Gov. Tony Evers had already said he wasn’t directing state employees to break the law should immigration officials enter state buildings. Evers answers reporters questions in March. (Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner)
Gov. Tony Evers issued a three-minute video Friday in which he addressed Wisconsinites, describing a statement from the White House border czar Tom Homan that has been interpreted by some as a threat to arrest Evers as “chilling.”
Homan made the vague threat after a reporter for the far-right website Gateway Pundit asked him “why not just arrest” leaders interfering with deportation efforts. The reporter then specifically asked him about Evers’ directive to state agencies instructing them to consult an attorney if federal immigration agents enter state buildings demanding files or computer system access.
“Wait to see what’s coming,” Homan said. “You can not support what we’re doing and you can support sanctuary cities if that’s what you want to do, but if you cross that line of impediment or knowingly harboring or concealing an illegal alien, that is a felony and we’ll treat it as such.”
Before the comment, Evers had already said he wasn’t directing state employees to break the law should immigration officials enter state buildings.
“A Trump Administration official, in not so many words, apparently threatened to arrest me… The goal of this guidance was simple — to provide clear, consistent instructions to state employees and ensure they have a lawyer to help them comply with all federal and state laws. Nothing more, nothing less,” Evers said in the video. “But Republicans and their right-wing allies, including Elon Musk, lied about this guidance, spread misinformation, accused me of doing things I didn’t do or say, and fueled a fake controversy of their own creation.”
The guidance sent by the Department of Administration to state employees told them to stay calm if an ICE agent entered their offices. It told them to ask agents for their names and badges to verify their identity, to ask why they were there, ask for documentation like a valid warrant then tell the agent to have a seat. It said state employees should call the Office of Legal Council to consult an attorney.
It also told employees not to answer questions from an agent, give them access to paper files and computer systems without speaking to an attorney and not to give consent for an agent to enter a “nonpublic” area, noting that they need a judicial warrant to enter such an area.
“Remember that every state employee has a duty to protect confidential data and information collected or maintained by the State of Wisconsin in state offices and electronic filing systems,” the guidance stated.
“I haven’t broken the law. I haven’t committed a crime, and I’ve never encouraged or directed anyone to break any laws or commit any crimes,” Evers said in the video. “When President Trump’s hand-picked appointee, Tom Homan, was asked about me and this guidance after he apparently threatened to arrest elected officials across the country, he said, ‘Wait ’til you see what’s coming.’ Overnight, Republican lawmakers piled on, encouraging the Trump Administration to arrest me.”
Evers’ directive had received backlash from Wisconsin Republicans who called on Evers to rescind the guidance and support Trump’s deportation agenda.
One Republican state lawmaker Rep. Calvin Callahan (R-Tomahawk) suggested in multiple social media posts Thursday that Evers should be arrested — sharing an AI-generated photo of Evers in handcuffs and writing in another post that “this is what Tony Evers sent out; stick him in the same cell as the Milwaukee judge!” Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan was arrested last week under accusations that she impeded the arrest of a man that ICE followed to her courtroom.
Evers said the threats should concern everyone.
“In this country, the federal government doesn’t get to abuse its power to threaten everyday Americans. In this country, the federal government doesn’t get to arrest American citizens who have not committed a crime. In this country, we don’t threaten to persecute people just because they belong to a different political party,” Evers said.
“These threats represent a concerning trajectory in this country. We now have a federal government that will threaten or arrest an elected official — or even everyday American citizens — who have broken no laws, committed no crimes, and done nothing wrong,” Evers said. “As disgusted as I am about the continued actions of the Trump Administration, I am not afraid. I have never once been discouraged from doing the right thing, and I will not start today.”
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