Newly-released audio captures a tense scene inside a Walworth County courtroom when a court commissioner demands to see a warrant from sheriff’s deputies arresting two men at the request of immigration officials.
Commissioner Peter Navis later resigned from his position after he was confronted by three of the county’s judges over what happened in his courtroom on July 15.
Navis said he was told by the judges, who are his superiors, that he could resign or he would be fired.
A recording of the hearings in traffic court, where the arrests occurred, was released to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel through an open records request.
The Walworth County case is among a growing number where the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown is putting federal immigration authorities at odds with some state judges and local prosecutors.
In Milwaukee County, Judge Hannah Dugan is charged with obstructing federal officers who came to her courtroom in April to arrest an undocumented immigrant. A recent ruling clears the way for a trial, perhaps in fall.
In Massachusetts, a municipal judge held a federal immigration officer in contempt for making an arrest during a trial in April 2025. The case was later dismissed.
On the newly-released courtroom audio from Walworth, Navis raises his voice in frustration over the refusal of a Walworth County Sheriff’s Office sergeant and deputy to show him documentation for an arrest they were making on behalf of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE.
Assistant District Attorney Andrew Herrmann interrupts Navis and says there is no law requiring law enforcement to show him the warrant.
Navis fires back, “In my courtroom, a person cannot be detained without lawful authority. He’s on a signature bond.”
Being a signature bond meant the defendant was not in custody and would be free to leave after his appearance.
Navis adds, “I have been instructed by the judges of this county to prevent this arrest without being presented that warrant.”
Contacted Aug. 27, Navis declined to comment on the audio.
In an earlier interview, Navis said he was wrong to make a sweeping statement about the judges’ stance, but added he stands by his position that deputies should have shown him a warrant before making an arrest.
Prior to the hearing, Navis said he called Walworth County Judge Kristine Drettwan for guidance. Navis said Drettwan told him how she would handle the matter. He declined to share what Drettwan said.
She then told him he had authority to conduct matters in his courtroom “as he saw fit,” Navis recalled.
Drettwan and the county’s other judges did not return calls and emails seeking comment from the Journal Sentinel.
The sheriff’s office also did not return calls and emails seeking comment. The office did not respond to a records request for the warrant supporting arrest of the two men in Navis’ courtroom.
Navis previously told the Journal Sentinel there was no policy in the county about what to do if there was an immigration arrest, so he wanted to see documentation. Arrests in the courthouse are common, he said, but not immigration arrests.
“In other situations, the warrants were issued by courts in Wisconsin and they are readily available,” Navis said. “The type of warrant and authority claimed was different and that’s why I asking for it, to see if there was lawful authority.”
The men arrested in Navis’ court were Enrrique Onan Zamora Castro and Jorge Ramirez Alvarez, according to the sheriff’s office.
According to online court records, Castro, 33, of Milwaukee, was facing charges of operating without a valid license for the second time in three years. Wisconsin court records show he was previously convicted of felony stalking and disorderly conduct in Milwaukee County, in 2023 and 2025. He received probation in both cases.
Alvarez, 41, of Fitchburg in Dane County, also was facing charges of operating without a valid license for the second time in three years.
According to online court records, Alvarez was charged with second-degree sexual assault of a child in Dane County in 2022. The case was dismissed by the state earlier this year, shortly before the trial. No reason was given for the dismissal in online court records.
Officials with ICE did not return emails seeking comment.
Contact John Diedrich at (414) 224-2408 or jdiedrich@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Listen to tense hearing where court commissioner asks for warrant on ICE arrest in Wisconsin
Reporting by John Diedrich, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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