63 law enforcement leaders across the U.S. have signed a letter delivered to the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, including police chiefs from Appleton, Oshkosh, and Green Bay.
The letter was sent from the Law Enforcement Immigration Task Force, a group founded in 2015 to advocate what they call a "balanced enforcement of immigration law."
They say local control "has been a beneficial approach for law enforcement for decades."
Green Bay Police Chief Andrew Smith says he doesn't want local law enforcement to do the work of federal immigration officers. He's concerned about creating trust issues in our communities which may cause immigrants to not report crimes out of fear of being reported to immigration control.
"We don't want to become immigration agents. As far as law enforcement is concerned, we don't want to become the agents that are going house to house or picking up people and bringing them in solely for their immigration status."
Chief Smith went on to say that criminals often prey on immigrants knowing they can be afraid to report crimes to police. He says police are here to protect everyone, including "immigrants, and he wants to continue building trust in our communities.
The Trump administration has threatened to withhold federal grant money from so-called sanctuary cities and counties, if they don't comply with orders to conduct immigration checks.
Leaders in Green Bay and Appleton say their cities are not considered sanctuary cities.
