Arrest. MWC file photo
DODGE COUNTY, WI (WSAU-WAOW) — Multiple media reports indicate that a Wisconsin State Patrol trooper was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at Dane County Regional Airport on Thursday.
Carel Aaron Van Der Merwe, 21, is being held at an immigration detention center in Dodge County after being detained in a targeted ICE operation, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
Attorney Marc Christopher is seeking Van Der Merwe’s release on bond, which is likely to take two weeks. He is calling on DHS to support his immediate release and on Wisconsin’s congressional delegation to scrutinize the decision to detain him.
“Van Der Merwe came to the United States from South Africa legally as a child and has waited seven years for an asylum interview,” according to Christopher.
He says the family has followed the legal process and has waited seven years for an asylum interview. “He is included on his father’s pending asylum application and holds federal work authorization bearing an expiration date in 2030,” Christopher said.
DHS states that Van Der Merwe entered the United States in March 2019 with permission to stay until September 2019. “In defiance of our nation’s laws, he overstayed his admission,” DHS said in a statement.
They added that Van Der Merwe will receive due process during the removal proceedings.
Van Der Merwe wanted to serve the U.S., but his pending immigration status prevented him from joining the military, so he chose law enforcement, according to Christopher. Van Der Merwe graduated from New Mexico Military Institute with a degree in criminal justice and became a Wisconsin state trooper a year ago.
He lives in Onalaska and works out of Tomah. His attorney said state patrol allows noncitizens with valid work permits to serve. A statement from ICE says work authorization does not confer legal status in the United States.
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