ARPS Media - Forward Latino leader urges residents to prepare for potential wide-scale ICE operation in Wisconsin

Time is quickly approaching for Immigration and Customs Enforcement to potentially launch a significant operation in Wisconsin, warns Darryl Morin, national president of Forward Latino.

Darryl Morin, national president of Forward Latino, speaks during a news conference in April 2025 after two arrests by federal immigration agents at the Milwaukee County Courthouse complex. (Photo by Devin Blake)

“Unless there is a significant change in priorities, there will be a large enforcement action in Wisconsin,” Morin said in an email to supporters Saturday night.

Forward Latino is a national nonprofit advocacy organization based in Milwaukee that addresses community empowerment, democracy, civil rights and other issues such as hate crimes, gun violence and immigration.

The organization is a host of the annual Emergency Gun Violence Summit in Milwaukee.

Morin said there is general consensus at various levels of government that leads him to believe a widescale ICE operation is coming to the state. He’s urging residents and others to prepare for that possibility.

“It is important that we do not cause panic, but encourage thoughtful planning and preparation,” he said.

Morin shared a number of resources in his email, including family-planning “to-do lists”; constitutional rights cards; and information for employers if ICE comes to their workplace. The information is available in English and Spanish on the Forward Latino website.

Protests in Minnesota

Morin’s warning comes as wide-scale protests continue in Minnesota over immigration enforcement operations there and the shooting death of Renee Good in Minneapolis by an ICE agent on Jan. 7.

The demonstrations have led to tense interactions between residents, ICE agents and other law enforcement officials, counter-protesters and others.

President Donald Trump has threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act in Minnesota in response to the protests, which would allow the deployment of active-duty military troops there.

Critics are calling that plan an overreach by the government and abuse of power by Trump.

Residents prepare for ICE operations in Milwaukee

Drea Rodriguez, global program officer at WomenServe, an organization that works for gender equity, said she’s received more requests than ever from residents to coordinate “know your rights” training in Milwaukee.

“Trump has already proven he cares more about profit over people. We are an immigrant city,” Rodriguez said. “Soon we will be in his crosshairs again. No one is safe. Stay ready.”

An anti-ICE message is sprayed on a high voltage box near South 28th Street and West Becher. (NNS file photo)

Rodriguez said that while the ICE protests in Minnesota and elsewhere are important, that people should also make an effort to not frequent companies that support Trump.

South Side resident Juanita Lara said her intuition is to carry her birth certificate as a precaution in case she’s stopped by an ICE agent.

Erika Wilson-Hale, who also lives on the South Side, said she believes parents should be careful about sending their undocumented children to school and that residents should take caution.

“If ICE does come you better be prepared, you better be ready,” she said. “Be wary because your rights will be violated. We are in scary times.”

Elected officials discuss possibility of ICE operations

State Rep. Ryan Clancy wrote in a Facebook post Saturday, Jan. 17 that “it’s not a matter of if [ICE] comes, it’s when.”

Clancy said Milwaukee doesn’t have a substantial plan to keep the community safe from ICE, but that he and others do.

“The plan is that the community keeps us safe, through Voces De La Frontera’s ICE hotline and Comité Sin Fronteras “community verifier” program, through legal observers, through legislation and through mass mobilization,” he said.

Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley said in a prior email to NNS that, although the county cannot legally impede or interfere with the actions of federal immigration agents, “we will do everything in our power to keep our communities safe, informed and prepared.”

Mayor Cavalier Johnson said during a news conference after the Good shooting that federal immigration enforcement poses a risk to public safety.

“Occupying cities and targeting immigrant communities simply does not make our communities safer,” Johnson said.

Ald. Alex Brower, who represents the 3rd District on the Northeast Side, is hosting a town hall on Monday, Feb. 2 to discuss ICE activities and operations in Milwaukee. That meeting will be held at The Vivarium, 1818 N. Farwell Ave., at 6:15 p.m.

Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez said in a Jan. 12 statement that there had been credible reports of increased ICE activity in Wisconsin. She called on state and local officials to take immediate action to protect public safety and civil rights “by adopting strong protections and transparency standards governing federal immigration enforcement operating in Wisconsin.”