Madison Reporter

The Dane County Sheriff’s Office will no longer share data with the federal government that could assist in locating illegal immigrant criminals for deportation. 

Dane County Sheriff Kalvin Barrett announced that his office is ending its participation in the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP), which previously reimbursed the county $90,000 per year for providing immigrant inmate records. 

“After listening to concerns from our community and considering the actions taken by the new administration, I have decided to cease our involvement with the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP),” Sheriff Kalvin Barrett said in a statement. 

Although the Dane County Board of Supervisors voted in 2022 to continue the program, Barrett emphasized that the data shared was historical and did not directly contribute to immigration enforcement. 

Barrett said the decision was made because the program allowed for information sharing with agencies like Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

“While the information compiled for these grant dollars was historical and posed little concern amongst our diverse community in the past, times have changed and we must adapt accordingly,” he said. 

Barrett said the priority of his office is to serve all community members and avoid federal mandates that strain resources.

“Additionally, the process of compiling data for this grant required significant staff time,” he said. “Moving forward, those resources will be redirected toward more impactful initiatives in our jail, such as re-entry coordination and rehabilitation programming, which better serve our mission of public safety and community well-being.”

Regarding the future of the county’s participation in federal enforcement against illegal immigrant criminals locked up in the county, Elise Schaffer, Public Information and Education Officer for the Dane County Sheriff's Office made it clear that Dane County would not be taking part in such efforts. 

"We do not plan to participate in federal enforcement efforts," Schaffer told the Madison Reporter.  

In fact, Schaffer said the Sheriff's Office does not actively gather citizenship status from individuals booked into the Dane County Jail.

Instead, the jail operates on an honor system when booking individuals into the jail.

"We really don't, because when somebody is booked into the Dane County Jail, they self-report their citizenship," she said. "So, we don't ask for documentation or any kind of proof of citizenship when somebody is booked into the jail."

While the Sheriff's Office does not verify citizenship, it does collect fingerprints, which are shared with national databases. 

"We do fingerprints," Schaffer said. “So, when somebody is booked into the jail they self-report their citizenship to whatever country, whether it's the United States or another country. Our jail bookings are public information, so anybody can see that, including ICE."

Schaffer elaborated on how federal authorities use this information. 

"We don't determine whether or not somebody is illegally here and is in our jail,” she said. “That's up to ICE to determine that, which they do through federal databases and the information they receive from our bookings."

However, the Dane County Sheriff’s Office leaving the SCAAP program will make it more difficult for ICE to collect such information. 

Addressing the Sheriff’s Office’s withdrawal from the SCAAP program, Schaffer explained that the program did not directly benefit the department, as the funding did not go to the Sheriff’s Office but to the county's general fund. 

"Well, it doesn't really mean anything for the sheriff's office specifically, other than it will save on staff time for collecting that data and things like that,” she said. “The money received from that grant didn't come directly to the sheriff's office; it went to the county's general fund."

Schaffer also responded to concerns about Dane County’s now frayed relationship with ICE. 

"ICE uses the term non-compliant when referring to Dane County,” she said. “And what I said is those are their words, not ours."

However, she further explained that the Sheriff's Office follows legal procedures when it comes to individuals in custody. 

"If ICE provides judicial authority for somebody that's in our custody, they will be notified of their release date so that they can make arrangements to pick them up,” she said. “We abide by the law when it comes to the process to which we would hold somebody."

Gov. Tony Evers has promised to veto any bill that mandates such participation in the SCAAP program, protecting the Dane County Sheriff’s Office from the proposed legislation.

Notably, Alejandro Jose Coronel Zarate, a suspected Tren de Aragua gang member, was arrested in Prairie du Chien in Sept. 2024 on multiple charges including sexual assault, child abuse and battery. 

Zarate, who was charged with strangulation, suffocation, false imprisonment, battery, and disorderly conduct in Dane County, had a warrant for his arrest issued on Dec. 1, 2023. 

The following day, a stolen vehicle report identified Zarate as the suspect, and he was located and arrested in Minnesota later that day. However, Zarate was ultimately released from Hennepin County Jail. 

A spokesperson for Congressman Derrick Van Orden criticized the Dane County Sheriff’s office and Barrett in regard to the Zarate case. 

A 2024 ICE document listed Dane County as a "non-cooperative" institution for not accepting detainers, which allow ICE to take custody of individuals.