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.
Criminal justice
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, Criminal justice
Alleged Wisconsin fake elector accomplices plead not guilty as Trump seeks to rewrite 2020 election
The Wisconsin case is one of the last cases standing in the effort to prosecute those who tried to overturn the 2020 election.
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
Commutations are back in Wisconsin – as are strong feelings about them
Some say people can change after serving time in prison. But critics question whether people convicted of serious violent crimes should ever be released early.
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 inCriminal justice
Tony Evers revived commutations, but what will Wisconsin’s next governor do?
Mandela Barnes was the only Democrat who, when initially asked, split from the governor’s executive order allowing commutations for murder convictions.
Posted inCriminal justice
Wisconsin Watch launches immigration court data tracker
It’s part of a new approach to data storytelling: news applications.
Posted inCommunity, Criminal justice
Commutations are back. Here’s what incarcerated people and their loved ones should know.
For the first time in decades, Wisconsin prisoners will be able to apply to have their sentences commuted, Gov. Tony Evers announced. Wisconsin Watch talked to three experts about how prisoners and their families can learn more and prepare.