Carel Aaron Van Der Merwe, a 21-year-old Wisconsin State Trooper, who came to the United States legally from South Africa as a child, is in federal immigration detention. He was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at a Wisconsin airport while waiting to board a domestic flight on November 5, 2026.
Van Der Merwe, who lives in Onalaska and works out of the Wisconsin State Patrol’s Tomah post, was detained at Dane County Regional Airport in Madison. Van Der Merwe entered the US legally in March 2019 but had permission to remain only until September 2019, according to a DHS statement to News 8 Now.
His attorney, Marc Christopher, said the trooper informed ICE agents that he had federal work authorization and a pending asylum application but was detained despite presenting his documents. Cited in a News 8 Now report , agents told Van Der Merwe they “did not care” about his work permit and asylum application before handcuffing him and transporting him to immigration detention in Dodge County, according to his attorney. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said ICE arrested Van Der Merwe during a targeted enforcement operation at Dane County Regional Airport. “In defiance of our nation’s laws, he overstayed his admission,” a DHS spokesperson said, adding that he would receive due process and remain in ICE custody pending removal proceedings.
DHS also defended the arrest, saying the administration had reversed a previous policy that allowed immigrants without legal status to travel domestically by air. “Carel came here legally as a child. His family pursued asylum through the legal process.
He holds federal work authorization and serves Wisconsin as a State Trooper,” Christopher said. “Now the same government that authorized him to work has locked him up.”
