Carel Aaron Van Der Merwe, who was born in South Africa and works out of Tomah, was taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Nov. 5 as he prepared to board a domestic flight. He was released after Van Orden contacted the Department of Homeland Security, according to a spokesperson for the congressman.

Van Der Merwe was brought to the United States as a child legally, and his parents waited seven years for an asylum interview, according to a press release from the law firm Christopher & De Leon. He was included on his father’s asylum application and holds a federal work authorization valid through 2030.

Attorney Marc Christopher said that while the family is relieved by the release, the detention should never have occurred. “He is neither a threat nor a flight risk,” Christopher said in a statement. “He has a home, a career, and a community he serves. How does putting him behind bars make Wisconsin safer?”

Christopher also criticized the need for congressional intervention, calling on lawmakers to address what he described as “inhumane and wasteful detention practices and the failure of our immigration system” under ICE. He called the government’s claims about Van Der Merwe’s status “absurd and ridiculous.”

The Department of Homeland Security confirmed the arrest, with a spokesperson calling Van Der Merwe “an illegal alien from South Africa” and claiming he overstayed a legal admission that ended in September 2019. The spokesperson said the arrest was part of a targeted operation at the airport and that Van Der Merwe would receive due process and remain in ICE custody pending removal proceedings—a statement made before his release.

DHS added that “work authorization or a pending application do not confer legal status in the U.S.” and criticized what it called a “Biden-era policy” that allowed undocumented immigrants to fly domestically. “Under President Trump, DHS will no longer tolerate this,” the spokesperson said.

Van Der Merwe joined the State Patrol in July 2025, according to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, which oversees the agency. He graduated from the State Patrol academy in 2025 with Gov. Tony Evers in attendance. His lawyers said he chose the State Patrol because his pending immigration status prevented him from joining the military.

The arrest came just weeks after an Oshkosh middle school teacher raised in Costa Rica was detained and deported by ICE. Wendy Mendez, who was recognized as her district’s employee of the year in 2025, was also taken into custody. Both cases have raised concerns about the increasing collaboration between the Transportation Security Administration and ICE, which critics say targets noncitizens at airports to meet arrest quotas.

Van Der Merwe’s family arrived in the U.S. during Trump’s first term, when he was 14. As a white South African, he belongs to a group that has received favorable treatment from the Trump administration, which has moved to resettle Afrikaner refugees while aggressively deporting immigrants from Latin America. In 2027, the administration plans to limit refugee admissions to 17,500 people, most of them white South Africans.

The DOT said it was “aware of the situation” but declined to comment on the circumstances of Van Der Merwe’s hiring, the impact on his colleagues, or whether ICE communicated with the State Patrol before or after the arrest. A spokesperson for Van Orden said appropriate authorities will now work to resolve Van Der Merwe’s immigration paperwork and legal status.