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Announcer:
The following program is a PBS Wisconsin original production.

JD Vance:
Send the crazy people back home where they belong. God bless you and thank you for having me here in Milwaukee.

Frederica Freyberg:
An official visit from Vice President JD Vance brings political and election related rhetoric. And what’s to blame for the increase in ATV accidents and fatalities?
I’m Frederica Freyberg. Tonight on “Here & Now,” a recent surge in ICE arrests in Wisconsin. Another candidate drops out of the race for governor and “Inside Wisconsin Politics” takes a look. The vice president visits Milwaukee to talk fraud of all kinds. An uptick in off-road vehicles across the state means more crashes, and the small city of Fond du Lac seeks to attract working-age residents. It’s “Here & Now” for Friday, July 10.

Announcer:
Funding for “Here & Now” is provided by the Focus Fund for Journalism and Friends of PBS Wisconsin.

Frederica Freyberg:
A surge of immigration and border control arrests in Wisconsin over the past few weeks is part of a nationwide push on the part of Homeland Security, resulting in the detention of more than 10,000 people, according to national reporting. In Milwaukee, Waukesha, the Madison area and elsewhere in the state, dozens of arrests have been confirmed by immigrant rights groups and attorneys. For reaction on this, we turn to Milwaukee and Darryl Morin, national president of Forward Latino. And thanks very much for being here.

Darryl Morin:
Thank you for asking me to join you this morning.

Frederica Freyberg:
So what is your reaction to this recent surge of detentions in Wisconsin and elsewhere?

Darryl Morin:
Well, I’ll tell you, tremendous frustration and to a certain degree, anger. You know, it would be different if they were going around and detaining people who were bad doers in the community. But we’re continuing to see that operations are continuously targeted at people, for the most part, who’ve been trying to do everything the right way. Who filled out all their asylum papers, have been showing up to all their court dates, etc. That came here with TPS only to see it removed from them. So it’s really been a very dark time for many in our community, and we appreciate the support and that we’re seeing come from all other communities throughout the state and the country, quite honestly.

Frederica Freyberg:
Do you have the numbers of arrests in Wisconsin in this most recent surge?

Darryl Morin:
Well, I know that we’ve been able to confirm 39. Immigration has put out the number of 57. We’re still working to confirm that. But 39 is what we’re comfortable reporting at this time.

Frederica Freyberg:
What stands out to you as to how these recent arrests are physically being carried out?

Darryl Morin:
Well, I’ll tell you, there’s plenty of video out there to support what I’m going to be sharing with you. We’ve seen families, particularly mothers, even with infants in the car, have their windows being broken, being violently pulled out and thrown to the ground. Having immigration agents literally unholster their weapon before they have a chance to do anything and threaten their lives. It’s been very, very scary for many folks, both immigrant and citizen alike, because we’re seeing this happen to people who are both lawfully and unlawfully present at this time. So a lot of concern, especially given what we saw in previously up in Minneapolis and now with the shooting that’s been ruled a homicide that just happened down in Houston. There’s a lot of fear and a lot of concern.

Frederica Freyberg:
Because in your mind, the kind of police tactics are not in keeping with general rules of such?

Darryl Morin:
Yeah. Generally, we’re used to seeing law enforcement officers using rules of de-escalation. And immigration officials are actually doing quite the opposite right now. And I think they’ve actually realized this because what we’re seeing is instead of wearing vests now that say, ICE or denote them as being immigrant officials, they’re now wearing vests that are now exclusively say police. So I think that’s a self admission that they no longer have the trust and credibility throughout our country and are being forced to try to steal or borrow or take the trust and credibility that people have with their local law enforcement departments.

Frederica Freyberg:
How will this continue to unfold, in your mind, given increased funding to ICE?

Darryl Morin:
Well, we know that we had put out an alert about two weeks ago because we had seen this coming. So we put out a community alert on it. In fact, it just expired today. But we’re expecting to see, while not at the same levels, we’re expecting to see the standard operating tempo of immigration actually step it up a little bit as we move forward. We’re now starting to see that they are graduating additional classes of agents through their training program. With the recent funding increase that they received yet again, they are now — ICE is now receiving more funding on an annual basis than the United States Marine Corps is. Just to tell you that outrageous amount of resources that are being thrown at this. So we’re telling everybody while we have lifted — we’ve let the community alert expire here in southeastern Wisconsin it’s still important for people who are lawfully present, who are U.S. citizens or who are at risk of separation, really, to have an emergency plan in place should you be pulled over or run off the road by unidentified vehicles and be violently thrown out of your vehicle and detained.

Frederica Freyberg:
Because I was just going to ask you what someone in your position says to people you advocate for in the midst of all of this?

Darryl Morin:
Well, we’re very fortunate that as a community, we’re strong of faith. We’ve had to overcome a lot throughout our history. Sadly, we thought chapters like this were relegated to the past. And we’re seeing them brought forward to the future. So we will continue to persevere. And as I mentioned, we are receiving calls and financial support and volunteers from all different communities. Many from people who’ve never been involved in any kind of such action. And the one common theme I’m hearing from them is this isn’t the America we grew up in. This isn’t right. How can I help? And that’s what makes it easier to get up every morning quite honestly.

Frederica Freyberg:
We leave it there. Darryl Morin, thank you so much.

Darryl Morin:
Thank you.

Frederica Freyberg:
In related news, former Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan will not serve prison time for ushering a Mexican defendant out of her courtroom to evade ICE agents. At sentencing this week, a federal judge fined Dugan $5,000, saying she lived an otherwise law-abiding life. Federal prosecutors had sought a stiffer sentence. Still, Dugan is expecting to appeal the conviction.
And then there were five. This week, one of the six Democrats running for governor dropped out of the race. Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley announced he would no longer seek the position, saying it has become clear that I will not be the Democratic nominee for governor. After being outpaced by other candidates, he threw his support to Lieutenant Governor Sara Rodriguez. Also still in the race, Francesca Hong, Mandela Barnes, Kelda Roys and Joel Brennan. This week’s “Inside Wisconsin Politics” took up changes in the primary campaigns for governor.

Shawn Johnson:
Now we’re down to five. Zac, is it still crowded or is this race shifted to you in a meaningful way?

Zac Schultz:
I think the crowd — it depends more on the lanes of what we’re talking about. I think there’s clearly a progressive lane. There’s clearly a more establishment center, government lane. And then there’s a question of if there’s room in between for any of the rest of them to kind of stake their own area, or if they’re competing for those two groups. But there clearly is this sense, as the two candidates have dropped out, that have now endorsed Sara Rodriguez, that there is an establishment going on and that fits this national theme that we’re seeing of establishment Dems worrying about progressive Dems potentially undermining chances to win seats in November, versus progressives who are saying, no, we are the ones that are going to win these primaries and win in November, get behind us as we keep going forward. So there’s definitely a shrinkage there, but it’s almost a shrinkage into lanes as opposed to these individual candidates.

Shawn Johnson:
Anya, how do you see those lanes? I mean, I think just a few weeks ago, I was kind of having a hard time putting the candidates into different lanes or buckets, however you want to do it. What are the lanes now as you see it?

Anya van Wagtendonk:
Yeah, I think Zac sort of hit the nail on the head with establishment versus progressive. And one way that we’re seeing that is when these candidates are dropping out, that they are endorsing other candidates. There’s a world in which you drop out and you say, I love my party and I all I want is for a Democrat to win. And David Crowley did that kind of initially in his original announcement that he was stepping down. He didn’t immediately endorse anyone. He said the most important thing is just that somebody beats Tom Tiffany in the fall and then this morning came out and endorsed Sara Rodriguez. So I think that’s a sign that people are kind of choosing teams and trying to say, who do I think has the best ability for Democrats to win in November? Is it the sort of Hong progressive lane? Is it the Rodriguez more sort of establishment lane?

Shawn Johnson:
Nobody that I’ve heard has come out and said, well, we got to stop Francesca Hong, you know, but we’ve seen this debate that you’ve referenced at the national level where you have sort of the national establishment Democrats fighting against this, you know, democratic socialist caucus that’s growing. Is there an unspoken we got to stop Francesca Hong in all this, or are we making that up? Are we looking for conflict where there is none here in Wisconsin?

Zac Schultz:
I don’t think it’d be wise for anyone to say that out loud from the Democratic Party, because there’s a very good chance that Hong can win this, and then they have to unite behind her. So that is the other half of this game is you can drop out and you can endorse someone that you would prefer, but then you still want to create a sense of party unity. That is still the goal is for the Democrats in their minds, is to beat Tom Tiffany. And whether that is Francesca Hong or whether that’s Sara Rodriguez or Mandela Barnes or Brennan or Roys or anyone that’s still in this race at this point, they have to worry about that in the long run. So in the short run, we’re not seeing some of the disunity of attacking each other that was a potential with a more crowded race. There’s still time. There’s still million-dollar ad buys coming up. Kelda Roys just announced an hour ago that she’s got 1.2 million that she’s going to announce, and she’s going to spend every last penny of it. She’s not going to drop out of this race. And she has a history in some of these big competitive elections of going a little contrarian towards the end. So I don’t think it’s going to be all quiet and rosy from here until August. There’s going to be some fireworks as they try and create that last separation to hopefully put themselves over the 30 to 35% that may be needed to win.

Frederica Freyberg:
In other election news, in a 5-2 ruling this week, the Wisconsin Supreme Court rejected an attempt by a conservative activist to obtain records of people who are deemed not to be competent to vote. The court, citing personal privacy rights. The case was connected to moves to overturn President Joe Biden’s victory over President Trump in 2020.
Vice President JD Vance came to Milwaukee this week with a message of stamping out fraud in taxpayer funded programs. Ahead of his visit, Mayor Cavalier Johnson asked the vice president to come see Milwaukee’s election operation because he wrote, “federal law enforcement agents deployed at the direction of the president’s administration have been present in my city interviewing election officials. I know of no justification for this activity. Evidence of wrongdoing is entirely absent,” he said, “and the investigation is intimidating honest public servants.” Vance was asked to respond.

JD Vance:
Some guy sends me a letter, the mayor of Milwaukee, and says we don’t do any election fraud. We don’t do any election fraud. We don’t do any election fraud. When I hear a guy protesting out of nowhere, I did not do any election fraud. I did not do any election fraud. It makes me wonder, why is that guy protesting so aggressively? It’s a little odd. A second thing I’ll say is, look, there’s, of course, this big debate about how much election fraud happens in the United States of America. You guys know my views. We’re not going to settle this here. First of all, any election fraud is too much election fraud in the world’s greatest and oldest constitutional republic. And number two, if Democrats want us to stop talking about election fraud, I make them a simple deal. Pass the Save America Act and get voter ID, and we’ll stop talking about election fraud.

Frederica Freyberg:
Vance said he could not meet with the mayor or tour election sites, but said Johnson was welcome to visit him in D.C.
Turning to the outdoors with summer at its peak, ATV and side by side vehicles are out in force across thousands of miles of trails in Wisconsin, and we have the most registered off-road vehicles of any state at more than half a million. The explosion in riders comes with a steady increase, though, in fatality and injury accidents involving the vehicles. A new law went into effect in June that requires seatbelt use, part of work to enhance the safety of ATVs and UTVs. DNR Conservation Warden Jake Holsclaw oversees the Off Highway Vehicle Program and joins us now from Eau Claire. And thanks very much for being here.

Jake Holsclaw:
Absolutely, look forward to it.

Frederica Freyberg:
So how busy is it out there on the ATV routes?

Jake Holsclaw:
Yeah. Great question. It seems like it’s getting busier every day. Wisconsin, like you said, we have over half a million registered machines. It seems like that number is going up every year. And we have about 2,500 miles of off-road trail routes. And then we have over 65,000 miles of on-road routes. So basically roadways, you know, roadway routes shared with other motor vehicles. So it really does keep us busy.

Frederica Freyberg:
As we’ve said, the uptick in the number of riders, though, also results in an increase in accidents and injuries and even fatalities.

Jake Holsclaw:
Yeah, unfortunately, I think that that’s just a kind of a byproduct of the increased numbers. We really started to see an increase around 2020, 2021. I think people were just — with everything else going on, they were trying to get outdoors, find something to do. And it really has stayed steadily increasing ever since then. And when you have more people on the landscape, you have more folks potentially are, you know, not being safe and not following the rules. And then we have seen an uptick in crashes because of that.

Frederica Freyberg:
So how and why do these crashes mostly happen?

Jake Holsclaw:
Well, it’s any number of reasons. A number of our crashes are going to be alcohol or drug related. The majority of them would be alcohol related. When we’re looking at, you know, some kind of substance, so to speak, that’s causing folks to crash. And so I think folks need to remember that, you know, just like the motor vehicle world, you really need to make a smart decision and realize that even with these recreational vehicles like ATVs and UTVs, maybe even more so, they’re very dynamic machine and folks have to be — you want to be on your best, right? You want your mind to be working the best. You want your body, your reaction time to be working the best when you’re out operating these. One of the other things is that people need to remember, I think they sometimes forget that these machines handle differently on paved surfaces and roadways. The original design of these machines, in fact, that’s what the — you know, you’ll see manufacturers’ recommendations is that they are only operated off the road. So I think folks need to remember that the knobbier, softer tires on a lot of these machines, they tend to grip pavement really well. And if people drive them like they would drive their car going to work, it can cause some problems. They tend to tip easier if people aren’t slowing down into their curves and really anticipating their stops. So a number of the crashes we’re seeing, a little over half, are occurring on roadway routes.

Frederica Freyberg:
So as to the operation of these vehicles while under the influence of whatever it is. What are the penalties for that? I mean, you can write citations for that, but what are the penalties that someone would face for that?

Jake Holsclaw:
Yeah, ultimately it would be a citation or a couple citations. Typically, you know, the citation is issued for the operating while intoxicated. If they’re operating over that 0.08 level, they would be issued an additional citation for that. And then sometimes they’re issued other citations for other violations that may have occurred because they were intoxicated and not really thinking clearly and violating some other safety issues. So yeah, so a number of citations can be issued. But typically, you know, most of what we’re running into is a first offense. And in Wisconsin, like any OWI, a first offense is just a civil forfeiture. It’s really just a fine. There’s typically no jail time or extra fines associated with that unless there is something more major, like somebody dies in the crash or something like that happens.

Frederica Freyberg:
And so people could be right back out there on those vehicles after that kind of a citation. Now, I took a look at your annual report, and it says that 95% of fatal accidents are among operators who have not taken a safety course, but that course is only required for people born after 1988. Why is that?

Jake Holsclaw:
Yeah, you’re spot on. Well, back when the law was created, they decided to — my understanding is that they decided to set a date. They had to set a time frame where they wanted everybody born on or after that date to complete the course. Like you said, it’s 1-1 of ’88. And so the idea behind that then was that folks born before that are essentially grandfathered in their older age. But what we are seeing, like you said, 95% haven’t completed a safety course, but also the majority of our crashes are happening with folks that are older and grandfathered in. So folks that were born before that 1-1 of ’88 date. And so I think it really points to the fact that you’re never really too old to learn safety. You’re never too old to know the rules and regulations. And we just want folks to remember that the majority — the vast majority of our regulations are there for your safety and for you to continue enjoyment of that sport.

Frederica Freyberg:
All right. Well, we appreciate it. Thanks very much for joining us from Eau Claire, Jake Holsclaw.

Jake Holsclaw
Thank you.

Frederica Freyberg:
Up next, a push to attract a working age population. Would you consider moving to the small city of Fond du Lac to work? There’s an incentive for that, actually two. One offers $9,500 to individuals from out of state to move to the city and maintain their remote jobs. The other helps employers recruit employees from areas at least 100 miles away and helps them offer prospective workers a $15,000 hiring bonus. Here to explain the program is Sadie Howell of Envision Greater Fond du Lac. And thanks very much for being here.

Sadie Howell:
Thanks for having me.

Frederica Freyberg:
So why the push to help people move to Fond du Lac?

Sadie Howell:
In Fond du Lac County, we’re facing a population decline which isn’t unlike the rest of the state, most of the state of Wisconsin. And at Envision, we are the combined Chamber of Commerce and economic development organization and so we have heard from our members and businesses for years that it’s really hard to attract talent and find workers. So this has been a push at Envision and our strategic plan on talent attraction campaigns. The $15,000 one you referenced, we’ve had for quite a few years. And then most recently, we launched a talent attraction with Make My Move due to a grant from the state of Wisconsin.

Frederica Freyberg:
So how bad is that population decline?

Sadie Howell:
I would say we’re pretty stagnant right now. So in Fond du Lac County, it has been about a 1% population growth. We don’t have a lot of natural birth, but we do have net in-migration. And so we do an okay job of attracting people from different counties in Wisconsin and from out of the state. However, we’re facing two really big years. 2030 is when a lot of the baby boomers will retire. And in 2040 is when our population is really expected to start to decline quite a bit. And in preparation for that, we wanted to make sure that we were starting to attract people before 2030 into 2040.

Frederica Freyberg:
How many new residents and workers are you hoping to lure to your city?

Sadie Howell:
With the grant program, so that was from the state Legislature put $5 million into a new grant through the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation and Envision applied. We received $346,000 from WEDC. Envision’s board of directors is putting about $100,000 towards it. And with that money, we are partnering with Make My Move. They are a national platform that helps relocate individuals that are looking for a new place to call home, and our goal is 32 families.

Frederica Freyberg:
So for both programs, individuals or employers have to fill out applications. What is interest looking like right now?

Sadie Howell:
For our Make My Move platform? It is pretty crazy. We actually just got our new statistics yesterday and 1700 people from around the country have expressed interest. 900 of them have applied to move to Fond du Lac County. And then from those, it’s trickled down a little bit. We have six accepted movers already. We launched this May 14th. So about a month and a half, two months almost in, we have six people already moving. One person already purchased a home in Fond du Lac County. So it’s incredible. It’s really incredible. And what Make My Move does and why they have been a great partner, we’ve been working with them for about 6 to 9 months on creating all of the storytelling of why would somebody want to live in Fond du Lac County. So they sell the community first and then people apply. So we are resonating with an incredible number of people from around the country who want to come and live here.

Frederica Freyberg:
So if you were trying, as you are, to entice someone to move to Fond du Lac, what are its selling points?

Sadie Howell:
It’s not a lot different than what I think you would probably hear from other communities that come on. We have a little bit slower pace of life. We are a little bit smaller. We do have affordable homes. We do have a wonderful mix of private and public schools. We have three institutions of higher learning in our county and a plethora of careers. So there — you will have no problem trying to find your right career here. It’s really do you like outdoor recreation? Do you still like to talk to your neighbors and find a place that you call community, where non-profits are looking for volunteers? That’s the kind of community that still exists in Fond du Lac County.

Frederica Freyberg:
So briefly here, this obviously really works, this incentive program that you’ve set up. Are other cities across the state looking at something similar?

Sadie Howell:
Yeah. So we were one of 17 communities that actually received this grant from WEDC. So our neighbors to the east, Sheboygan and two of our neighbors to the north, Oshkosh and the city of Appleton, both received similar grants. Now their programs look a little bit different than ours, but all of us had to follow the same basic guidelines when we received the grant.

Frederica Freyberg:
All right. Well, Sadie Howell, thanks very much for joining us.

Sadie Howell:
Thank you.

Frederica Freyberg:
For more on this and other issues facing Wisconsin, visit our website at PBSWisconsin.org and then click on the news tab. That’s our program for tonight. I’m Frederica Freyberg. Have a good weekend.

Announcer:
Funding for “Here & Now” is provided by the Focus Fund for Journalism and Friends of PBS Wisconsin.