ICE agents detained 21-year-old Wisconsin State Patrol trooper Carel Aaron Van Der Merwe on Nov. 5 as he waited to board a domestic flight at Dane County Regional Airport in Madison, during what DHS described as a targeted enforcement operation.

According to his attorneys at the Christopher & De Leon Law Office, Van Der Merwe showed agents his federal work permit and explained he had a pending asylum application, but the officers 'said they did not care,' placed him in handcuffs and shackles, and transported him to immigration detention.

ICE records showed him held at a detention facility in Juneau, Wisconsin, in Dodge County. His attorney told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that Van Der Merwe was traveling to visit family in New Mexico.

The detention drew immediate attention because Van Der Merwe was an active state trooper — the Wisconsin State Patrol confirmed he had been employed since July 13, 2025, working out of the Tomah post and living in Onalaska.

He came to the U.S. legally from South Africa as a child, is included on his father's pending asylum application, and holds a federal work authorization card valid through 2030. Wisconsin State Patrol hiring rules allow noncitizens with valid work authorization to serve as troopers.

Attorney Marc Christopher called the arrest 'inhumane and despicable,' saying that putting a Wisconsin State Trooper behind bars while his asylum case sits unresolved does not make communities safer.

In a fast reversal, Van Der Merwe was released from ICE custody on Nov. 6, according to his attorney, who confirmed to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that he left the Dodge County Jail and was awaiting a ride from the head trooper in Tomah.

The release came under an order of supervision, which requires him to periodically check in with ICE, and he will likely be subject to electronic monitoring, potentially through a cellphone application rather than an ankle bracelet. According to News 8 Now, Rep.

Derrick Van Orden contacted DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin directly after learning of the detention, and the trooper's office said he would be released immediately while working with authorities to resolve his immigration status.

DHS maintains that Van Der Merwe entered the country in March 2019 with legal permission to stay until September 2019 but overstayed his admission, and that work authorization or a pending application do not confer legal status in the U.S. A DHS spokesperson added that the administration is 'working diligently to ensure that aliens in our country illegally can no longer fly unless it is out of our country to self-deport.'

Christopher pushed back, telling the Journal Sentinel the assertion was 'absurd and ridiculous' because the family has been in the country lawfully while waiting for their asylum application to be adjudicated. The family says it has waited seven years for an asylum interview.

According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Van Der Merwe came to the U.S. from South Africa with his family on visas at age 14, and his family applied for asylum on the grounds that they were persecuted, with a family member having been attacked.

Christopher said Van Der Merwe did not decide to come to the U.S. himself, having been brought by his parents, and that he chose a career in law enforcement to serve the country after being unable to join the U.S. military because he was not a permanent resident.

He graduated with a criminal justice degree in New Mexico, then researched states where he could do similar work with his status and found Wisconsin.

Christopher said he plans to speak with Van Der Merwe over the weekend to discuss next steps, expects him to eventually share his experience publicly, and hopes Wisconsin's congressional delegation institutes changes to the way ICE can operate.

He argued that ICE's decision to detain a law enforcement officer with valid work authorization showed it was picking up 'as many people as they can,' and questioned the use of tax dollars to hold him.

Congresswoman-elect Rebecca Cooke, who will represent Wisconsin's 3rd Congressional District in January, said before the release announcement that she would investigate the incident and demand an explanation from ICE officials.

Congresswoman-elect Cooke and others are still seeking answers about why he was detained and then released.