• The Wisconsin Supreme Court has paused a case challenging the legality of ICE detainers.
• This hold will remain until a federal appeals court decides which court has jurisdiction.
• The lawsuit, filed by the ACLU, seeks to stop Wisconsin sheriffs from holding immigrant detainees for federal authorities.

MADISON – The Wisconsin Supreme Court is putting on hold a case challenging the legality of ICE detainers in Wisconsin until federal judges determine whether they will reconsider where the case should be tried.

In its July 6 order, the state Supreme Court also held off on deciding whether to allow the U.S. government to join the case, which seeks to block county jails from holding immigrant detainees at federal authorities’ request.

The case continues to sit in jurisdictional uncertainty. It’s currently under the state Supreme Court’s purview, but the county sheriffs being sued have asked a federal appeals court to take it.

The court’s order seeks to “avoid potential uncertainty and conflict” as the federal appeal plays out.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin filed the lawsuit in September 2025, on behalf of the immigrant advocacy group Voces de la Frontera, against five Wisconsin sheriffs who have partnered with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to house immigrant detainees, an action known as a detainer.

More: Wave of Milwaukee ICE arrests is part of nationwide White House push

The state’s highest court agreed to take the case in December 2025, but the five sheriffs named in the lawsuit – Dave Gerber of Walworth County, Todd Delain of Brown County, Chad Billeb of Marathon County, David Zoerner of Kenosha County and Chip Meister of Sauk County – sought to have the case moved to federal court.

Energy Storage Safety Products International (ESSPI), based in Newlab Detroit at Michigan Central, has launched Med Hawk, a new division of the company focused on bringing its ground-based transportation monitoring system to the skies.

With this launch, ESSPI will provide drone operators with insight and analytics when aircraft are transporting medical supplies beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS).

“The drone industry has built the foundation for incredible unmanned aircraft, but now ESSPI is working to demonstrate how we can make those same drones work for us,” says Ron Butler, CEO of ESSPI. “Using Med Hawk’s real-time data and monitoring systems, we are able to help ensure that medical supplies are delivered quickly and safely, ultimately helping to save lives.”

Med Hawk has partnered with Brighton autonomous drone logistics company Blueflite to demonstrate its drone battery monitoring and data logging capabilities and is utilizing the Michigan Central AAIR to replicate deliveries in real-world deployment scenarios.

“Blueflite is excited to work with ESSPI in flight testing their innovative and unique cold storage solution for medical logistics,” says Andrew Zeimen, program manager at Blueflite. “We are looking forward to flying with a Michigan designed and manufactured product on our mission to continue making drone delivery accessible to those that need it, where and when they need it most.”

ESSPI technology is built on the understanding that batteries often exhibit measurable environmental changes before catastrophic failure, the company says. Designed through three years of collaborative development with the U.S Department of Transportation, ESSPI’s DNOC framework — Detection, Notification, Operation, and Communication — allows Med Hawk to provide real-time visibility, data logging, and alerts so drone operators can take action before issues escalate.

Advanced aerial mobility is expanding access to medical deliveries, improving emergency response capabilities, and driving efficiencies across logistics and supply chains. Michigan Central and the Michigan Department of Transportation created AAIR to help scale these technologies, providing 28 square miles of dense, urban environment for testing and scaling new drone technologies into market-ready solutions.

“The diversification of ESSPI’s market offering showcases the transition we’re seeing many companies make, identification and commercialization of products which will make aerial mobility a viable platform to scale their business, while providing solutions for communities that better serve their needs,” says Matt Whitaker, director of the mobility innovation platform at Michigan Central. “What we are seeing with ESSPI and Blueflite is exactly what the Michigan Central ecosystem was built for. To create the foundation for talent and inspiring collaboration between member companies, leading to the next generation of advanced mobility innovation being born in Detroit.”

The collaboration is said to reflect broader momentum across Michigan Central’s aerial mobility ecosystem, which has supported more than 1,200 drone flights and multiple BVLOS deployments focused on logistics, infrastructure inspection, public safety, and delivery applications.

For more information about ESSPI, visit esspi.com/.

For more information about blueflite, visit blueflite.com/.

For more information about Michigan Central AAIR, visit here.

Vice President JD Vance will be in Milwaukee on July 8 at the Wisconsin Air National Guard’s 128th Air Refueling wing, Republican Party of Wisconsin Chairman Brian Schimming said.

It will be an official event, Schimming told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

The Republican vice president was last in Wisconsin about four months ago, when he spoke at Pointe Precision in Plover on Feb. 26, two days following President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address. That visit was part of a campaign by the White House to put the president and top administration officials in front of voters in battleground districts.

In August 2025, Vance visited La Crosse to promote provisions of the Trump administration’s sweeping tax and spending law.

And he made multiple stops in Wisconsin during the 2024 campaign.

The White House has not yet released details about Vance’s visit.