Tom Tiffany just used David Crowley’s own words to define David Crowley on illegal immigration.
The Republican nominee for governor released a new ad Monday that opens on the Democrat’s own line: “I’m not an ally. I’m an accomplice. I’m going to be with you no matter what.” The spot then cuts that pledge between three Wisconsin crimes involving illegal immigrants, in Dane County, Fond du Lac County, and Milwaukee. Crowley has promised to stand with illegal immigrants “no matter what,” tie the hands of law enforcement, and hand taxpayer-funded benefits to people here illegally.
Crowley has already filled in the rest. He has said he does not see any scenario in which he would work with immigration enforcement. He has backed driver’s licenses and taxpayer-subsidized in-state tuition for illegal immigrants, and he has said he would stop law enforcement from asking about immigration status. As Milwaukee County executive, his administration lobbied for legislation that would have created taxpayer-funded legal help available regardless of legal status, according to state lobbying records the Heartland Post reported. Townhall noted he has also defended the Milwaukee County sheriff’s practice of not honoring ICE detainers.
In Dane County, Noelia Saray Martinez-Avila, a Honduran national in the country illegally, drove the wrong way on a highway while impaired and killed 18-year-old Hallie Helgeson and 19-year-old Brady Heiling in July 2025. She had a prior drunken-driving conviction. The Department of Homeland Security called Dane County a sanctuary jurisdiction and said ICE got less than an hour’s notice before making the arrest. Sheriff Kalvin Barrett worried deportation would deny a trial. Tiffany had already warned that the county’s policies put lives at risk.
In Fond du Lac County, Juan Carlos Rocha Mejia entered the country illegally in 2021, paid to spend time with a 12-year-old girl, and bound and blindfolded her in a van. She broke free and ran to a house in Oakfield. A judge later sentenced him to 40 years. District Attorney Eric Toney said he paid $250 to rape a child. The girl’s mother, also in the country illegally, got 34 years for letting it happen.
In Milwaukee, Juan Felix-Avendano, an illegal immigrant from Mexico, killed Special Olympian Craig Schimming on New Year’s Day 2023 as Schimming rode to church with his elderly parents. Felix-Avendano had smoked meth, was so drunk he did not remember leaving the house, and hit them going over 110 mph. He was convicted of homicide by vehicle. Early coverage called him an unlicensed driver and left out that he was here illegally.
Crowley, he said, would turn Wisconsin into a sanctuary state that puts illegal immigrants ahead of citizens. As governor, Tiffany said, he will enforce the law, back law enforcement, and put Wisconsin families first. The ad does not invent a position for Crowley. It repeats the one Crowley already volunteered.
