Migrant Defense in Milwaukee
Migrants are, unsurprisingly, the primary target of the new Trump regime. The national news is inundated with stories about executive orders that may or may not stick and court cases that may or may not restrain the new fascist president. As an informal, all volunteer project, Milwaukee Beagle cannot keep up with this intentionally bewildering array of orders, but there are some general truths that we hope to remind our readers of.
First, courts, laws, governmental norms, and standards of decency do not restrain fascists. Trump clearly has fascist aspirations, and even before he was elected, the US Supreme Court granted him broad immunity to break the law. He then granted sweeping pardons to his most violent and militant supporters, emboldening others to join them in a potential MAGA army. There is a question of what Trump will have these people do after the courts rule against him, but anyone who thinks the courts or the philibuster will protect democracy is just being silly.
Second, all these executive orders, official edicts, and even armies of MAGA goons will one day collide with material realities. Trump’s desire to deport people born on US soil, or to create massive deportation centers, or to remove millions of people from cities across the US depends heavily on the compliance of the people with his plan. Federal agents with ICE, DHS, CBP, and whoever else Trump decides to mobilize, lawfully or not, have already begun to escalate their attacks on migrant communities in many cities. That escalation will surely continue, soon reaching schools and churches in Milwaukee.
This leads us to two questions. First, will our local institutions cooperate with Trump? Second, will Milwaukeeans step up and protect our neighbors?
Will our local institutions cooperate with Trump?
Deportations actually peaked under Democratic President Barak Obama because state and local governments cooperated with federal agencies. They declined under Trump’s first tenure because blue state pushback broke down that cooperation. Deportations then rose again under President Biden. Currently, the Democratic party is divided on immigration: they drafted legislation to give Republicans everything they want on the issue, and party leaders embraced anti-immigrant rhetoric in 2020. We may be staring down a situation where Trump’s aggressive hate-mongering combines with Democratic cooperation to enable horrific deportation practices. Here in Wisconsin, many Democrats joined anti-immigrant rhetoric in 2024, and the party failed to mobilize* against the xenophobic constitutional amendment.
Milwaukee County has Wisconsin’s largest Latino population. Both the city and county passed immigrant sanctuary resolutions in 2017. These resolutions protect migrants in Milwaukee better than any other city in the state, but not as well as sanctuary resolutions elsewhere. The county also passed a resolution in 2023 establishing it as a sanctuary for trans and queer people, another group Trump is viciously scapegoating and targeting.
Fascists in the state legislature are working to override the protections in Milwaukee’s local and county resolutions. Local leaders oppose this effort, and Tony Evers has promised to veto the proposed law. County board and Common Council members recently worked together to oppose the transfer of an ICE detention center from 10th street on the east side to 11925 W. Lake Park Drive.
Current Milwaukee Police Department (MPD) standard operating procedures (SOP) state that MPD should not be asking about citizenship or engage in any immigration enforcement unless a person is suspected of committing violent or sexual crimes. We know that police see words like “suspicion” and “violent” as opportunities to use force and expand repression, so we should be vigilant and skeptical about this. Also, the shared revenue deal that Mayor Johnson and Governor Evers helped state Republicans impose upon our city took away the power of the Fire and Police Commission to set MPD policy. This means the SOP could easily change to enable Trump’s xenophobic agenda, unless we exert pressure to prevent it.
That kind of pressure recently won in Madison, where the Dane County sheriff withdrew from the State Criminal Alien Assistance Program. Under this program, Dane County used to send migrant information to federal agents in exchange for thousands of dollars. The federal government is going to use both carrots like this program, and sticks like enforcing requirements and withholding funds to push local police into helping their fascistic operations. We know how much police love to hurt people for money, so we have to stand strong and not let them.
Unfortunately, law enforcement are not the only ones we need to keep our eyes and pressure on. Fritz Blandon, the principal at Allen-Field School is inappropriately disciplining Alondra Garcia, a teacher at the school, for providing students with information about legal services to families potentially facing deportation. This is an activity the school is supposed to be engaged in themselves, under its Safe Haven program. You can sign and share this petition to demand the discipline be dropped and the school improve its Safe Haven practices.
Will we step up and protect our neighbors?
This is the ultimate question. What federal judges do or say will change the timeline and the exact shape of the struggle, but people’s active, on-the-ground resistance is what actually frustrates and prevents MAGA attacks on the people they target. We want the answer to this question to be an emphatic and defiant yes! So, we’ve gathered stories and resources to help make it so. If we’re missing anything, please, let us know: milwaukeebeagle@gmail.com
The organization that has been most successful mobilizing around migrant defense is Voces de la Frontera. Their May Day and “day without an immigrant” strikes and marches are massive. Join the march! Their education and political campaigns have shaped the migrant struggle in Wisconsin. Right now, they are hosting know your rights training events around the state. They’ve also created a new, young-adult led Comité Sin Fronteras who are working hard to educate targeted communities, and build up Milwaukee’s capacity for community self-defense. Joining, donating to, and volunteering with Voces is a sure bet to help fight back. Following them is where you are likely to get the most reliable up to date information.
If you want to improve your understanding of the shifting immigration laws and ICE activities, the Milwaukee Turners have compiled a dense online training and are holding “train the trainer” events where anyone can come and learn how to train others on deportation defense. As ICE ramps up deportation and raids at Trump’s behest their presence in the city will increase. The likelihood that you or someone you know will witness ICE activities will also increase. The training sessions and events from Turners and Voces may empower you to make a risk-informed decision about what to do when you encounter or hear about ICE or federal agents acting against our migrant neighbors.
The legal and logistical terrain is shifting rapidly for migrants across the US and in Milwaukee. Much of this article may be obsolete by next week, but something that will remain true for at least a few years (and potentially much longer) is that we must stand together with all our neighbors against the relentless attack Donald Trump and his MAGA goons intend. We must tolerate no more enabling and concessions from our local elected officials, or our Governor. This requires a cultural and political shift, putting solidarity over politeness, defiance over bipartisanship, and struggle over compromise.
Do you think we can do that, Milwaukee? Yes, we can!
*In the month leading up to the election, the WISDEMS website included 55 articles about the senate race, 23 on the state legislature, 23 on congressional races, and 0 articles about the constitutional amendment. Meanwhile, in August, when restrictions on the governor’s power were on the ballot, Wisconsin Democrats mobilized heavily, and won.
