Federal immigration authorities arrested a Wisconsin state trooper this week, apparently in connection to his pending asylum claim.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers detained Carel Aaron Van der Merwe at the Dane County Regional Airport on Thursday as the 21-year-old prepared to board a flight to New Mexico, where his father works on a sheep ranch.
Van der Merwe immigrated to the U.S. from South Africa with his family in 2019. Milwaukee immigration attorney Marc Christopher, who will represent Van der Merwe in his removal case, told Wisconsin Watch that his client has waited half a decade for an asylum interview; his family fled their home in rural South Africa amid a rise in attacks targeting farmers.
Unable to join the military because of his pending legal status — but equipped with a work permit valid through 2030 — Van der Merwe joined the Wisconsin State Patrol last year, working from the agency’s Tomah post. The Wisconsin Department of Transportation, which oversees the State Patrol, told Wisconsin Watch that it is aware of his arrest, but an agency spokesperson did not clarify whether Van der Merwe is on paid leave while in ICE custody. The Wisconsin Troopers Association, Van der Merwe’s union, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Christopher is unaware of any prior criminal history that would explain Van der Merwe’s arrest. While immigration authorities can detain a person solely because of a pending asylum application, Christopher has never encountered a comparable case. “I think the only reason, to be honest with you, is that they’re trying to make it as onerous (as possible) for anyone who is not a U.S. citizen to live and travel in the United States,” he said.
An ICE spokesperson defended its actions on Friday afternoon. “(Van der Merwe) entered the country in March 2019 with legal permission to stay until September 2019,” the spokesperson wrote in an email. “In defiance of our nation’s laws, he overstayed his admission. This illegal alien will receive due process and remain in ICE custody pending removal proceedings. To be clear: work authorization or a pending application do not confer legal status in the U.S.”
The agency indicated that Van der Merwe’s arrest was part of a broader effort to prevent immigrants without legal status from flying domestically. “DHS reversed the horrendous Biden-era policy that allowed aliens in our country illegally to jet around our country,” the spokesperson wrote. “Under President Trump, DHS will no longer tolerate this. This administration is working diligently to ensure that aliens in our country illegally can no longer fly unless it is out of our country to self-deport.”
Van der Merwe was in custody at the Dodge County Detention Center in Juneau awaiting a hearing in his immigration case as of Friday afternoon.
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