On May 1st, thousands are expected to strike, close businesses, take their kids from school and march at 10am from Cutler Park in Waukesha. 

Voces de la Frontera announces open records request to uncover the truth about 287g in Waukesha

Who: Voces de la Frontera, Casa de Esperanza, immigrant workers and business owners, teachers, more 

What: Press conference to announce May 1st Day without Latinxs and Immigrants and Statewide March in Waukesha to Stop 287g

When: Wednesday, April 18th, 12:30pm CST

Where: Voces de la Frontera, 1027 S 5th St, Milwaukee

Dial-in number: 712-775-7035; passcode: 104997#

Speakers: Anselmo Villareal, Casa de Esperanza

Christine Neumann-Ortiz, Voces de la Frontera

Berta Barillas, South Division High School teacher

Gabriel Quintero, Voces de la Frontera Waukesha Chapter

More TBA

MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN – On Wednesday afternoon, representatives of southeast Wisconsin immigrant rights organizations, business owners, workers, will hold a press conference at 12:30pm at Voces de la Frontera’s Milwaukee office to formally announce that on May 1st, they will organize a Day without Latinxs and Immigrants general strike and statewide march in Waukesha to urge Waukesha County Sheriff Eric Severson to not turn his deputies into ICE agents through the federal 287g program. 

Sheriff Severson signed the 287g agreement with ICE on February 8th of this year. On Wednesday, Voces de la Frontera will also announce the filing of an open records request with the Waukesha County Sheriff’s Office to uncover more information about Sheriff Severson’s collaboration with Trump’s mass deportation agenda, and to learn whether or not Waukesha Sheriff’s deputies have begun acting on their 287g authority yet. 

Under 287g, local law enforcement officers are formally deputized as ICE agents, allowed to interrogate and detain community members based on their perceived immigration status. The program has repeatedly been found to increase discrimination and racial profiling, and lead to a decrease in reporting crimes. Nationwide, Trump has massively expanded the number of local sheriff’s and police departments with 287g agreements, from 29 in 2016 to 76 today.

“The 287g program is the tip of the spear of Trump’s white nationalist agenda of mass deportation and persecution based on race,” said Christine Neumann-Ortiz, Executive Director of Voces de la Frontera. “In the past two years, our statewide general strikes have defeated 287g in Milwaukee County and proposed state anti-sanctuary bills. We are commited to using our economic power to beat back this threat once again. This upcoming historic general strike and statewide march in Waukesha will send a strong message of resistance to Trump’s campaign of terror against immigrant families. We’re calling on Sheriff Severson to stand on the side of public safety and family unity, and against hate and discrimination. In Wisconsin, we have seen a rapid increase in deportations. ICE has returned to courthouses, they’re trolling through public records, and now Sheriff Severson’s actions would aid them in ripping more families apart. May 1st is only the beginning. We are opening an office in Waukesha and we will continue to stand with the Wisconsin families threatened with separation by Sheriff Severson’s actions.”

“We have a broken immigration system that needs to be fixed,” said Anselmo Villarreal, President and CEO of La Casa de Esperanza in Waukesha. “It needs to be fixed through comprehensive immigration reform. Initiatives like 287g not only distract us from achieving our goal, but also hurt and confuse our communities. I encourage Sheriff Severson to do the right thing and not implement the 287g program.” 

Wednesday, April 18th, 2018 | Contact: Sam Singleton-Freeman, 414-469-9206, sfreeman@vdlf.org

Voces de la Frontera is a membership-based community organization led by low-wage workers, immigrants and students, whose mission is to protect and expand civil rights and workers’ rights through leadership development and community organizing. Voces’ student arm is Youth Empowered in the Struggle (YES). To learn more visit vdlf.org

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