MADISON – The ACLU of Wisconsin congratulates the Dane County community members who successfully advocated for withdrawal from the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP) after Dane County Sheriff Kalvin Barrett yesterday announced intentions to do so.
SCAAP partially reimburses state and municipal governments for the costs of incarcerating certain undocumented people who have certain criminal convictions (a felony or two misdemeanors). In exchange, departments tell Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) information about those particular people incarcerated for at least four consecutive days who were either identified or suspected of being undocumented.
A 2022 ACLU of Wisconsin report on the jail-to-deportation pipeline revealed that thirty Wisconsin counties and the Department of Corrections received over $2 million combined in federal funding through SCAAP. Between 2016 and 2020, Wisconsin’s biggest local sheriff beneficiary of SCAAP was Dane County, which collected $634,000.
For over two years, we asked concerned Dane County community members to call Sheriff Barrett and demand that he end his department’s participation in SCAAP.
“We are glad that Dane County has joined the other Wisconsin counties standing strong against this administration’s deportation machine,” said Senior Staff Attorney Tim Muth.
“Local law enforcement faces a choice: Refuse to cooperate with ICE, or be unnecessarily complicit in fearmongering and tearing apart families. We urge each department in Wisconsin to take seriously their charge of public safety and service to the community."
