Rep. Rivera-Wagner calls for federal investigations into ICE detentions

GREEN BAY (NBC 26) — State Rep. Amaad Rivera-Wagner (D-Green Bay) is demanding a federal investigation after an Oshkosh teacher and a Wisconsin State Patrol trooper were both detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). A press release sent out by Rep. Rivera-Wagner’s office Monday says the local lawmaker has sent a letter to U.S. Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisconsin) and Ron Johnson (R-Wisconsin), requesting an investigation into potential civil rights violations by ICE. The request comes after Oshkosh teacher Wendy Mendez was detained and deported in October and State Patrol Trooper Carel Aaron Van Der Merwe was detained last week . “When an award-winning teacher can be deported and a Wisconsin State Trooper detained, something is deeply broken,” said Rivera-Wagner. “These are people who educate our children and protect our communities.” The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) says that while Mendez entered the United States legally from Costa Rica on a temporary basis in 2020, she did not leave by 2021 and was placed in removal proceedings in 2026. DHS says Van Der Merwe entered the country legally from South Africa in 2019 but was supposed to leave later that year.