ICE arrests 7 people in Madison, the first here amid rising immigration enforcement

MADISON, Wis. (WMDX) – Advocates and police confirm the first ICE arrests in Madison since the Trump administration has ramped up immigration enforcement. 

Centro Hispano of Dane County posted on social media saying seven people were arrested on the northeast side of the city Thursday. “There has been only one presence and arrests in a residential address to which ICE approached in a very specific way,” the post read in part. 

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Madison Police confirmed that ICE was in Madison, and said they first learned about it from community advocates.

“The Madison Police Department was not made aware of the presence of ICE officials in Madison yesterday until after their enforcement action was complete, and after they were already gone from our community,” MPD spokesperson Korrie Rondorf said in a statement. “We were made aware of their possible presence by trusted community partners, and we were later able to confirm it by contacting federal partners.”

ICE often doesn’t alert local authorities when they’re making arrests in the area. 

Centro has a hotline for reports of ICE in the community. They said Thursday’s arrests were the first verified ICE arrests in the capital city since immigration enforcement has increased. “This has been the only verified incident in Madison so far,” the post said. “There are no confirmed reports of ICE activity elsewhere in the city or specifically targeted.”

The Trump administration has said ICE is arresting “the worst of the worst”, including people convicted of violent crimes. However, their own data, last updated in June, shows that about 90 percent of people arrested by ICE had no violent convictions. Meanwhile, 65 percent of people ICE arrested had no criminal convictions.