US Rep. Steil labeled Dane County a ‘sanctuary city,’ but it’s complicated

Donald Trump has promised that millions of people are going to be deported during his second term, and when it comes time to find people to deport, Dane County could find itself a target. 

That’s based on comments made by U.S.Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Wisconsin, during a meeting of the House Judiciary Committee just days before the 2024 election: 

"When we think about the policies of sanctuary cities, and we know Dane County operates as a sanctuary city because ICE makes it clear that Dane County does not coordinate with them, we know the danger that poses to our communities," Steil said. "There’s been state legislation where we could’ve had an opportunity to ban sanctuary cities here in the United States, and we’ve not been successful in doing that under Democratic leadership." 

The term "sanctuary city" is vague, is not a legal term and has different interpretations, so we’ll forego a formal ruling. But here’s what we found when we dug into Steil’s claim.

What is a ‘sanctuary city’?

There is no legal definition of a "sanctuary city," but according to Global Refuge, a Maryland-based non-profit that helps immigrants and refugees, it is a term often assigned to a municipality or community "with a policy, written or unwritten, that discourages local law enforcement from reporting the immigration status of individuals unless it involves investigation of a serious crime." 

This is not the first time Dane County, specifically the city of Madison, has been labeled a sanctuary.

In 2020, PolitiFact Wisconsin published a piece on President Trump calling Madison and Milwaukee sanctuary cities, which was rated Half True. 

In the fact check, it was noted that the Dane County sheriff did not honor a hold requested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement during a criminal case in 2019 for Luis Ruiz-Ugalde who was accused of several attacks in Madison. 

PolitiFact Wisconsin filed a public records request with the sheriff’s office on the Ruiz-Ugalde case. According to an email at the time, the sheriff's office did get the order from ICE but told the department the suspect was being transferred to a different correctional facility in Dodge County and ICE needed to file a I-247 form with that correctional facility. And it attached the form in the email.

A fax was sent from the jail clerk at the sheriff’s office to "US Immigration" saying:

"Above subject is here on local charges. Attached is your I-247 form. Dane County Sheriff's Office will not hold for your agency using this form. If you want to have the subject held, you must provide a court document signed by a judge granting law enforcement the authority to hold above subject."

The fax went on to say once the charges were completed the sheriff’s office would reach out to the department to see if ICE could pick up Ruiz-Ugalde "within 30 minutes, if not, the subject will be released without delay." 

In 2021, Ruiz-Ugalde was convicted of attempted second degree sexual assault of a child, burglary, fourth degree sexual assault and battery stemming from his arrest in 2019. He’s currently incarcerated at Oshkosh Correctional Institution and is scheduled to be released this year on Oct. 29, according to records from the Wisconsin Department of Corrections. 

So, the sheriff’s office did deny a hold on a technicality but also sent paperwork for ICE to complete the hold.

Some background:

In 2017, at the dawn of his first term,Trump signed an executive order that allowed, in part, for the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Attorney General to label places as "sanctuary jurisdictions" and those places would not be eligible to receive federal grants. 

In 2021, Joe Biden signed an executive order his first month as president that rescinded the Trump order.

And on his first day back in office on Jan. 20, Trump signed an executive order rescinding all of Biden’s orders.

On Feb. 19, Trump signed another executive order aimed at removing funding for federal programs in cities or municipalities with policies that limit cooperation with the federal government on immigration enforcement or .

It’s unclear what impact, if any, the most recent executive order would have on Dane County. 

Center for Immigration Studies label

Chavonne Ludick, communication director for Steil’s office, recognizes that the term "sanctuary city" can be "applied broadly to cities, counties, and states that limit cooperation or involvement with federal immigration authorities."

"In other words, jurisdictions that have policies that center around not cooperating with federal law enforcement on immigration policies," Ludick said. "Though Dane County may not have officially applied the label of ‘sanctuary county’ to itself, it operates as one through its limited cooperation with federal authorities."

Ludick referenced information from the Center for Immigration Studies, a non-profit that advocates for low levels of immigration, which labeled Dane County as a sanctuary. On the Center for Immigration Studies website there’s a link to a document titled "Detainer Acceptance Tracker" from June 21, 2024, with the county listed as "non-cooperative." 

ICE declined to comment directly on the "Detainer Acceptance Tracker." 

Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies, said Dane County was added to the organization’s sanctuary map because of the designation in the Detainer Acceptance Tracker. 

"What ICE is saying in this Detainer Acceptance Tracker is that (Dane County is) not giving notification prior to release and they’re not holding the individual in time for ICE to get there," Vaughan said in an interview with PolitiFact Wisconsin. "Which is another way of saying they’re not honoring detainers." 

What does the Dane County Sheriff’s Office think about the designation?

The Dane County Sheriff’s Office rejected the notion of being labeled a sanctuary city.

Elise Schaffer, public information and education officer for the sheriff’s office, said:

"ICE has access to all of our jail bookings. If they put a hold on someone in our jail and provide the proper paperwork, they are provided that person’s release date. They must pick up the person by 11 a.m. on the day of their release. We will not hold anyone past their scheduled release date, as we do not have a judicial authority to do so."

Schaffer went on to say how cases are handled if the sheriff’s office once it got the proper paperwork from ICE.

"If someone has been sentenced, the only form we require is the I 247A detainer form," Schaffer said. "If someone is in our jail, but has not been convicted of a crime, then we ask for a signed court order."

On the Detainer Acceptance Tracker, Schaffer said she couldn’t speak to that document. 

"To my knowledge we have never been notified by ICE that we are on any particular list," Schaffer said. "Nor do I recall any collaboration with ICE to make an arrest."

When asked if the sheriff’s office has a written policy dealing with immigration, Shaffer said there is no written policy. 

On Feb. 5, Wisconsin Public Radio reported Dane County Sheriff’s Office was not going to be submitting data to the federal government as part of the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP), which partly reimburses law enforcement for detaining an undocumented immigrant. 

Schaffer said this decision "doesn’t change anything about how we interact with ICE."

"All of the information submitted for that grant was historical. ICE still has access to our jail bookings and yes, if they provide a signed order from a judge, we will hold that person," Schaffer said. 

The sheriff’s office has been compiling data and sending it to the federal government but it was not up to date. 

"For instance, we had yet to submit data for the second half of 2023. We will not be applying for the grant again," Schaffer said.

The Wisconsin chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union published a report on Aug. 25, 2022 that states from 2016 to 2020, through the SCAAP, Dane County collected  more than $634,000 for giving information to ICE. Dane County received more funding from ICE through that program than any county in the state had received at that time. 

Our conclusion

Steil said "Dane County operates as a sanctuary city" but the label itself is vague, has no legal standing, and he provided no examples of this being true beyond the classification of the county from a non-profit organization that advocates for low immigration.  

The Dane County Sheriff’s Office has said it allows ICE access to its jail logs and will hold suspects if it receives the proper paperwork. 

However there is at least one incident from 2019 that shows the sheriff’s office wasn’t fully cooperating with ICE at the time.

But a report from the ACLU of Wisconsin stated between 2016 and 2020, the sheriff’s office received more than $634,000 for providing ICE with information, which was more money than any other county in the state. But the county is no longer planning to participate in that program.  

Steil seems to be hanging a lot on the 2019 case and hasn’t acknowledged other areas where there has been cooperation between the sheriff’s office and ICE. As the Trump deportation efforts play out it likely will become more clear if Dane County is cooperating with ICE, or acting as what critics call a sanctuary.