Contact: Sam Singleton-Freeman,414-469-9206, sfreeman@vdlf.org
MADISON, WISCONSIN – The Wisconsin Assembly adjourned early Friday morning without passing an anti-immigrant bill, AB190/SB275, that would have allowed local employees to racially profile, interrogate, and detain community members for immigration status. The bill also would have mandated authorities turn immigrants over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). This comes following months of pressure from immigrant community members and diverse supporters including farmers and religious leaders who urged lawmakers to reject the bill.
“This victory is a testament to the strength and courage of Latinxs and immigrants in Wisocnsin,” said Chriistine Neumann-Ortiz, Executive Director of Voces de la Frontera. “We held 8 community forums statewide where our members voted to mobilize for a two-day statewide general strike if this bill moved forward. We organized four statewide days of action at the Capitol, and we formed critical alliances with the Wisconsin Farmers Union, an important rural voice against this bill. Politicians knew that our community is strong enough to unify and use our collective economic power because we beat a similar bill in 2016 through the Day without Latinxs and Immigrants general strike. In 2017 we organized two strikes which blocked ex-Sheriff Clarke’s Milwaukee County 287g application. The immigrant community knows the importance of their economic contribution, and is willing to use that power to stop cruel policies that would tear families apart.”
“Today’s good news adds to our energy to fight for the Dream Act, so our children are not forced back into the shadows,” said Guadalupe Romero, co-president of Voces de la Frontera. “This gives momentum to our push to restore access to driver’s licenses for immigrants and to defeat Sheriff Severson’s 287g application in Waukesha County. If your family was being discriminated against, if your family was threatened with separation this way, would you stop fighting? Of course not.”
