The Dane County Sheriff’s Office relationship with ICE
Unintended consequences
Unintended consequences
the mechanisms I use when an individual is arrested on the street by law enforcement — it could be a deputy or it could be a Madison police officer because
more than half of the individuals in my jail are city of Madison arrests — is they are brought to jail and they fill out a booking sheet. And one of the items filled
out by that arresting agent is city and state of birth and citizenship. So if an individual is born out of this country and is not a U.S. citizen, that will be identified
already to our staff.”
And, according to Mahoney, he is bound by international law to identify the individual’s country of origin and report it in those instances when it is required.
This is where the controversy begins. “Determining the citizenship is required by law because some countries now — since 2003 we have been advised that prior
to that time, we were in violation of the Geneva Convention — require us to positively identify non-U.S. citizens,” Mahoney said. “Some of them are from
countries that have mandatory reporting to their consulates. I’ll use the Mexican consulate as an example. I met with their representatives in 2008. Although they
are not a mandatory reporter, they have requested notification. So we make those notifications. We notify an individual under arrest that they have the right to
make that notification and we will make it on their behalf. The only time we will not make notification to a voluntary is if the individual says absolutely not, they
don’t want that notification made. On a mandatory reporter, we report either way to the consulate. But if an individual indicates they are not a citizen without
positive identification — they come in without any identification except verbal — we will make notification to ICE via e-mail.”
Mahoney feels that this policy — he says he contacts ICE because they are privy to information that helps identify an individual that isn’t available anywhere
else — has a small impact. “In 2007, there were 16,408 bookings in the Dane County Jail,” Mahoney said. “ICE was notified by e-mail on 1.68 percent of those
bookings. That is 276 notifications. ICE placed a hold on 0.3 percent or 64 of those individuals. Individuals were turned over to ICE on 0.34 percent or 56 of
those total individuals for unknown purposes.” Eventually approximately 33 of those individuals were deported.
However, Shiva Bidar-Sielaff and Fabiola Hamdan feel that even these 33 deportations are having a big impact on the Latino community’s relationship with
law enforcement. “I think the biggest issue is the trust of law enforcement,” Bidar-Sielaff said. “So if the policy is to report people that are in the county jail to ICE
for whatever reason, even if those reasons are appropriate reasons, the issue becomes one of lack of trust of the larger community and what happens when you
end up in the jail and fear that you may be reported to ICE. The consequence of that is obviously that people don’t call law enforcement when they should be
calling them for things like domestic violence or drug dealing on the streets or witnessing other types of crimes in the neighborhood, which puts the entire
community at a higher safety risk because people aren’t trusting law enforcement and calling law enforcement.”
Next issue: More of the debate
more than half of the individuals in my jail are city of Madison arrests — is they are brought to jail and they fill out a booking sheet. And one of the items filled
out by that arresting agent is city and state of birth and citizenship. So if an individual is born out of this country and is not a U.S. citizen, that will be identified
already to our staff.”
And, according to Mahoney, he is bound by international law to identify the individual’s country of origin and report it in those instances when it is required.
This is where the controversy begins. “Determining the citizenship is required by law because some countries now — since 2003 we have been advised that prior
to that time, we were in violation of the Geneva Convention — require us to positively identify non-U.S. citizens,” Mahoney said. “Some of them are from
countries that have mandatory reporting to their consulates. I’ll use the Mexican consulate as an example. I met with their representatives in 2008. Although they
are not a mandatory reporter, they have requested notification. So we make those notifications. We notify an individual under arrest that they have the right to
make that notification and we will make it on their behalf. The only time we will not make notification to a voluntary is if the individual says absolutely not, they
don’t want that notification made. On a mandatory reporter, we report either way to the consulate. But if an individual indicates they are not a citizen without
positive identification — they come in without any identification except verbal — we will make notification to ICE via e-mail.”
Mahoney feels that this policy — he says he contacts ICE because they are privy to information that helps identify an individual that isn’t available anywhere
else — has a small impact. “In 2007, there were 16,408 bookings in the Dane County Jail,” Mahoney said. “ICE was notified by e-mail on 1.68 percent of those
bookings. That is 276 notifications. ICE placed a hold on 0.3 percent or 64 of those individuals. Individuals were turned over to ICE on 0.34 percent or 56 of
those total individuals for unknown purposes.” Eventually approximately 33 of those individuals were deported.
However, Shiva Bidar-Sielaff and Fabiola Hamdan feel that even these 33 deportations are having a big impact on the Latino community’s relationship with
law enforcement. “I think the biggest issue is the trust of law enforcement,” Bidar-Sielaff said. “So if the policy is to report people that are in the county jail to ICE
for whatever reason, even if those reasons are appropriate reasons, the issue becomes one of lack of trust of the larger community and what happens when you
end up in the jail and fear that you may be reported to ICE. The consequence of that is obviously that people don’t call law enforcement when they should be
calling them for things like domestic violence or drug dealing on the streets or witnessing other types of crimes in the neighborhood, which puts the entire
community at a higher safety risk because people aren’t trusting law enforcement and calling law enforcement.”
Next issue: More of the debate
By Jonathan Gramling
Part 1 of 2
For most of 2008, the flashpoint of the undocumented worker and immigration issue has been the
relationship of the Dane County Sheriff’s Office to the federal government’s Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE) office. While Mahoney maintains that the department has had a relationship with ICE and
its predecessor since at least 1980, it is the nature of the relationship, specifically when and why the
department contacts ICE, that is at the heart of the controversy.
Clearly Mahoney is in a difficult position. He has little love for the present immigration policy of the
United States. “I am the first to admit that we have a broken immigration policy in this country and we need to
work toward correcting and resurrecting our immigration policy,” Mahoney said during an interview with The
Capital City Hues. “I think we are going to do that beginning January 20, 2009 because our President-Elect
has made a commitment publically to resurrect a workable immigration policy that is sensitive to the needs of
families and individuals who are trying to make a better life for themselves in this country. I fully agree with
President-Elect Obama’s position that we provide amnesty for those individuals who are in the country
currently and provide every opportunity to become U.S. citizens and obtain a well-paying job and education
to create a better environment for them and their families. And we need to create an ability for individuals to
come into this country and to do it legally and with every expectation that they will receive the necessary
products to create a better life.”
At the same time, Mahoney is responsible for an average daily jail population of 1,086 in mates in a jail
designed to hold 949. He feels that it is his obligation to know the true identity of every individual in his jail in
the interest of public safety both inside the jail and out in the community. “I have a moral and ethical
responsibility to positively identify every individual within my institution and to use every mechanism
available to positively identify backgrounds and identities of those individuals,” Mahoney said. “And one of
Top: Fabiola Hamdan (l) and Shiva Bidar-Sielaff
Above: Dane Co. Sheriff Dave Mahoney
Above: Dane Co. Sheriff Dave Mahoney
