A federal agent wears a badge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement while standing outside an immigration courtroom at the Jacob K. Javits Federal Building in New York, Tuesday, June 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Republicans in the Wisconsin state legislature advanced Assembly Bill 24 on Thursday, which threatens to withhold funding to county sheriffs who refuse to assist in federal immigration efforts.

The bill passed through the Senate Committee on Licensing, Regulatory Reform, State and Federal Affairs on party lines on Thursday. Although the bill will likely be approved in the Republican-controlled state legislature, Gov. Tony Evers (D) will almost certainly veto the bill instead of signing it into law.

Under the legislation, county sheriffs in Wisconsin would have to request a U.S. passport, ID or “proof of legal presence status” from detainees held in a county jail who are being held for felony offenses. If sheriffs do not comply, the bill calls for 15% of the violating department’s revenue share being defunded for the following year.

During the committee hearing, Sen. Chris Larson (D-Milwaukee) criticized the bill for ignoring the right to due process.

“If we are choosing to spend our resources and forcing our 72 sheriff departments in the state to suspend other activities and to turn over people who have not finished the due process to be guilty of felonies … We are setting a priority that is more important than frankly doing the other law enforcement activities that they’re doing,” Larson argued.

Larson also lambasted the Trump administration for sending the National Guard and Marines to Los Angeles — without Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D-CA) permission — to subdue protests to his immigration policy. The senator accused Trump of blowing the conflict out of proportion to distract the public from his own corruption, using Trump’s acceptance of the $400 million private jet from Qatar and his alleged inclusion in the Jeffrey Epstein files as examples.

The Democratic lawmaker also labeled the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) a lawless organization given the Trump administration’s implementation of deportation quotas, disregard of due process and officers concealing their identities.

Larson spent much of the hearing sparring with Committee Chairman Sen. Chris Kapenga (R-Delafield), who glowingly supported Trump, ICE and the bill during the hearing.

“I do think that ICE is a great organization,” Kapenga said. “I think they follow the law. I think there may be instances where, they’ve had very few instances where they’ve had issues, which have been corrected.”