Videos show off-duty Wisconsin state trooper taken into ICE custody at Madison airport

MADISON, Wis. (WBAY) - Security videos released to Action 2 News shows an off-duty Wisconsin state trooper being taken into custody by agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) last week.

What the videos show

One video shows two agents in plain clothes, including hooded sweatshirt jackets and baseball caps, waiting for Carel Aaron Van Der Merwe at the Dane County Regional Airport on Nov. 5.

They approach him and there’s a short discussion. The security video is silent. Van Der Merwe, 21, appears to pull identification out of his wallet and he walks off with the two agents.

In the second video, Van Der Merwe can be seen putting his hands together in front of him and one of the agents handcuffing him. A short time later, he’s led outside the airport.

A news release from Van Der Merwe’s attorneys say he told the officers he had a work permit and a pending asylum application.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) says Van Der Merwe was taken into custody in a targeted enforcement operation because he overstayed his legal time in the country. DHS says he entered the country in March 2019 and had legal permission to stay for six months.

Attorneys cite work permit and asylum application

The law firm representing the trooper said he came to the U.S. from South Africa as a child, and his family has been waiting for an asylum hearing for seven years. Van Der Merwe is included on his father’s pending asylum application and holds federal work authorization until 2030, the lawyers said.

“We continue to stress how DHS’s own agency, USCIS, authorized him to work. He used that authorization to serve and protect Wisconsin communities. Yet that same agency, detained him. We hope DHS will provide an explanation,” Christopher & De Leon Law Office said in a statement.

The DHS said in its own statement, “This illegal alien will receive due process and remain in ICE custody pending removal proceedings... To be clear: work authorization or a pending application do not confer legal status in the U.S.”

Case status

ICE released Van Der Merwe under supervision. He is currently in removal proceedings and will need to defend his case before an immigration judge.

He has been employed as a trooper with State Patrol since July 13, 2025, according to the DOT.

The Wisconsin Law Enforcement Association said it stands with Trooper Van Der Merwe and called for “fair treatment and due process as his case is reviewed.”