Since the election of Sheriff Dave Mahoney in 2006, Dane County’s undocumented immigrant population has been subjected to unprecedented harassment from local law enforcement, showering the community with fear and mistrust. According to Mahoney’s own department, over 500 undocumented workers have been reported to federal immigration authorities, often resulting in deportation and/or long-term prison holds.

With the aid of many political, legal and media allies, the community has fought back, using a variety of avenues to pressure the Sheriff to reverse his policy.

This February, former Dane County Supervisor Ashok Kumar, District 5, called for a public hearing to investigate Mahoney’s “anti-immigrant” policies. At the packed meeting, many local residents spoke to the violations of civil rights — not to mention basic human decency — for which the sheriff was responsible. Others spoke to how the policy ironically abetted crime, with so many people reluctant to contact law enforcement for fear of being deported.

Then, in May, approximately 800 people — including students, citizens and non-citizens — rallied in protest against the ongoing deportations. Consistent with the spirit of the sanctuary legislation passed in 2004, the demand was an immediate end to legalized xenophobia in Madison and the surrounding communities. According to the protestors, ours should not be a community where people without the right paperwork can disappear into a black hole, held in prison indefinitely and sent back to their country of origin — often without the notification of family members.

And just last month, the Equal Opportunity Commission called for a public hearing to discuss the issue. In another packed meeting, the sheriff was bombarded with complaints and concerns about the effects of his policies. Several family members of those in prison spoke emotionally about the fate of their loved ones, pleading with the sheriff to have them released. The mother of a man currently being held for a minor traffic violation spoke of the fears she had for her son, his destination still undetermined. Of the dozens who testified, not one spoke in support of the Sheriff’s Department.

As for the members of the EOC itself, their responses ranged from confusion to denunciation. Progressive Dane County Supervisor Barbara Vedder made it clear that she and the other members of the committee could not see why cooperation with federal authorities was necessary. Fabiola Hamdan made particularly penetrating criticisms, stating that, because of her own ethnic heritage, she did not feel safe talking with any of the sheriff’s deputies on the street.

“Let’s be honest,” she said. “This policy is targeting people with accents and those who look like they might not be born here.” Near the end of the hearing, she expressed her “disappointment and frustration” with the sheriff’s lack of transparency and failure to justify his actions.

Support for the immigrant community has also come from the National Lawyers Guild, The Capital Times and several members of the Board of Supervisors.

Still, the sheriff has not budged. His proactive behavior in getting people deported — “legislating from the badge” in an entirely reprehensible way — makes no sense from either a legal or humanitarian standpoint. Some have speculated that the sheriff has ambitions for higher office, a hypothesis that makes all the more sense in light of his training with the FBI last summer.

Because the Sheriff’s Department has repeatedly shunned the criticisms of Mahoney’s policy from immigrants and non-immigrants alike, local activists are now opting for a new avenue to force him to reverse his actions — cutting off his funding. Because the Dane County Board of Supervisors has little jurisdiction over the sheriff’s operations, the only way to force him to change his policy is to limit the money his department is allotted from taxpayers.

With the county’s final budget decision to be made next week, progressive supervisors are introducing an amendment to divert newly requested funds into the Workers Rights Center, a local nonprofit that counsels immigrants and other workers. The message of the amendment is clear: Until the sheriff ends his xenophobic policy, his funding will go toward advocacy for the people he is so intent on demonizing and abusing.

In conjunction with the budget hearing, several campus organizations — including Student Progressive Dane, MultiCultural Student Coalition, MEChA, the Black Student Union, Campus Antiwar Network and others — are sponsoring a rally in solidarity with the immigrant community, urging local politicians to use the power of the purse to end the deportations. For those interested in attending, the rally will be next Monday (Nov. 17) at 5:30 p.m. on Library Mall.

Kyle Szarzynski ([email protected]) is a senior majoring in history and philosophy.