Wisconsin will begin enforcing new federal eligibility rules that cut FoodShare and Medicaid for an estimated 7,200 refugees and other legally present immigrants.
Paul Kiefer / Wisconsin Watch
Paul Kiefer joined Wisconsin Watch in September 2025 as a Roy W. Howard fellow, focusing largely on immigration and data reporting. He grew up in Washington state, first setting foot in a newsroom as a teenage producer-in-training at a Seattle public radio station. He went on to cover criminal justice in Washington for both the Seattle news site PubliCola and InvestigateWest. He headed east in 2023, finding work as a state politics reporter for Delaware Public Media before receiving a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Maryland and interning with the Washington Post’s metro desk.
Posted inCriminal justice
Local officials voice frustrations as ICE announces 39 Wisconsin arrests
Federal agents conducted a rare public enforcement operation across the state as immigrant advocates reported widespread fear and Milwaukee officials questioned ICE’s use of city and county property.
Posted inCriminal justice
ICE ramps up operations in Milwaukee while advocates rush to catch up
The wave of arrests — likely among the largest in Milwaukee since President Donald Trump took office in January 2025 — sent shock waves through the city’s immigrant neighborhoods.
Posted inCommunity, Economic Development
Could Milwaukee create its own electric utility? Officials explore taking over We Energies infrastructure within city limits
A board discussed whether the city could create a public electric utility by acquiring We Energies assets, which supporters say could increase local control over energy decisions.
Posted inCommunity, Economic Development
We Energies asks Wisconsin regulators to ease data center credit standards
The utility says new financial security requirements for large data centers could discourage major investments in the state. Consumer advocates say the standards protect existing customers from financial risk.
Posted inCriminal justice
Freed on bond, Sheboygan Falls woman returns to Milwaukee immigration office amid legal limbo
Elvira Benitez Suarez, released from ICE detention after an appeals court ruling opened the door to bond, checked in with immigration authorities Monday as her fight for legal residency continues.
Posted inCommunity, Criminal justice
Wisconsin’s prison population is heading toward a record high. Track the trend here.
Overcrowding is particularly extreme in Wisconsin’s women’s prisons, two of which hold more than twice as many people as they were designed for. A new Wisconsin Watch tool, updated weekly, shows the population approaching the 2019 record.
Posted inCriminal justice
Decade-old marijuana conviction prompts ICE detention of Wisconsin green card holder after family trip
After returning from her native New Zealand, Hortonville resident Everlee Wihongi was detained over a 2014 marijuana possession conviction. Immigration attorneys say similar low-level offenses are increasingly triggering detention under the Trump administration.
Posted inCommunity, Public Safety
Wisconsin mother granted bond in challenge to ICE detention rule
A Sheboygan Falls woman tested a federal appeals court ruling against a Trump administration policy barring many ICE detainees from seeking release on bond.
Posted inCommunity, Housing
As homelessness crisis worsens, Milwaukee sees some success
Despite increase in homelessness, advocates see signs of hope.