Congresswoman-elect Rebecca Cooke says the trooper was unjustly detained by ICE

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ICE detains Wisconsin State Trooper Carel Van Der Merwe at the Madison airport; DHS says he overstayed a 2019 visa, and his lawyer says he is a lawful asylum applicant

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers detained Carel Aaron Van Der Merwe, a 21-year-old Wisconsin State Patrol trooper, at Dane County Regional Airport in Madison on November 5, 2026, as he waited to board a domestic flight. He was held overnight at the Dodge Detention Facility and released on November 6 under ICE supervision, after Rep. Derrick Van Orden said he had contacted Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin about the case. A DHS spokesperson said the arrest was part of a targeted enforcement operation, that Van Der Merwe entered the United States in March 2019 with permission to stay until September 2019, and that he overstayed. The spokesperson said work authorization and a pending application do not give a person legal status. His attorney, Marc E. Christopher, says Van Der Merwe came to the country lawfully from South Africa as a teenager, is included on his father's pending asylum application, and holds federal work authorization that expires in 2030. Christopher called the detention unconscionable. Van Orden said the trooper would be released and would have to work with the authorities to resolve his immigration paperwork and legal status. Congresswoman-elect Rebecca Cooke said Van Der Merwe was unjustly detained. His case remains before an immigration judge.