Friday, April 28th, 2017
Contact: Sam Singleton-Freeman, 414-469-9206, sfreeman@vdlf.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MONDAY: Wisconsin Day without Latinxs & Immigrants Demands Gov. Walker Remove Sheriff Clarke; Statewide March in Milwaukee
Monday, May 1st is a “Day Without Latinxs, Immigrants, & Refugees” in Wisconsin and a Day without Immigrants nationwide
In Wisconsin, tens of thousands are expected to strike & withdraw children from school, hundreds of businesses will close (partial list here) to join the 12pm statewide march in Milwaukee
Wisconsin demands Governor Walker fire Sheriff Clarke, block anti-immigrant state legislation, return driver’s licenses to immigrants
WHAT: Wisconsin Day without Latinxs, Immigrants, & Refugees: statewide march in Milwaukee. Part of the May 1st national day of resistance for immigrant and worker rights (partial list of 200+ events here)
WHO: Voces de la Frontera, Youth Empowered in the Struggle, Coalition for an Inclusive Wisconsin, State Rep. David Crowley, elected officials, Muslim community organizations, LGBTQ leaders, religious leaders, thousands of immigrant workers, business owners, students and their families, community supporters, more
WHEN: Monday, May 1st, 12pm. Buses leaving throughout the morning from 12 cities throughout the state. Click here for a list of bus pickup locations and times when interviews can be conducted.
WHERE: March assembles at 1027 S. 5th St. in Milwaukee and marches to the Wells St. entrance of the Milwaukee County Courthouse. Rally on the courthouse steps to follow.
MILWAUKEE – Monday, May 1st, is a national day of action for immigrant and worker rights to resist Trump and keep families together. Hundreds of cities will see marches and actions, and many organizations have endorsed the call for a general strike led by immigrants and workers. In Wisconsin, tens of thousands are expected to strike & withdraw children from school while hundreds of businesses close (partial list here) to join the 12pm statewide march in Milwaukee leaving from Voces de la Frontera’s office.
“Milwaukee has become the national epicenter of the fight against 287g and Trump’s efforts to turn local law enforcment into an arm of the mass deportation machine,” said Christine Neumann-Ortiz, Executive Director of Voces de la Frontera. “The recent federal court decision blocking Trump’s executive orders attacking sanctuary cities, counties, and states represents progress for our movement, but we cannot rely on the courts alone. On May 1st, we’re marching to celebrate local sanctuary victories, demand that Governor Walker remove Sheriff Clarke from office, and to demand Clarke face criminal charges for his responsibility for the deaths in the jail and abuses of power. Tens of thousands will march to reject Clarke’s efforts to bring 287g to Wisconsin, and against the Trump Administration’s campaign of state terror against immigrant families and people of color.”
Nationally, the immigrant rights movement is demanding an end to Trump’s attacks on immigrant communities, Black communities, Muslims, LGBTQ people, women, and working class people. In Wisconsin, marchers will endorse these demands and urge Governor Scott Walker to fire Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke, block the anti-sanctuary city bill, and restore driver’s licenses to immigrants.
Over 200 marches and rallies have been called nationwide (partial list here). Networks, organizations and unions mobilizing nationally on May 1st include the Fair Immigration Reform Movement, the Black Lives Matter movement, AFL-CIO, United We Dream, SEIU, Food Chain Workers Alliance, Church World Service, Moveon.org, Sierra Club, Alliance to Reclaim Our Schools, United Farm Workers, Fight for $15, National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON), American Federation of Teachers (AFT), National Educator’s Association (NEA), and hundreds more.
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Voces de la Frontera is a national leader in the movement for immigrant and worker rights and and the largest grassroots Latinx membership organization in Wisconsin. Led by low-wage immigrant workers and students, Voces has organized some of the largest marches in the country, and works to protect and expand civil rights and workers’ rights through leadership development, community organizing and empowerment. Voces de la Frontera has chapters in Milwaukee, Racine, Madison, Green Bay, Sheboygan, Manitowoc and Walworth County and a student arm called Youth Empowered in the Struggle. Learn more about their work at www.vdlf.org.
