ICE detains Wisconsin state trooper
The gist
ICE detained Wisconsin State Trooper Carel Aaron Van Der Merwe at a Madison airport over an alleged 2019 visa overstay.
His pending asylum case and federal work permit put the detention's legality and enforcement scope in question.
How it unfolded
- Mar 2019Van Der Merwe arrives from South Africa with legal permission to stay until September 2019, per DHS; his attorney says the family applied for asylum after settling in Florida.
- 2025He graduates from the Wisconsin State Patrol Academy, with his father pinning his uniform.
- Jul 2025He begins serving in the Wisconsin State Patrol, per WisDOT.
Key terms
- ICE
- Federal law enforcement agency under the Department of Homeland Security that enforces immigration and customs laws.
- asylum
- A legal protection granted by a country to foreigners fleeing persecution, refusing to expel or extradite them.
- removal proceedings
- Administrative hearings in U.S. immigration court to decide whether a noncitizen may be removed from the country.
Source: Wikipedia