On the morning of Sept. 25, ICE invaded the homes of Wisconsin residents in Manitowoc County, detaining 24 alleged immigrants who entered the country illegally. Manitowoc County is a community in eastern Wisconsin with a population of about 80,000 people. It’s also a home for many dairy and agricultural workers, industries that depend almost entirely on immigrant workers, according to Wisconsin Watch.
The U.S Department of Homeland Security claims that the raid’s purpose was to dismantle an international sex and drug trafficking ring and it released the names of six of the 24 detainees. But of those detainees, only one individual has been charged with a sex crime.
But, this individual has not been convicted of the crime, and court records show that he has been in ICE custody since July of this year — months before the September raid even occurred.
When questioned on why this individual was named as one of the six detainees despite being detained in July, ICE declined to respond, according to the Wisconsin Examiner. It begs the question — where are these alleged sex and drug traffickers that ICE claims were the motivation behind the raid in the first place?
If ICE has reached a point of being blatantly dishonest with the manner of someone’s detention, with the attempt of achieving a fraudulent goal, we have reached an alarming state of distrust in our current administration.
And when federal law enforcement operates dishonestly, especially against a vulnerable population, we’ve entered an unspeakably dangerous territory for democracy.
With little to no evidence that ICE actually closed in on a sex trafficking ring in Manitowoc, according to the Wisconsin Examiner, the raid stands as both a threat to democratic accountability and a disruption to Wisconsin’s dairy farms and the immigrant workers who sustain them.
Though dairy farming is a year-round industry, the U.S. does not offer year-long agricultural visas. The existing H-2A visa program only covers seasonal or temporary agricultural work — according to the USDA — leaving dairy and livestock workers in a legal gray zone. As a result many of the people who keep Wisconsin’s $45 billion dairy industry running live under constant threat of deportation.
In Manitowoc, community members have been left shaken up, afraid and searching for safety. Children were left without parents that morning. Farmers — many of them relying heavily on immigrant labor — have been left to be forced to reckon with what work looks like when ICE shows up at the doorsteps of the people they depend on.
Voces de la Frontera, Wisconsin’s leading immigrant rights group, has been at the forefront responding to the Manitowoc raids.
The group’s statewide organizing director Luis Velasquez, told the Wisconsin Examiner that the arrests have caused a wave of anxiety throughout immigrant communities and caused a ripple effect across the dairy industry.
Voces has long argued that Wisconsin’s economy can’t survive without immigrant labor and has pushed state leaders to act in alignment with this argument.
Their campaigns have included restoring access to driver’s licenses for undocumented residents, limiting cooperation between local law enforcement and ICE and protecting workplaces from immigration enforcement. In the wake of the recent raid, Voces leaders say Wisconsin politicians must do more than issue sympathetic statements. Leaders must actively shield immigrant families from fear, exploitation and political scapegoating.
But the truth is that Manitowoc’s experience is not unique. It’s a reminder of the contradiction at the focal point of Wisconsin’s economy — we depend on immigrant workers, yet continue to treat them as expendable.
This setup doesn’t just harm dairy farm workers, it affects the state’s economy. When immigration enforcement disrupts farms, supply chains and families, it creates ripple effects that will reach grocery stores and dinner tables across the country.
Wisconsin’s leaders know this yet few are willing to say it out loud. Gov. Tony Evers and several state legislators have condemned “fear-based enforcement” but have stopped short of proposing concrete protections for agricultural workers.
Local officials in Manitowoc have offered sympathy but no action. Voces de la Frontera have called for the state to establish “safe zones” to limit ICE collaboration with local law enforcement and to expand access to driver’s licenses regardless of immigration status. These are not radical demands, they’re necessary steps to prevent the next raid from tearing another community apart.
If our elected officials fail to recognize both the crucial need for immigrant workers and the value in their humanity, they’re failing both their constituents and the values Wisconsin claims to uphold. As the midterm elections approach, voters should demand that state and local leaders take a stand, not just for farms, but for families.
Wisconsin’s future can’t be built on raids, fear and dishonesty. It has to be built on fairness, humanity and the recognition that immigrant workers are not disposable, they are essential. Until state leaders speak up, the cows will need to be milked, economies will need to grow and Wisconsinites will be forced to wonder if tomorrow they will be next.
