As immigration enforcement intensifies in neighboring Minnesota, unverified rumors of a large-scale Immigration and Customs Enforcement presence moving into Wisconsin have spread rapidly across social media. Milwaukee officials and immigrant advocacy groups say there is no evidence to support those claims and are urging the public to stop sharing unconfirmed information.
“We have no solid indication” ICE is about to surge into the city, said Jeff Fleming, a spokesman for Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson, in comments to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Jan. 26. “Every week we hear rumors about some inevitable deployment. But none of those rumors has come to fruition.”
Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley echoed that assessment, saying he checked with the Milwaukee Police Department and the County Sheriff’s Office and neither had heard “anything from any federal agency up until this point” about a major enforcement operation, according to Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Immigrant rights organizations say the rumors are causing unnecessary fear in communities already on edge. “Spreading unverified rumors only causes unnecessary anxiety for our community, especially for undocumented immigrants,” the advocacy group Comité sin Fronteras wrote online. “It makes people afraid to attend important appointments and can lead to more fear and confusion. Please help us keep our community safe and calm by only sharing confirmed information.”
Much of the speculation centered on a claim that ICE booked rooms at a downtown Milwaukee Hilton hotel as part of a planned crackdown. The rumor circulated widely on Facebook, X and Threads. Physician Kristin Lyerly, a Democrat who previously ran for Congress, amplified the claim in a Jan. 26 post viewed hundreds of thousands of times before deleting it.
Lyerly later said she removed the post after learning “it became clear that there wasn’t enough evidence to support it, and there was potential for causing more harm than good.” (RELATED: Hispanic Waukesha School Board Candidate Says Ethics Complaint Is Baseless, Steps Back From Campaign)
Groups including Voces de la Frontera, Forward Latino and Milwaukee Turners said they had debunked the hotel rumor. “At this time (Sunday, Jan 25th) there is not an emergency/ high alert / risk situation,” Voces de la Frontera wrote. Darryl Morin of Forward Latino added, “Please know that the vast majority of these reports have been incorrect.”
State Rep. Ryan Clancy said misinformation can overwhelm groups tasked with verifying reports. “We have seen many people, some of whom are well-intentioned, and some of whom are, I think, seeking attention,” he said. “I would ask people very explicitly not to share unfounded rumors.”
Experts say emotionally charged topics like immigration enforcement are especially prone to viral misinformation. “Sometimes it’s the most emotionally evocative information which spreads most rapidly throughout a population,” said Daniel Lawrence, a digital media theorist at the University of Wisconsin–Superior. “No one thinks that they’re susceptible to disinformation or misinformation.”
Advocates stress that ICE continues to operate in the region through targeted arrests, but urge residents to rely on verified sources and hotlines rather than social media speculation. (RELATED: Anti-ICE ‘Watch’ Group Linked to Woman Killed During Federal Operation)