Last week, Amando Rodriguez-Benitez was driving drunk the wrong way down I-43 in Milwaukee when he was stopped by a sheriff’s deputy. At that point he had already crashed into one car and caused another driver to swerve into the median, but nobody was seriously injured. 

Rodriguez-Benitez plead guilty to numerous traffic violations and a felony charge of recklessly endangering safety. Milwaukee Judge Jeffery Wagner reduced sentenced him to 11 months at the county jail with Huber work-release privileges, which will allow Rodriguez-Benitez to remain gainfully employed while he serves his time. 

For Sheriff David Clarke, 11 months wasn’t enough. After hearing the sentence, Clarke brought it to the attention of the courts and the U.S. Bureau of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement that the defendant is an illegal immigrant. 

In a news release, Clarke questioned, “Why would we let an illegal immigrant out on work release to look for a job he’s not supposed to have”? He went one step further to add, “Let’s just start the deportation process.” 

Believing he was eligible for deportation, ICE put a 48-hour hold on Rodriguez-Benitez on the day after his arrest, but he was never taken into ICE custody. Clarke informed ICE of the work release sentence on Thursday, urging them to begin the deportation process, and they issued another detainer. 

Even though Clarke considers Rodriguez-Benitez’s immigration status to be central in this issue of criminal justice, Chief Judge David Hashner would disagree. “It’s illegal for a circuit judge to ask a defendant whether they’re here legally or illegally,” he told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “There was no way for Judge Wagner to know, and it’s illegal to ask.”

Clarke has confused the role of the judicial system in the case of Rodriguez-Benitez, who was on trial for drunk driving and reckless endangerment, not illegal immigration to the U.S. His citizenship status is completely irrelevant – it would not make his endangerment any more reckless or his driving any more inebriated, and thus should be left out of the discussion entirely. And it was, until Clarke decided to take his complaints to the media and make an ostracizing and politically charged scene.

The sheriff has also overstepped his own responsibilities by attempting to sway both the judiciary and ICE, calling for Wagner to revise his sentence and for ICE to deport Rodriguez-Benitez. Attempting to take matters into his own hands, Clarke is trying to carry out vigilante justice.

Through his media comments, Clarke has made his political motivations clear, referring to the job Rodriguez-Benitez was “not supposed to have.” He has implied that the defendant shouldn’t be allowed to hold a job and should be deported immediately. The level to which he has personally involved himself in this case to advocate a more severe punishment of Rodriguez-Benitez is concerning, and amounts to an assault on this man’s legal rights and human dignity.

Immigration is an inflammatory political issue. Clarke, the Milwaukee District Court and ICE aren’t going to decide the future of immigration policy or influence it in the slightest. They will, however, determine the future of Rodriguez-Benitez for the next year or so, maybe for the rest of his life. 

Clarke has advocated a more severe sentence and deportation because he feels immigrants have different legal and human rights, and if Clarke has his way, Rodriguez-Benitez will be taken from his family, home, community and job in Milwaukee and sent back to his country of origin. This is a harsh sentence.

The Milwaukee District Court reached a decision in the case of Rodriguez-Benitez, in which he plead guilty, apologized to the court and was sentenced to 11 months with work release. I see no reason why he can’t serve his time, return to his home in Milwaukee and continue to be a contributing member of our American society, matters of documentation aside. The goal of criminal justice is to reform criminals, not to ship them off whenever possible. I urge Sheriff David Clarke to remember this and to mind his own business, and to let the District Court decide what is best for Mr. Rodriguez-Benitez.

Charles Godfrey ([email protected]) is a sophomore majoring in math and physics.