‘A Day Without Latinxs and Immigrants’ in Waukesha

Crowds gathered in Waukesha to march for Latino and immigrant rights on May 1 during, ‘A Day Without Latinx and Immigrants,’ an annual march that, in previous years, was held in Milwaukee, but made it to Waukesha this year in opposition of the federal 287(g) program.

Last year in August, Waukesha Sheriff Eric Severson applied for the 287(g) program that would “help transfer illegal aliens into (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) custody from county jails”, according to a statement. The county was approved for the ‘jail model’ in November of last year and the department has scheduled to start ICE training for next month.

On May Day, a day that is recognized to honor workers around the country, people marched in honor of the immigrant workers in their own communities. Sloan Butler of Waukesha marched that day to recognize the contribution of the members in her community.

“Regardless of your skin color, regardless of your heritage, regardless of where you come from. What immigrants do for our country, like they do thankless jobs everyday,” she said.

The march was organized by the immigrant and Latino rights group, Voces de la Frontera. Executive director Christine Neumann-Ortiz called for businesses owned by immigrants and Latinos to be closed, as well as not sending their children to school and not going to work for the day. This was a strategy to insinuate the economic loss communities would experience without immigrants or Latinos.

“This does nothing, absolutely nothing but bring harm and is a stain on Waukesha, it’s a stain on Wisconsin,” Neumann-Ortiz said in a press conference. “This program should be abolished.”

‘La Casa de Esperanza‘ is an organization based in Waukesha that provides a variety of services to the community, but especially helps the Latino population. La Casa was also closed on May Day and public relationship communicator Carmen De La Paz has lived in Waukesha since 1967 and says programs like 287g are what separates the country.

“We have retrograded backwards so much,” De La Paz said. “Our families have to constantly look over their shoulders to see who is behind them. That same fear is passed down to our children. It’s sad, instead of moving forward, instead of being more united, we are divided.”

According to the sheriff, the program will only be enforced in the county jails, in which any illegal immigrant who is in custody will be turned over to ICE custody. However, Omar Carmona, a Waukesha resident who is originally from Mexico, says if this law is pursued it would only be the beginning for tougher immigration laws to be passed.

“If this law goes into effect in Waukesha, it will create a snowball effect and then one more will pass and one more,” Carmona said. “Then there will be many laws against the Hispanic community.”

Young students had a big presence in the march, and for some, they marched for the future of their community. Stephanie De Jesus, a 17-years-old junior at Pius High School in Milwaukee, was there marching with the Youth Empowered in the Struggle group, also known as YES. YES is a branch from Voces de la Frontera and a multicultural social justice organization that fights for immigrants, students, and workers’ rights.

“I am currently protected under DACA,” De Jesus said. “I’m first generation to graduate from high school so college is definitely in the plans.”

Marching with her was Gabriela Castro who also attends Pius High School and is also a part of the YES program. She marches especially for the safety of her family.

“My dad, he’s afraid to go driving to work sometimes, and it’s a legitimate fear,” Castro said. “We can’t say it’s not backed up because we’ve had raids near our home, and it’s fearful because you don’t know when your parent is going to be there and when they’re not.”

Teachers also marched that day, like Greta Voit who is a high school teacher in Waukesha. With the increased attention to immigration laws, Voit said she has noticed the heightened fear within her Latino students when they come to school.

“The topic of immigration and the fear that’s created by some of the more recent immigration policies is creating a ton of anxiety with my students. And I want to make sure we are working together to support our students and make sure that everyone feels safe.”

Although the ‘jail model’ that Waukesha has been approved of “doesn’t contemplate engaging in sweeps or round-ups looking for non-criminal illegal aliens” Neumann-Ortiz said, “this is a program that goes against the mission which is to promoting public safety” and it “represents a threat that could start to grow.”