GREEN BAY – The Trump administration’s changes to immigration policy and national rhetoric around the issue have created a culture of fear across the country, Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul said Thursday, and Green Bay is no exception.
In response to growing fear and uncertainty in the Green Bay community, state Rep. Amaad Rivera-Wagner organized a private roundtable discussion Thursday with community leaders and city officials, including Mayor Eric Genrich and Kaul, to help the community better understand what’s happening with immigration, both federally and locally.
The discussion brought the Brown County Library East Branch’s meeting room to capacity, Rivera-Wagner said, with dozens of community members ready to share their concerns.
The discussion was not open to the media, but Kaul, Genrich and Rivera-Wagner, D-Green Bay, took questions afterward. Kaul said that during the meeting people talked about how the rhetoric surrounding immigration has affected school enrollment and businesses.
Kaul said the Trump administration has made sweeping and chaotic changes to policy,including removing federal protections stopping immigration authorities from entering previously protected spaces like churches and schools. While U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids in those locations are unlikely, he said, President Donald Trump’s executive orders have left communities scared and confused.
“There’s been a real disconnect between the rhetoric and what we’ve seen in practice,” Kaul said. “And there’s probably no area where that’s been more true than immigration, where there has clearly been an effort to divide people and to instill fear.”
The federal government needs to provide citizens with more transparency on immigration, as well as other issues like freezing federal funding and the Department of Government Efficiency, Kaul said.
“Getting some transparency from the federal government about what’s happening and what the policies are is really key,” Kaul said. “A lot of the fear that we heard about today relates not to specific actions that have been taken, but to rhetoric that’s that’s been out there. … That rhetoric has created fear, and I think it’s fair to communities across the country to know what the administration is actually doing.”
Immigration policy should serve public safety
Immigration enforcement is necessary, but the system has to be rational, Kaul said. Immigration policy should be working to improve public safety, he said, and the fear created by the Trump administration’s actions is doing the opposite.
To solve criminal cases, it is critical to have people reporting information to law enforcement, Kaul said. When people in the community are scared to speak to law enforcement because of their immigration status, he said, that impacts law enforcement’s ability to keep the community safe.
Sometimes, working in the interest of public safety includes immigration enforcement agencies, or working with them, Kaul said, like if an immigrant without permanent legal status is at the center of a criminal investigation. However, the Trump administration’s aggressive stance goes beyond that, Kaul said.
“We’re not going to be making our communities safer by having ICE raids in schools in our communities, that’s not where hardened criminals are hanging out,” Kaul said. “We’ve got to make sure we’re doing this in a way that is thoughtful and focused on public safety and not, as I think we’ve unfortunately seen, where it’s focused on political rhetoric and trying to create a climate of fear and division.”
Green Bay’s priority is a safe, strong community
From the city’s perspective, Genrich said his priority is to keep the Green Bay community safe, strong and a place for all.
Immigration enforcement focusing on dangerous criminals has happened and will continue to happen in Green Bay, Genrich said, but that doesn’t mean immigrants aren’t welcome in the city. Green Bay wouldn’t be the place it is without immigrants, Genrich said.
“Green Bay has been and will continue to be a place for everybody,” Genrich said. “Everybody of goodwill is welcome here. We are a city, a state and a nation of immigrants, and we would be much lesser if not for that heritage and that future, which will continue.”
Thursday’s community roundtable reiterated the values of Green Bay as a community that cares for others, Rivera-Wagner said.
“The goal of our local government and our local work is to make sure every single person feels safe, regardless of status,” Rivera-Wagner said. “That we are holding criminals accountable, regardless of their status, but that we are a community rooted in taking care of each other. That’s kind of the Green Bay way.”
Vivian Barrett is the public safety reporter for the Green Bay Press-Gazette. You can reach her at [email protected] or (920) 431-8314. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter, at @vivianbarrett_.
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: AG Kaul, Mayor Genrich discuss immigration with Green Bay community
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