GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Green Bay Police and the area Hispanic community are both waiting for more information on how President Elect Donald Trump plans to carry out his deportation plan.
FOX 11 recently sat down with leaders from both groups.
While it remains unknown whether local law enforcement officers will be asked to help make deportations, Green Bay Police Chief Chris Davis has concerns what his department assisting with deportation efforts could do to the trust Hispanic community members have for his officers.
“What I really don’t want to see happen is anyone in our community, regardless of how they got here or where they’re from, being afraid to seek help from a Green Bay Police officer when they need it,” said Davis.
Amanda Garcia, executive director of Hispanic resource center Casa ALBA Melanie, says a loss of trust is likely to happen if police officers are seen with Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel.
“If they see police officers helping ICE carry out deportations, in their mind then they’re all connected, they’re all working together,” said Garcia.
Garcia sits on a Latino committee that meets monthly with Green Bay Police called Amigos en Azul, which means friends and blue. She says the two sides have been productive in bridging gaps that remain between the two sides.
“I do think there is area for improvement there, just beyond showing up at events,” said Garcia. “It’s more of learning the actual history of Latinos and also us learning what police officers have to go through every day.”
While both sides worry about harming the progress that’s been made locally, those in support of mass deportation efforts say the enforcement is necessary.
“The President has been clear,” said incoming border czar Tom Homan during a FOX News interview on November 19th. “Out of the gate, we’re going to focus on public safety threats and national security threats first and fugitives – those who crossed the border illegally, had great due process at great taxpayer expense, were ordered removed from an immigration judge and didn’t leave.”
FOX 11 asked Chief Davis if it is typical for local police to assist ICE.
“I haven’t seen much of it and usually where I have seen it it’s more on the customs enforcement side and I haven’t seen any of that since I’ve been here,” said Davis.
In 2018, during Trump’s first presidency, ICE arrested 83 people throughout Wisconsin in one weekend – including nine arrests in Brown County.
Green Bay’s police chief at the time, Andrew Smith, told FOX 11 his department received no heads up and did not provide assistance.
“We didn’t find out about it until Monday,” said Smith in 2018. “Right around noon, we started getting calls from our community members saying hey people are getting taken out of their homes or taken out of their businesses by folks, is it you or is it immigration?”
“We’re not trained in that kind of work and we have different operating procedures than federal law enforcement authorities do,” said Davis.
The Green Bay Police Department does not ask anyone their immigration status.
Chief Davis says he needs to know details of any federal request related to deportations before committing whether his department would participate..
