A bill in the Wisconsin Legislature would set new requirements on county sheriffs to assist federal immigration authorities — Kewaunee County Sheriff Matt Joski spoke about how he views responsibilities to the law and his local community. Greg Clement, owner of the Milwaukee-based metals fabricator Argon Industries said he imports 70% of his aluminum from Canada and U.S. tariffs are a huge burden.
 

Sheriff Matt Joski
Kewaunee County Sheriff’s Department

• The Republican majority in the Wisconsin Assembly passed a bill on March 18 that would require sheriffs to request proof of legal presence in the United States from people held in county jails on a felony charge and report it to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Joski said it’s the responsibility of law enforcement to cooperate at all levels and the proposal passed is nothing the Kewaunee County Jail is not already doing. But in a public letter he released in February, Joski said this responsibility is not to the exclusion of compassion for law-abiding immigrants living and working in the community, and takes exception to what he calls the “next phase” of interaction and “rigid application of the laws” with unauthorized immigrants.
• Joski: “When we start talking about those individuals, these families — they’re here. How do we treat them? I think you’re referring to an article I wrote where we have to make sure that we don’t put everything into one group, that we treat those here for whatever reason that they’re here, but they’re raising their children, working jobs, really trying to be contributing members of our society. I cannot imagine a reality where we treat them the same as the criminal elements. So that’s where I make a separation in how we process it. And I hope that we as a country, I think we are, I think we’re smart enough, I think we have the capability to separate this out and do the right thing when it comes to the families, to the men and women that are here honestly trying to make this country a better place.”

Greg Clement
Owner, Argon Industries

• Argon Industries in Milwaukee fabricates sheet metal for industrial applications like generators, dehumidifiers, scaffolding and more, and the company employs about 150 people. Clement said tariffs on steel and aluminum put in place by the Trump administration are spiking costs for these metals by up to twice as much. That increased cost is being passed on to the consumer. Clement worries the tariffs will touch off a recession. President Donald Trump has said he wants to see domestic production of steel and aluminum, but nearly all of the latter is imported from outside the U.S.
• Clement: “I think he has a different endgame and it would be nice to know what his endgame is, because the other thing is to have uncertainty on tariffs creates uncertainty on customers buying. If you don’t have certainty of the industry of what you’re doing, they’re going to wait and delay.”

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