Milwaukee drew national attention this week after a report said U.S. citizens were detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement after being overheard speaking Spanish in a store.
Elected officials and immigration rights groups say they are working to authenticate the incident but have few details to go on. ICE did not respond to requests for comment on Thursday.
Telemundo Puerto Rico reported a Puerto Rican mother, her three-year-old son and mother-in-law were taken into custody by ICE while shopping at an unnamed store in Milwaukee on Jan. 24.
According to the TV station’s report, ICE bused the family and several other Spanish-speakers from the store to an unidentified detention center. Telemundo aired a live audio interview with a relative, who was not named.
Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens.
Sheriff’s offices in Milwaukee County, Waukesha County, Sheboygan County and Kenosha County said they had no record of the family being detained in their jails.
“It should also be noted that we would not house a 3-year-old in our facility under any circumstances,” said Amy Tesch with the Waukesha County Sheriff’s Department in an email Thursday.
Telemundo’s report erupted online. U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore, U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and thousands more shared Telemundo’s story on social media.
Moore told the Journal Sentinel she’s still gathering information about the incident but hasn’t been able to verify it.
“However, regardless of its validity, many of my constituents are concerned about mass deportation efforts,” Moore said in a text message Thursday.
Ald. Jose Perez says his office is also working to authenticate the incident.
“Any time an allegation occurs in Milwaukee, I will exhaust every resource I have to verify it for accuracy and respond,” Perez said in an email Thursday.
Local immigrants’ rights groups like Forward Latino and Voces De La Frontera are also looking into the report.
In general, advocates have asked community members to refrain from sharing unverified information to avoid causing unnecessary panic and distress. Since President Donald Trump took office, there have been several false reports of ICE raids in Wisconsin.
Forward Latino said on Facebook Thursday that it debunked “numerous reports” of ICE operations at Latino-owned businesses in the south side. The group identified two Facebook accounts that are intentionally spreading false information about ICE activity in Wisconsin, according to Darryl Morin, president of Forward Latino.
“It is having an impact on our business community,” Morin said.
The false rumors of ICE raids combined with real instances of raids and U.S. citizens being detained are only causing confusion and doubling the immigrant community’s fears, said Voces De La Frontera spokesperson Alexandra Guevara.
In New Jersey, a Puerto Rican veteran was among the people detained by ICE during a raid at a seafood store last week. And Thursday, the owners of Boricua 2, a Puerto Rican restaurant in Philadelphia, said ICE came to their business under the false impression that Puerto Ricans could be undocumented.
“While we can’t confirm whether it’s happening here, it’s happening elsewhere,” Guevara said.
Gina Lee Castro is a Public Investigator reporter for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Contact her at gcastro@gannett.com.
