WINNEBAGO COUNTY, Wis. — The Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office is one of 13 law enforcement departments throughout the state of Wisconsin that signed an agreement to work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Winnebago County Sheriff John Matz said for his team, this means nothing new.
“We run people through a portal when they are booked into our facility and we determine their citizenship. It will either say they are a U.S. citizen or it will be undetermined or it will say they are not,” said Matz.
Matz said working with ICE is just like working with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) or working with federal marshals.
He said there is a lot of false information out there about what this collaboration means.
“People have called me and said, ‘Are you going to round people up that are working on farms? Are you going to ask for proof of citizenship on a traffic stop? Are you going to some of the businesses in town looking for citizenship papers?’ That is not happening by any way, shape or form,” said Matz.
The Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office signed the 287(g) agreement, which allows law enforcement agencies to enforce certain aspects of U.S. immigration law.
Davorin Odrcic, an immigration lawyer, said the concerns that some are expressing to the Winnebago County Sheriff are the same concerns Odrcic is seeing.
“I will tell you that the level of fear within the immigrant community, now during the past couple of months, is off the charts,” said Odrcic. “I will tell you that the level of fear within the immigrant community, now during the past couple of months, is off the charts,” said Odrcic.
The Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office said it will not be going to dairy farms or detaining people in public due to immigration status.
Odrcic said they and other law enforcement departments entering into these agreements could do that if they wanted to.
“It is just an odd situation to enter into these agreements but also acknowledge that you know that the people in your county that lack immigration status are working at dairy farms,” said Odrcic.
Odrcic said that these agreements are going to discourage the immigrant community from working with local law enforcement altogether.
“I think that the 287(g) agreements are going to make it more challenging for law enforcement to have folks come forward and be cooperative,” said Odrcic.
Amber Rozek is a corrections lieutenant for the Winnebago County Sheriff. Rozek said the collaboration with ICE will allow her to go through new training.
She said this training won’t change much in her day-to-day activities.
“The training that we are doing is purely administrative in dealing with the paperwork that is issued with the detainers and the handling of the warrants,” said Rozek.
Rozek said she believes collaborating with larger organizations, such as ICE, is the best way to keep the community safe.
“It is a benefit to everybody because we have the same goal of keeping the community safe and this is one of those agencies. That is their goal, so we work with them to provide that to the community,” said Rozek.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this story listed the incorrect number of law enforcement departments in Wisconsin that have agreed to collaborate with ICE. This has been corrected. (May 23, 2025)
