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Yes.

A memo issued by Democratic Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers’ administration directs state employees to contact an attorney before offering any cooperation if they are encountered in the workplace by a federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent.

ICE enforces immigration laws, including seeking and deporting individuals in the U.S. illegally.

The April 18 memo directs employees to:

Not answer the ICE agent’s questions.

Not give consent for the agent to enter a nonpublic area.

Call the attorney who represents their office and, if that fails, ask the agent to return later.

Not give the agent data without approval from the attorney. 

Republican U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil of southern Wisconsin criticized Evers after the April 25 arrest of Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan. She is charged with obstructing immigration authorities from arresting a criminal defendant in her courtroom.
Evers said he did not encourage state employees to break the law.

GOP lawmakers asked him to rescind the memo.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

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Tom Kertscher joined Wisconsin Watch as a full-time Milwaukee-based reporter in October 2024 after starting as a freelance Fact Briefs reporter in January 2023. In addition to contributing to Wisconsin Watch’s collaboration with The Gigafact Project to combat online misinformation, he reports on Wisconsin policy, labor, energy and the rapid expansion of data centers across the state. Kertscher is a former longtime reporter at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, a contributing writer for Milwaukee Magazine and the author of two sports books, on Al McGuire and Brett Favre.