Manitowoc County Sheriff Dan Hartwig
Manitowoc County Sheriff Dan Hartwig has responded to accusations of racism that were thrown out at the recent Rally Against Racism outside Manitowoc’s City Hall.
During the rally, Ron Kossik from the Crusaders of Justicia listed several acts that he called “overt acts of racism”, including the fact that Sheriff Hartwig and the Sheriff’s Office are a part of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE program known as 287g.
Hartwig explained that the program has been around since the 90s, and a multitude of Wisconsin Counties are involved, as well as in Florida and Texas.
Hartwig also said that it is no different from what they are already doing involving illegal immigrants that commit crimes.
“If someone is arrested for violating Wisconsin Law, and there is a question into their status here, we contact the immigration office in Milwaukee and they do an immigration investigation,” Hartwig explained. “If they want that individual held, they will send us a detainer, and we will honor the detainer until they are picked up by immigration.”
Kossik claimed during the rally that the program was aimed at keeping immigrants out of the County, but Hartwig said that is not true.
