All three candidates for Kewaunee County sheriff agree that if an immigrant is arrested, Immigration and Customs Enforcement should be notified. In June 2025, Kewaunee County signed an agreement with ICE under its 287(g) program. According to Wisconsin Public Radio, the agreement authorizes participating sheriff's departments to have local deputies enforce certain federal immigration laws within the county jail and serve administrative warrants for undocumented individuals. Approximately 20 Wisconsin counties, including Brown and Manitowoc, have active agreements with ICE.

Scott Szydel says that if people are committing felony crimes, they should not be in the country.

Kevin Schmidt said he would like to know why the department signed the agreement but agreed that ICE should be contacted if someone commits a crime after they have served their sentence.

Eric Zellner cited his experience responding to calls involving suspected Venezuelan gang members in the middle of the night as one reason he would keep Kewaunee County in the program if elected.

All three candidates said immigrants living in the community should be better documented but stopped short of saying they should be granted driver's licenses. You can hear the complete interviews with all three candidates at this link.