MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Guidance from the Democratic governor of Wisconsin's administration to state employees about what to do if immigration officials or other federal agents show up at their workplace drew fire Monday from Republicans, who said it was in defiance of the law and President Donald Trump.
The memo from Gov. Tony Evers' administration sent Friday afternoon comes as Trump's administration has ramped up efforts to deport people living in the country illegally, setting off a string of lawsuits and resistance among Democrats.
Here are things to know about what Evers did in Wisconsin.
Anne Hanson, deputy secretary at Evers' Department of Administration, said in the email to state employees that the guidance was sent after receiving questions about how to respond if Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents or other federal agents show up at their workplace.
The five-point memo tells state employees to remain calm and immediately notify their supervisor. After asking agents to identify themselves and to present documentation of why they are there, the guidance says the state worker should contact their office's attorney.
The memo advises state employees not to answer questions from agents, not to give them permission to enter nonpublic areas and not to give them access to paper files or computer systems without first talking with an attorney.
Every Wisconsin state employee has a responsibility to protect confidential data and information, the memo said.
“Because of this, state employees may not grant ICE or another agent access to any such data or information absent authorization from their legal counsel pursuant to a valid judicial warrant,” the guidance concludes.
Hanson, the Evers official, says that the guidance was offered similar to what other public entities have done.
The recommendations are similar to guidance that Connecticut’s Democratic governor issued in January. The guidelines also mirror what the National Immigration Law Center and other advocacy groups have said should be done when immigration officials show up at a workplace.
Similar to the Wisconsin guidance, the National Immigration Law Center advises employees to contact an attorney, not speak to federal agents and not allow them into a private part of the workplace unless they have a judicial warrant.
Republicans tried to use the memo against Evers, who has yet to say whether he will seek a third term next year in the swing state.
U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, who represents northern Wisconsin and is considering a run for governor in 2026, said the memo amounts to “ordering state employees to block ICE from doing their job.”
“Wisconsin deserves better,” Tiffany posted on X. He copied U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi on his message.
Wisconsin Republican Party Chairman Brian Schimming called it an order to “impede justice.”
“This blatant defiance of law and order, in direct opposition to the Trump administration’s focus on public safety, puts our communities, families, and children at risk,” Schimming said in a statement.
The memo comes as Republicans who control the Wisconsin Legislature and minority Democrats are taking opposite sides on how to handle immigration enforcement.
The Wisconsin Assembly last month passed a bill requiring county sheriffs to comply with federal immigration authorities. Evers has said he is likely to veto the measure.
Democrats introduced a competing proposal that would block state and local government officials from cooperating with federal deportation efforts unless there is a judicial warrant. But that bill will go nowhere in the GOP-controlled Legislature.
The Evers memo was first made public Monday in a social media post by conservative talk radio host Dan O’Donnell.
FILE - Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers gives the annual State of the State address, Jan. 22, 2025, at the state Capitol in Madison, Wis. (AP Photo/Morry Gash, File)
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — President Donald Trump offered some encouraging words and advice for graduating students at the University of Alabama on Thursday in a speech interspersed with impressions of transgender weightlifters, accusations that judges were interfering with his agenda and attacks on his predecessor, Joe Biden.
The Republican’s jolting speech was standard fare for Trump and well-received by the crowd in deep-red Alabama, which backed him in all three of his presidential runs.
“You’re the first graduating class of the golden age of America,” the president told the graduates.
But he quickly launched into a campaign-style diatribe, saying that the U.S. was being “ripped off” before he took office and that the last four years, when he was out of power, “were not good for our country.”
“But don’t let that scare you,” he said. “It was an aberration.”
The president of the University of Alabama, Stuart Bell, told graduates before Trump took the stage that Thursday night’s event was all about them.
“This special ceremony offers a meaningful opportunity for you, for I, to reflect on the important connection between academic inquiry, civic leadership, and public service,” Bell said.
Trump mostly went in a different direction.
He did a grunting impression of a female weightlifter as he criticized the participation of transgender women in sports. He bragged about how tech moguls have warmed up to him, saying, “They all hated me in my first term, and now they’re kissing my ass.”
And he falsely claimed that the 2020 election, which he lost, was “rigged.”
But after talking up his tariff plans, sharing his successes from his first 100 days in office and bashing the media, Trump turned back to the graduates, offering 10 pieces of advice drawn from his life and career, such as “Think of yourself as a winner,” “Be an original” and “Never, ever give up.”
He told them they were never too young to be successful and described how he worked on his first hotel development deal in his 20s.
“Now is the time to work harder than you’ve ever worked before,” he said. “Find your limits and then smash through everything.”
Although Trump described the speech as a commencement address, it is actually a special event that was created before graduation ceremonies that begin Friday. Graduating students had the option of attending the event.
Former Crimson Tide football coach Nick Saban also spoke, regaling the audience with a story about visiting the Oval Office in 2018 during Trump's first term. Saban said Trump was a gracious host.
In his remarks Thursday, Trump noted that he was marking his 100th day in office and touted the plummeting levels of arrests at the southern U.S. border as evidence that his immigration policies were working. But he accused the courts of trying to stop him from fulfilling the promises he made on the campaign trail.
“Judges are interfering, supposedly based on due process,” he said. “But how can you give due process to people who came into our country illegally?”
Trump has a long history of injecting such rhetoric into his remarks at venues where traditional political talk was seen as unseemly.
On his first full day in office in 2017, he used a speech at a memorial for fallen CIA agents to complain about journalists and defend the size of his crowd at the inauguration. Later that year, he drew backlash for talking about politics at a Boy Scouts gathering. And earlier this year, he delivered a grievance-filled speech at the Justice Department where he threatened to “expose” his enemies.
Ahead of Trump's arrival, Emily Appel, a 22-year-old advertising major from Norcross, Georgia, called Trump's appearance at her school “a cherry on top” of her college years.
She said she hoped he had a message to share that was "positive about us being able to work in the real world and for our future.”
Sophie Best, who is graduating with a communications degree, said, “I don’t think that we could have had a greater person come to speak."
The 21-year-old from Cartersville, Georgia, said she attended Trump's first presidential inauguration in 2017 when she was a freshman in high school, along with her father, who she said loves Trump.
“I think that no matter what political party or whatever you believe in, I think that it’s super cool that we get to experience and make history and be a part of this,” she said.
At a park a mile away, hundreds of people gathered at a counter-rally hosted by College Democrats. One-time presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke of Texas and former U.S. Sen. Doug Jones, the last Democrat to hold statewide office in Alabama, addressed the attendees at their event, called a “Tide Against Trump” — a play on the university’s nickname.
Aidan Meyers, a 21-year-old junior studying biology at the university, said he was upset by the decision to let Trump speak at a graduation-related event.
“I felt betrayed that the university was willing to put up with someone who has made it clear that they hate academia, essentially holding funding above universities' heads as a bargaining chip, unless they bow down to what he wants, which is kind of a hallmark sign with fascist regime,” Meyers said.
O'Rourke told the rally that Trump was trying to make the students’ graduation “all about him, true to form.” He urged students and others gathered to go out and use their voices to “win America back.”
“The power of people works in this country, even against Donald Trump,” O’Rourke said.
Jones told the crowd they were there “not just as a protest, but as a movement.”
“You are here today because you’re concerned, you’re afraid. You understand that this country’s great democracy is teetering right now with what we’re seeing going on,” the former senator said.
Trump’s presence also drew criticism from the Alabama NAACP, which said his policies are hurting universities and students, particularly students of color.
After his stop in Alabama, Trump is scheduled to travel to Florida for a long weekend at his Mar-a-Lago resort.
Later this month, he is scheduled to give the commencement address at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York.
Associated Press writers Bill Barrow in Atlanta and Darlene Superville in Washington contributed to this report.
President Donald Trump arrives at Tuscaloosa National Airport, Thursday, May 1, 2025, in Tuscaloosa, Ala. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
President Donald Trump arrives at Tuscaloosa National Airport, Thursday, May 1, 2025, in Tuscaloosa, Ala. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
University of Alabama president Stuart Bell speaks before President Donald Trump arrives to give a commencement address at the University of Alabama, Thursday, May 1, 2025, in Tuscaloosa, Ala. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
President Donald Trump arrives at Tuscaloosa National Airport, Thursday, May 1, 2025, in Tuscaloosa, Ala. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
President Donald Trump walks with Air Force Col. Angela Ochoa, Commander of the 89th Airlift Wing from Marine One to board Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, Md., en route Tuscaloosa National Airport, Thursday, May 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
