ICE crackdown divides swing state candidates as GOP nominee vows to mandate sheriff cooperation

Republican Rep.Tom Tiffany of Wisconsin, a GOP gubernatorial candidate, speaks at a campaign event in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, on August 10, 2026.

Asked directly whether he would mandate that cooperation by law, Tiffany replied: “Yes, I believe we should.They shouldhonor detainers.”

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Crowley, the Milwaukee County executive, said he would not support a blanket ban on cooperation with federal immigration authorities and agreed that immigrants convicted of crimes should be deported.But he called for restrictions on ICE operations, including barring contracts between local law enforcement and ICE, requiring judicial warrants for agents to enter jails and prisons andprohibiting agents from wearing masks.

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“We need to make sure that we’re protecting people’s civil liberties,” Crowley said.

Immigration enforcement has become an increasingly visible flashpoint in Wisconsin, whereICE arrests surged this summeras the Trump administration expanded its nationwide deportation push.

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Trump’s immigration crackdown has increasingly collided with state and local governments, putting sheriffs and police departments at the center of a national fight over how far local authorities should go to help federal agents carry out the president’s mass deportation agenda.

County Executive David Crowley speaks during a rally to get out the vote on the first day of early voting in the 2022 midterm elections on October 25, 2022, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.(Daniel Boczarski/Getty Images for SEIU)

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That debate is already playing out across Wisconsin.Twenty county law enforcement agencies in the state participate inICE’s 287(g) program, which allows designated local officers to perform certain immigration enforcement functions.Cooperation with ICE has also emerged as an issue in sheriff races in Sauk and Winnebago counties ahead of the November election.

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Wisconsin has simultaneously seen a sharp increase in federal immigration enforcement since Trump returned to office.The latest available federal data showed ICE arrests in the state reaching new highs over the summer, with more than 2,100 people detained between January 2025 and the latest reporting period.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents walk a detainee out of the Ventura County Government Center in Ventura, Calif., on July 27, 2026.(Blake Fagan/AFP via Getty Images)

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The issue has become a complicated one for both parties heading into the midterms.Republicans have continued to campaign onborder securityand immigration enforcement, while Democrats have increasingly focused their attacks on the Trump administration’s deportation tactics and the conduct of ICE agents.