including murderers, rapists, criminals, gang members and more. In 2025, nearly 70% of ICE arrests are of illegal aliens charged or convicted of a crime in the U.S.

"Enforcing federal immigration laws is a clear federal responsibility under Article I, Article II and the Supremacy Clause.

"While Milwaukee sanctuary politicians continue to release pedophiles, rapists, gang members, and murderers onto their streets, our brave law enforcement will continue to risk their lives to arrest these heinous criminals and make Milwaukee safe again.

"Sanctuary politicians attempting to ban our federal law enforcement from wearing masks is despicable and a flagrant attempt to endanger our officers. To be crystal clear: we will not abide by unconstitutional bans. The Supremacy Clause makes it clear that Milwaukee’s sanctuary politicians do not control federal law enforcement.

"ICE officers wear face coverings for one reason: to protect themselves and their families from real-world threats including agitators. The danger is not hypothetical. Public databases and online "lists" have been created to expose officers’ identities. Today, our ICE law enforcement officers face a more than 1,300% increase in assaults, 3,300% increase in vehicular attacks, and an 8,000% increase in death threats against them."

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