WINNEBAGO COUNTY, Wis. (WFRV) – At a committee meeting packed with people upset with the partnership, Winnebago County sheriff department officials provided updated numbers and information on their work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Winnebago County is one of several municipalities in Northeast Wisconsin that have entered into a 287(g) program agreement with ICE. This arrangement allows local municipalities to assist ICE with immigration enforcement in up to three ways.
- Identify and process removable aliens with pending or active criminal charges.
- Enforce limited immigration authorities with ICE oversight during routine duties.
- Serve and execute administrative warrants on removable aliens in your jail.
The Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office utilizes only the third option to participate in the program. Essentially, deputies can identify people already in their jail who are in the country illegally, allowing ICE to place a detainer on that person and potentially deport them
At the meeting on Monday night, Winnebago County Sheriff John Matz was adamant that this is the extent of their cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.
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“There are no roundups being conducted in Winnebago County,” Sheriff Matz said at the meeting. “They haven’t occurred and I haven’t heard of them wanting to come here. I have no concerns at this point that ICE is coming here. We don’t conduct a traffic stop and ask if people are here legally. We don’t go out and look for individuals at any place of business.”
Matz said that in 2025, ICE placed detainers on 17 individuals in the Winnebago County jail. They had a variety of different charges, from OWIs to first-degree intentional homicide.
The sheriff’s department turned over ten of those people to ICE. The sheriff said that this year, there have been ICE detainers placed on three of their inmates.
Matz said he plans to continue the partnership with ICE, saying he believes that it makes the county safer.
“I firmly believe that this is what is best for the 173,000 people that I represent, which you are included in,” Matz said to the people at the meeting on Monday night, most of whom opposed the county’s partnership with ICE.
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Sheriff department officials said that for over 25 years, they’ve implemented this approach to handling inmates who are in the country illegally. Now it’s just done officially through the 287(g) program.
There were about 25 people who spoke at the Judiciary & Public Safety committee meeting on Monday night, and every speaker said they didn’t support the county’s partnership with ICE.
“We weaken due process and normalize detention without judicial oversight,” Oshkosh resident Andy Thoman said during his public comment opportunity. “Our community shouldn’t assume legal risk or moral responsibility for federal enforcement decisions that we don’t control.”
Several attendees wore ‘Ice Out’ buttons to the meeting to hammer home their message.
“By joining with this or collaborating with them, or helping in any way, shape, or form, nobody feels safe,” Neenah resident Lois Loth said.
Sheriff Matz said the plan moving forward is to provide a monthly update on the county’s ICE detainer numbers.
