The American Civil Liberties Union is suing five Wisconsin sheriffs over their practice of holding people in jail at the request of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The group filed a petition with the Wisconsin Supreme Court last week on behalf of the Milwaukee-based immigration rights group Voces de La Frontera.

The petition asks the court to take up the case directly. That’s because Wisconsinites need statewide clarity on the issue, said Hannah Schwarz, an attorney with the ACLU of Wisconsin.

“There’s this really inconsistent patchwork of enforcement affecting the public rights of individuals,” she said.

In the first seven months of this year, ICE sent more than 700 requests to local jails across Wisconsin, asking them to hold someone for an additional 48 hours after that person

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