(File Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)
KENOSHA, Wis. — When Sheriff David Zoerner addressed a political gathering earlier this week, he told attendees that the Kenosha County Sheriff’s Office has deputies who have been deputized by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), fully trained, and “out there making arrests” of people in the country illegally.
The statement immediately drew puzzled reactions from several law enforcement officers in attendance. According to multiple people present, officers exchanged surprised looks, and one veteran officer was overheard saying, “If that’s true, nobody knows about it.” Kenosha County Eye subsequently spoke with multiple sheriff’s deputies who also disputed the sheriff’s characterization, saying they were unaware of any patrol deputies who had received ICE deputization or were conducting immigration enforcement under the federal 287(g) program.
Kenosha County Eye then submitted a public records request seeking records regarding the Sheriff’s Office’s participation in the 287(g) program. The records paint a substantially different picture than the one Zoerner publicly described. According to the Sheriff’s Office’s written response, the agency reported that, as of April 20, 2026, five correctional officers—not patrol deputies—had completed 287(g) training. The Sheriff’s Office also acknowledged that no records existed showing anyone had been processed under 287(g) authority as of that date.
Additional records later produced by the Sheriff’s Office indicate the number has since increased to six trained correctional officers. Those records also show the program is the Jail Enforcement Model, under which participating officers perform immigration-related functions only inside the county jail after individuals have already been arrested on state or local charges. The agreement does not authorize routine street enforcement by county patrol deputies.
The records reviewed by Kenosha County Eye do not identify a single patrol deputy certified under the program. The Sheriff’s Office also declined to identify the correctional officers who have received the specialized ICE training. Sheriff Zoerner’s administration cited officer safety and jail security concerns in withholding their identities under Wisconsin’s public records balancing test.
Kenosha County Eye disagrees with that determination and does not believe the Sheriff’s Office has identified a lawful basis to withhold the names of government employees who have received specialized taxpayer-funded training and been delegated federal law enforcement authority. The records also document a dramatic shift in Sheriff Zoerner’s position over the past year.
In September 2025, Zoerner publicly rejected full participation in the 287(g) program. Two months later, Kenosha County Eye reported that his administration had instead adopted a more limited approach to ICE cooperation.
After challengers Capt. Tony Gonzalez and Capt. James Beller entered the sheriff’s race, however, Zoerner quietly entered into the federal 287(g) agreement. Multiple current and former members of the Sheriff’s Office have told Kenosha County Eye that senior command staff were not informed beforehand that the agreement was being pursued.
Emails produced in response to the records request show discussions with ICE officials beginning in late 2025 about both the Jail Enforcement Model and the broader Task Force Model, with ICE explaining that the Task Force Model would allow trained deputies to work alongside federal agents in the community while the Jail Enforcement Model is limited to correctional facilities.
The agreement ultimately signed by Kenosha County is the Jail Enforcement Model.
Political opponents of Zoerner, along with supporters of both Gonzalez and Beller, argue the sheriff is now attempting to portray himself as a longtime champion of aggressive immigration enforcement despite having previously resisted broader participation in the program and later implementing only the jail-based model.
The Sheriff’s Office’s own records show no evidence that patrol deputies have been deputized under the 287(g) program or that sheriff’s deputies are conducting immigration arrests in the community under that authority. Instead, the records reflect a jail-based program carried out by trained correctional officers inside the Kenosha County Detention Center.
The Sheriff’ declined to answer to his apparent deceptive comments.
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3 Responses
Zoerner is so absent minded or he is a liar… why would he say such a thing, and there is no evidence of it being true. How on earth did he get elected. Citizen’s of Kenosha County, we need to vote him out of office. He is a complete embarrassment to the Sheriff’s Department, this is why 98% of his own staff have asked the citizens to vote him out!
Are you aware of any potential union grievance forthcoming from the Sheriff’s Police side citing the CO’s are performing out of class work?
This is probably a violation of the Sheriff’s Police union contract. They could argue the COs are performing out-of-class work among other things t