On Wednesday morning, hundreds of demonstrators led by a mariachi band marched across Milwaukee to the Fiserv Forum, home of the Milwaukee Bucks and site of July’s Republican National Convention.
The rally, organized by migrant and labor rights group Voces de la Frontera, is an annual event, but it will be especially important in 2024. The rally’s focus went beyond immigration to include concerns about authoritarianism under Republican candidate Donald Trump and criticism of President Joe Biden’s handling of the US role in Israel and Gaza.
This year’s May Day, held on the same day as Donald Trump’s campaign event in Waukesha, organizers used presidential power to condemn Trump’s immigration policies and enact protections for undocumented workers. Mr. Biden was asked to do so.
“We refuse [Trump’s] It is a political platform that promises dictatorship, deportation and family separation,” Christine Neumann-Ortiz, secretary general of Voces de la Frontera, told the audience on Wednesday to applause.
With the 2024 presidential campaign in full swing, President Trump has increasingly stirred up anti-immigrant sentiment, decrying what he calls “immigration crimes” and criticizing the Biden administration’s inadequate border policies. . In an April 30 interview with Time magazine, President Trump suggested mass deportations with the help of the U.S. military during a possible second term in office, saying that illegal immigrants are not civilians. insisted.
For Omar Flores, co-chair of the RNC March Coalition, Wednesday’s rally was an opportunity to draw attention to the July 15 RNC.
“What people feel in Milwaukee is that they’re a little bit afraid of the RNC coming here,” said Flores, who grew up in Kenosha and said she’s seen political repression under Trump’s second term and right-wing vigilante groups. He said he was concerned about violence. “I know it’s scary, but we still have to march.”
Republicans asked the Secret Service in July to keep protesters away from the arena, and Flores said the RNC March Coalition was working with the American Civil Liberties Union to ensure access.
As Republicans grapple with immigration and border policy to drum up support for the 2024 election, Biden has also moved to the right on the issue, supporting measures to limit asylum claims and dismissively referring to immigrants as “illegal.” called. his State of the Union address. Speakers at the event offered a variety of viewpoints on Biden’s stance on immigration and how he would respond to Israeli attacks in Gaza, which Voces de la Frontera has repeatedly denounced as “genocide.” presented.
Dr. Loa Kato, a Palestinian-American obstetrician-gynecologist who practices in Milwaukee and a featured speaker at the rally, said she would vote for a third party rather than Biden.
“This sends a message that if you don’t listen to us, we will. We didn’t vote for you, your empty promises won’t work,” Cato said. said.
Neumann-Ortiz supports “undirected” protest voting in Wisconsin’s presidential primary, saying the political wing of Voces de la Frontera, which forms the largest network of Latino voters in the battleground state, , said he would still support Biden in 2024.
“[Trump] “This is someone who sought to undermine democratic elections through legal and violent acts, and this is someone who will carry out his threat of mass military deportations,” Neumann-Ortiz said.
“I think we’ve made it very clear to President Biden and his advisers that we can do what we can, but if you don’t listen and don’t take seriously the opposition coming from the Palestinian rights movement, If you do… from the immigrant rights movement, you’ll lose.”
For other participants, the May Day rally was an opportunity to remind politicians and the broader Wisconsin community of immigrants’ contributions, documented and undocumented, to their homeland.
Sonia Torres, a machine operator at a furniture manufacturing company in De Pere, Wisconsin, was able to obtain temporary protected status during a workplace dispute with the help of Voces de la Frontera organizers. said.
“I want people to understand that we have rights,” Torres said in Spanish. “Companies only see us as a piece of their budget, a way to make money. But we need to realize that we have rights.”
In recent months, right-wing commentators and politicians have grabbed The recent influx of immigrants in the town of Whitewater, Wisconsin, has fueled fears about immigration. Whitewater officials have sought federal funding to accommodate the estimated influx of 800 to 1,000 new residents over the past two years, but have refused to politicize the population shift.
“President Donald Trump, listen. This message is for you,” Jorge Islas Martinez, an interpreter and bilingual educator from Whitewater, told the crowd.
“We’re not who you think we are. We’re here to work, and we’re making a difference.” [country] strong. “
