Families seeking safety in the United States must be protected and supported, not separated or imprisoned.

Milwaukee – On Wednesday, President Trump announced he would sign an executive order to indefinitely imprison immigrant families together along the border. On Thursday, June 21st, Voces de la Frontera and dozens of community organizations will hold a protest at the Milwaukee ICE office (310 E Knapp St) at 9am to demand that families seeking safety in our country be protected and supported, not separated or imprisoned in internment camps. 

“My family and so many others fleeing violence need protection,” said Ondina Andino, a US Citizen from Guatemala whose brother-in-law José Cornejo-Lopez and nephew Wueili Josue Cornejo Perez are being held in separate internment camps in Arizona, after having been separated over one month ago. “My brother-in-law has not been able to talk to his son. They are being mistreated in the centers and are not given regular meals or allowed to communicate with their family. They are fleeing escalated violence, and are only seeking to reunite with their family in this country and find security. They belong with us, where they can get the support they need, not in a cage.”

On Tuesday, Voces de la Frontera launched an online petition urging Governor Scott Walker to reverse his decision to send the Wisconsin National Guard to help Trump separate and imprison immigrant families. 

“The President’s order to indefinitely imprison whole families is just as immoral as his policy to rip children from their parents’ arms,” said Christine Neumann-Ortiz, Executive Director of Voces de la Frontera. “Images of these internment camps for children, which would now be internment camps for whole families, recall the most abhorrent episodes of our country’s history. Families seeking safety in the United States must be protected and supported, not separated or imprisoned. Besides Trump’s executive order, Republican leaders in Congress including Senator Johnson, Speaker Ryan, and Congressman Sensenbrenner are pushing anti-immigrant legislation that reflects the agenda of the white nationalist wing of the Republican Party. We urge people to call their Congresspeople and Senator Johnson and urge them to oppose these Republican bills. Additionally, we urge people to join us by signing our online petition to demand Governor Walker recall the National Guard troops back to Wisconsin.”

Thursday’s action is endorsed by the ACLU of Wisconsin, Citizen Action of Wisconsin, Milwaukee Jewish Voices for Peace, Hmong American Women’s Association, WISDOM, Indivisible Tosa, Manitowoc Human Rights Coalition, Crescent Learning Center, Islamic Society of Milwaukee, Wisconsin Voices, School Sisters of St. Francis, Democratic Socialists of America Milwaukee, Milwaukee Area Service & Hospitality Workers Organization, Wisconsin Conference Board of Church & Society of the United Methodist Church, and more.

Community members protest ICE detentions and deportations in Milwaukee in 2014. Photo credit: Joe Brusky. 

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Wednesday, June 21, 2018 | Contact: Sam Singleton-Freeman, Voces de la Frontera, 414-469-9206, sfreeman@vdlf.org