Federal immigration authorities conducted a wave of arrests in greater Milwaukee over the final weekend in June as Immigration and Customs Enforcement launched what it called a “targeted operation” in and around the city.
The operation — likely the largest in Milwaukee since President Donald Trump took office in January 2025 — sent shock waves through the city’s immigrant neighborhoods as residents shared video and photos of alleged ICE enforcement actions in Milwaukee across social media.
Immigrant rights group Voces de la Frontera tallied 17 arrests in Milwaukee and one in Waukesha within the last week, though Wisconsin Watch and NNS have not yet independently corroborated that total.
“The people they are arresting are people in the asylum process,” or have an open immigration case, said Christine Neumann-Ortiz, executive director of Voces de la Frontera, an immigrant rights group based on Milwaukee’s South Side.
Details remain scarce, but an attorney representing several of the arrestees says none of his clients have prior convictions in Wisconsin or outstanding removal orders.
Milwaukee immigration attorney Marc Christopher cited three examples from the past weekend: a woman from the Dominican Republic arrested in front of her 7-year-old daughter; twins from Mexico cornered in their driveway on Milwaukee’s South Side; and a Salvadoran man picked up outside the Waukesha County Courthouse after appearing for a traffic ticket.
ICE activity
ICE officers surrounded Estenderly Marte Polanco near South 23rd and Greenfield streets on Milwaukee’s South Side on Saturday morning.
“There were four of them,” said Frankeli, the father of Marte Polanco’s children. Both Marte Polanco and Frankeli are undocumented; he asked NNS to refer to him by his first name alone out of fear that authorities could target him next.
The pair were running errands with their daughter when agents stopped their car, shattered a window and handcuffed Marte Polanco, he said. Wisconsin court records show no prior convictions or citations under Marte Polanco’s name. Frankeli said he heard the ICE agents shout that she had an arrest warrant as they took her away.
“They didn’t give us anything (on paper),” he said. Marte Polanco was in custody at the Waukesha County jail as of Monday, according to Christopher — one of six county detention facilities in Wisconsin that hold ICE detainees.
Christopher’s client from El Salvador was awaiting a hearing in his ongoing immigration court case at the time of his arrest in Waukesha on Saturday. “He hadn’t even missed a court date,” Christopher said. Federal immigration courts do not hear criminal cases, but the Trump administration broke with decades of precedent last year by requiring detention for any immigrant facing an active removal case.
Court records confirm the 32-year-old has no prior criminal convictions in Wisconsin. His traffic ticket — a May citation for driving without a license — is a common infraction for undocumented immigrants barred from obtaining driver’s licenses under Wisconsin law. Wisconsin Watch and NNS have not been able to reach the man to ask permission to use his name. An ICE detainee locator listed him in custody in Greene County, Missouri, as of Monday morning.
Federal authorities informed the Milwaukee Police Department that it planned to conduct “targeted enforcement for criminal activity in the area,” according to an MPD spokesperson. Both the police department and the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office referred questions about the operations to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, ICE’s parent agency.
DHS did not respond to questions about the scope of the operation. Instead, a spokesperson offered details about a June 26 traffic stop in which officers “encountered three illegal aliens including some with criminal histories including misappropriating identification to obtain money.”
The arrests prompted advocacy group Forward Latino to issue a community alert on June 27, and other immigrant rights organizations are still gathering details on the weekend’s events.
“We know how ICE has arrested people for everything from parking tickets to — whatever — in the past,” said Milwaukee Turners Executive Director Emilio De Torre. “I have no confidence that they’re just seeking people that are under lawful deportation orders.”
Voces de la Frontera issued alerts on Friday and Monday of confirmed ICE sightings in the city and also Waukesha. The group has been canvassing the South Side sharing information with residents on what to do if they encounter ICE agents.
Neumann-Ortiz issued a video statement urging residents to stay cautious and know their rights.
“You are not obligated to answer any questions and should demand to speak to a lawyer before you respond or sign anything,” she said.
Immigration enforcement records through March 2026 released by the nonprofit Deportation Data Project suggest ICE officers arrested at least 1,700 people in Wisconsin from January 2025 to March 2026. Roughly 20% of immigrants arrested in Wisconsin during that period had neither prior convictions nor pending criminal charges, including more than 100 people arrested during check-ins at the DHS field office in downtown Milwaukee.
The tactics on display over the weekend into Monday — daylight traffic stops and multiple alleged uses of force — have been rare in Wisconsin up to this point.
Devin Blake and Edgar Mendez of Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service contributed reporting.
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