Media Milwaukee gathered the opinions of several top immigration lawyers in Wisconsin. Here’s what they said:
Aissa Olivarez, staff attorney at Community Immigration Law Center
She began by saying that she’s noticed a lack of discretion by ICE, in that they are much more aggressive than ever before, disregarding certain precautions about pending charges and minor offenses. “Now, we’re just seeing it be done with little discretion,” she said.
Basically, there are no punches pulled under the new administration. A good deal of undocumented citizens without a criminal record, she says, are being detained and, subsequently, deported. Under the Obama administration, she says, people with a violent history, or fugitives from justice would be targeted. (She also says that Obama deported many people, though, and more than U.S. citizens would know.) Since its inception, ICE, in her words, has always been active in the Latino community. One thing of note, which she said the mainstream media should cover more of, is the legalities of renewal orders, how people are fighting governmental state attorneys and how the undocumented citizens are not fighting cases.
“It’s a huge due process issue. Non-profit organizations don’t have the ability to provide a defense attorney, in many cases,” she says. To her, immigrants are fighting an uphill battle, in that they usually aren’t represented at all – given the exorbitant fees – and usually accept removal orders. She says that many ICE detention centers are overpopulated, that people are sleep deprived and suffer from malnutrition. Many are willing to be deported after experiencing the conditions.
-Interview by Andrew Boldt
John Sesini, Immigration Lawyer, Sesini Law Group
He’s been a lawyer since 1991 and is in his 20th year of working in immigration law. His firm takes on family related cases that include marriage, juveniles, VAW, asylums, removal defense, “crimmigration” (criminal immigration), visas and naturalizations. Most of his clients find him through word of mouth and advertisements.
He said he works with ICE a lot, normally in the court room. He said their exchanges range in topics from supervision, working out bonds, and work with the immigration judges. He said that there was more cooperation with ICE under Obama, and it has been significantly more difficult since Trump came into office. He said that most of his clients used to be able to bond out, and now that just isn’t going to happen under Trump. They aren’t going to get released out of custody.
He said that the rumors of people being rounded up on the streets are absolutely true. He said that there are ICE operations that frequently go up to Green Bay and look for specific people, many of whom have criminal backgrounds, but many don’t. Normally, he said, that his clients have ICE detainers on them by the time he starts to work with them.
He said that there has been an increase in ICE activity, and that he thinks that there will continue to be an increase. He definitely said within the last year that that increase has happened. His words were “I think it’s going to continue to get worse.” He said that there is normally a way, once someone’s been deported, to get them back legally, but that has been harder since Trump.
Sesini also represents hundreds of DACA students, as well. He is unsure of how many children are being deported in Wisconsin, in comparison to those near the border.
-Interview by Catie Middleton
Cain Oulahan, immigration lawyer
He said he has been practicing “exclusively immigration Law since 2011. I’ve been working on immigration cases for over 10 years. I do deportation defense and naturalization, DACA.”
As for the new Milwaukee County Sheriff Earnell Lucas, he is hopeful. He said he believes Lucas “will want to make Milwaukee a very welcoming place for immigrants. So, I don’t see him aggressively pursuing enforcement, cooperation with ICE. He’s likely to focus on run the jails efficiently and enforcing state laws within Milwaukee County.”
He explained the 287g program.
“It’s a program that exists under Federal Law that allows local law enforcement agencies to apply to have special training for their officers, and there are two parts to this program. First, have officers at the jail trained, deputized. The other program is field operations, where officers may be in the field conducting traffic spots and also be able to carry out immigration enforcement.”
He does not believe the new sheriff would be likely to apply for it. The only one that has is Waukesha County.
Without a 287G, how would ICE get involved?
“ICE still has access to law enforcement information they can see who is there, and make requests to the jail, called detainers. Most jails are generally cooperating with those. But cooperations vary, like Dane County who is not fully cooperating. So besides detainers, ICE is always doing their own field operations. So they can find people whether they have cooperation locally, or not.”
Does Ice target a specific demographic? He says the Obama administration “had one set of priorities but the Trump administration has much broader parameters. Basically anyone in the country without status is now a target. Some of course are higher priorities than others.. like gang affiliations or serious convictions or involved in terrorism. But due to limited field enforcement, (they) usually prioritize people with criminal records, including DUIs, who tend to be targeted more.”
He explained that if a person misses a court date “they will be deported in absentia. They don’t get to go back to court at that point. They would be removed by ICE. On rare cases they may have a reason to reopen their case. For example, if they missed the official notice, that is an automatic basis to reopen. But you would need a lawyer in that case.”
Detained people have some rights, he said. “Yes, they do get that opportunity to request a hearing before a judge as well. ICE will give the person an option, to agree to be deported, thereby waving their rights to a hearing. Or they can request a hearing before the judge. The only time a person would not have a right to a court date, is if they are illegal and an aggravated felon. If you have a green card you would always have a right to a court appearance. Only undocumented, can be deported without.”
He thinks the country’s immigration laws “are definitely outdated. I don’t think they offer enough for well-intentioned people who should be able to be here. In terms of the process, I think it has some fair aspects to it, like allowed to have a hearing and due process, but it is difficult for them to have a lawyer, to afford one or find one. They have no right to a lawyer (public defender). So, children can’t find or afford a lawyer, they are defending themselves, and is that fair to a child? In some cases, pressure of lying from ICE to enter their homes without a warrant, can cause problems. There is a big problem how this administration is handling asylum applicants. They are violating their national law, not allowing people to claim asylum. Generally, the laws are fair but outdated. But the way they get enforced, there is a lot of unfairness.”
Of unauthorized people, he added: “A vast majority are hard working people, who want to make a living and support their families and have to come to think of this country as home. They are giving back and are very positive people. Sure some of criminal records, in many cases a bad mistake they made when they were younger. And in many cases have tried to turn their life around and make up for it. It is very rare that I encounter someone who has bad intentions. A vast majority are really good folks and are only a problem because they lack status.”
-Interview by Amanda Maniscalco
Davorin Ordcic, immigration lawyer
Davorin Ordcic has been a lawyer since ‘01. He started out in commercial corporate litigation and until he handled asylum applications and found that he liked.
Since 2006. he has exclusively worked in immigration law.
“I was drawn to it because I do have an immigrant background,” he said, explaining that his father is Croation (not born in the U.S.) and his mother is Slovakian.
During his career, he coined a term which would come to symbolize part of the immigration debate: crimmigration, the intersection between immigration and crime.
When asked about the term, he said, “Crimmigration is the nexus relationship between immigration and criminal law. That’s probably what I’m known for.”
Ordcic said new Milwaukee County Sheriff Earnell Lucas is someone the immigration community has hopes for.
“The expectation is that he’s not going to honor ICE detainers at the Milwaukee jail,” he said, adding, “I don’t know how that’s going to play out.”
Honoring detainers, he said, can be worse on the communities where more dangerous deportees are taken.
“Sometimes local jails make a huge mistake by honoring ICE detainers,” and then describing a man with a first-degree sex assault charge of a child who was deported before he could be prosecuted.
He said the incident was not isolated and is an often-overlooked issue.
“I have seen this in several instances,” he said. “ICE cares most about their enforcement policy, even if they have pending felony charges. That’s not really being victim-friendly.”
As for the detainers, he said, “ICE cannot force these to be honored.”
Ordcic believes here are issues with ICE detainers because of the fourteenth amendment’s vague application of who is eligible to receive due process.
He explained that ICE detainers are, “a request from ICE to a local jail which asks people believed to be in violation of immigration law to be held 48 hours longer so they can be taken into ICE custody.”
If families post bond, they can still be held for the additional 48 hours, and oftentimes, this will trigger an ICE detainer. Even after they post bond, the families never get it back if the person is deported and they have to seek an additional bond for immigration court.
If a non-citizen is convicted of a crime, ICE puts them on a special docket to secure a removal order; however, that order is only executed when their sentence is up and in the meantime, taxpayers foot the bill.
“There are a lot of challenges, both statutory and constitutional,” he said. “I think that ICE detainers are unlawful. The 48 hours is a total joke; there’s no mechanism to enforce that.”
If people complain about waiting in jail, the are often immediately deported.
Ordcic said ICE has the right to go up to anyone and say, “Where were you born?” He advises his clients ask if they are free to go. If the ICE agent says “No,” he tells them to ask “What reasonable suspicion do you have that I’m here without status?”
And the answer can’t be ethnic because the fourth amendment prevents ICE from ethnically profiling people.
However, that begs the question; who is being targeted by ICE? Average people or criminals?
“The truth is in the middle,” he said. “A lot of people that get placed into immigration courts, either there is an ICE detainer or they show up to their probation office and ICE is there.”
Ordcic said ICE specifically targets:
(1) People with arrest/criminal convictions,
(2) People with outstanding removal orders,
(3) Previously deported reentries, which incurs substantial prison time.
Meeting unauthorized immigrants when they check in for probation is a lot safer for ICE. However, while finding supposed targets, they will arrest them even if they have no record.
This is a big fear in the communities where his clients live.
“I got a big uptick of consultation after Trump was elected,” he added.
But despite extreme rhetoric from conservatives and liberals, Ordcic said the reality is much less sensational.
“The biggest, most common reason people end up in immigration court is drinking and driving — it’s a common way to be placed on the ICE radar,” he said.
-Interview by Talis Shelbourne