MILWAUKEE — A group made up of nonprofits supporting immigrants’ rights, Milwaukee County leaders and local attorneys joined forces Tuesday to ensure residents felt safe coming to the Milwaukee County Courthouse.
On Friday, the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) confirmed ICE agents made two arrests at the courthouse.
A representative for MCSO said it was notified about one arrest beforehand, but was not given advance notice of the other.
The representative with MCSO said it is not uncommon for federal officials to search online databases for upcoming court hearings for individuals they are seeking.
However, local leaders and nonprofits said this interferes with due process at the courthouse.
An ICE spokesperson said on April 3, 27-year-old Edwin Bustamante-Sierre, a citizen of Nicaragua, was arrested by ICE at the Milwaukee County Courthouse.
ICE said Bustamante-Sierre was convicted in Fond Du Lac County of reckless driving in Dec. 2024 and is currently charged with endangering safety, reckless use of a firearm, use of a dangerous weapon and cocaine possession in Milwaukee County.
The second arrest made on March 20 was 24-year-old Marco Cruz-Garcia, a Mexican citizen. ICE said Cruz-Garcia is a known member of the Sureños transnational criminal street gang.
He was previously arrested for multiple criminal charges, including breaking or entering, car theft and assault. Cruz-Garcia was ordered removed from the U.S. to Mexico by an immigration judge Feb. 5, 2020.
ICE said these arrests were made in accordance with ICE directive issues on Jan. 21.
“ICE officers or agents may conduct civil immigration enforcement actions in or near courthouses when they have credible information that leads them to believe the targeted alien is or will be present at a specific location. When practicable, ICE officers and agents will conduct civil immigration enforcement actions against targeted aliens discreetly to minimize their impact on court proceedings,” ICE said in a statement.
In a press conference Tuesday, Milwaukee County officials, nonprofit leaders and local attorneys spoke on the recent arrests at the Milwaukee County Courthouse.
“This courthouse is where everybody brings their claims, free to prove their case,” Mark Thompson, Forward Latino Civil Rights legal adviser and attorney, said. “This courthouse has to be an independent safe place for democracy to function.”
The group said it is coming together to address places such as schools, courthouses, hospitals and churches are deemed “safe spaces,” and should remain that way.
“If our courthouse and all the other places designed to meet the physical, spiritual, intellectual, emotional needs of our people, our hospitals, our schools, our places of worships and our courthouses.” Bishop Paul Erickson, with the Greater Milwaukee Synod ELCA, said. “If they are not safe for everyone, then they are not safe for anyone.”
This concern has brought together local leaders, including Milwaukee County Supervisor Caroline Gomez-Tom, to create an action plan.
“In this effort of coordination and response, we are putting together legislation next week that introduces a plan forward with our county executive office, with our chief judge, with all of these partners here in front of you today and with the public as they want to participate, to make sure that we have a coordinated and comprehensive plan to make sure people are safe as they enter our courthouse,” Gomez-Tom said.
While there are no concrete plans just yet, Gomez-Tom said the group’s goal is to ensure residents of Milwaukee County feel safe coming to the courthouse.
“The local legislation that we are considering is to work on what we have already started to work on in this last week in reaction to what happened,” Gomez-Tom said. “Which is a plan to make sure that we are keeping our courthouse safe for all residents of Milwaukee County.”
