In the News

By Georgia Pabst 

 

This year's May Day march for comprehensive immigration reform was smaller and shorter Wednesday than in previous years, when Milwaukee had among the largest turnouts in the nation.

 

But with a proposed immigration reform bill on the table in Washington, the prospect for immigration reform appears closer than ever, and many of those who marched said it was important to turn out and continue the drive to fix the nation's broken immigration system.

 

"This year there's the opportunity to impact the decision, so it's a very important year," said Angelina Cruz, 33, an elementary school teacher in Racine. "I'm hopeful that there's more progress and that we can put on the pressure," said the granddaughter of migrant workers who settled in Wisconsin.

 

"We need to reform our immigration laws and make sure the rights of workers are protected," said Obdulia Vargas, 47, a factory worker who came with about 20 others from Lake Geneva. While she's a citizen, Vargas said she has many family and friends who would benefit from changes to the current immigration laws.

 

Ald. José Pérez, one of a number of local public officials who attended the march, addressed the crowd before the march began. "We have to do our part on this national day of action to change immigration laws," he said. "Let's march and send a message."

 

A few thousand marchers walked under hot, sunny skies from the south side through downtown to Pere Marquette Park chanting " Si se puede" (Yes we can). Many carried signs that called for creating a path to citizenship for the nation's 11 million undocumented workers, reuniting families, stopping the deportations and ensuring workers' rights are protected.

 

Children led the parade, along with longtime activist Father Bill Brennan, 92, who rode the parade route in his wheelchair. Many families with children, including babies in strollers, marched.

 

Some carried umbrellas to shade them from the sun - the temperature topped 80 degrees Wednesday. And paleteros, or ice cream vendors, followed along, selling cool treats along the way.

 

Christine Neumann-Ortiz, the executive director of Voces de la Frontera, the immigrant advocacy group that's organized the march since 2006, said this year's march was smaller because a lot of organizing efforts were devoted to taking buses carrying 245 area residents to Washington, D.C., for the April 10 mobilization march for immigration reform.

 

"We did a lot of fundraising for that, and so we had only two weeks to organize this march," she said, adding she was happy with the turnout.

 

At the rally in Pere Marquette Park (previously the march had ended at Veteran's Park on the lakefront) a dairy worker and undocumented immigrant from Manitowoc, Edward Patino, said he's facing deportation. He's being deported, he said, because he was stopped by police "because of what I look like."

 

His wife, Nancy, said the upcoming deportation will be a hardship for the family. "We are living the reality, and we're here representing other families facing the same thing," she said, urging changes that would keep her family together.

 

High school student Erica Sanchez, a so-called DREAMer, or a child brought here by parents, said she wants to see immigration reform that will secure her future here. Although DREAMers would be allowed to become citizens after 5 years under the proposed legislation, it would take 13 years for her parents, she said.

 

"It's unacceptable that our parents have to wait 13 years when they were the original dreamers," she said.

 

U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore, a Milwaukee Democrat, told the crowd, "Your tireless efforts have brought us one step closer to reaching the goal."

 

While an immigration reform bill has been introduced in the Senate, Moore told the crowd that the immigration bill has to be "a good bill" that reunites families and provides an accessible path to citizenship. She urged those in the crowd to weigh in and continue to work to improve the proposed immigration legislation.

 

Opponents of the bill, such as U.S. Rep. James Sensenbrenner, refer to the bill now being crafted as a version of "amnesty" for immigrants, which they oppose.