Civil Rights & Immigration
Waukesha sheriff’s deal with ICE
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Wisconsin has learned that the Waukesha County sheriff’s office is the state’s only police department to enter into an agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to use local officers to enforce federal immigration law. According to the ACLU, Sheriff Eric Severson renewed the agreement on July 1 […]
No nation filled with hate can be great
Hate is not only devastatingly traumatic to those on the receiving end, it’s destructive to those doing the hating. It’s like drinking poison and expecting someone else to die. Still, hate is an undeniably powerful and seductive emotion. It incites people to action, even to violence. It is regularly put to use for political gain. […]
Neighbors shocked as Michael’s closes because of visa problem
The news that Michael’s Frozen Custard on Monroe Street in Madison will be closing after the owner’s husband was barred from returning to the United States stunned neighborhood residents. “That’s just been a gathering place for our neighborhood forever,” said Andrea Gunn, a teacher and mother of three who lives a few blocks from the […]
Neighbors shocked by Michael’s closure
The news that Michael’s Frozen Custard on Monroe Street in Madison will be closing after the owner’s husband was barred from returning to the United States stunned neighborhood residents. “That’s just been a gathering place for our neighborhood forever,” said Andrea Gunn, a high-school science teacher and mother of three who lives a few blocks […]
Milwaukee’s latest ICE controversy
A flurry of controversy has erupted over artwork that appeared on buses in Milwaukee County last week. The words, “Milwaukee is immigrant strong,” and, “celebrating over 160 years of Dreamers,” accompanied images of crying children being separated from their families by immigration officers. The mural is a project of the Art Museum’s ArtXpress Milwaukee internship […]
‘Troublemaker’ inspires new generation of activists
The March on Washington in August 1963 is best known as the scene for Martin Luther King, Jr.’s famous speech, a touchstone of the civil rights movement in the 1960s: “I have a dream…” Far less known is the man credited with helping organize that daylong event more than a half-century ago — and with […]
The voices behind driver’s license reform
Until 2007, undocumented immigrants in Wisconsin could obtain driver’s licenses. But after the passage of the federal REAL ID Act, authored by Wisconsin Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Menomonee Falls), states were forced to deny driver’s licenses to people who didn’t have Social Security numbers. Guadalupe, a single mother of six from Milwaukee, shared in a Wauwatosa […]
Ku Klux Klan recruitment flyers distributed in Dane County
On Monday, Dane County resident Christian Foust came home to find “white supremacist recruitment propaganda thrown at the end of my driveway.” Foust, who lives in southern Dane County, guessed it was “tossed out of a car window” and described it as “straight KKK recruitment.” The flyer included hate speech directed at African-Americans and Jews, […]
Nygren highlights his Texas southern border tour
On Monday, state Rep. John Nygren (R-Marinette) took a tour of the U.S. southern border in Texas that was organized by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) working with the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security and the state of Texas. In a statement after the tour he said it provided “an opportunity […]
Fifteen hate groups reside in Wisconsin
Two years ago today — Aug. 12, 2017 — a neo-Nazi sped his car into a group of peaceful protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia, killing Heather Heyer and injuring dozens of others. This week, copies of the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) “Hate Map” tracking hate groups throughout the United States, arrived in mailboxes of its […]
Elected officials express privacy concerns over surveillance balloons
The Pentagon and Department Of Homeland Security’s ongoing high-altitude surveillance blimp tests are raising serious privacy concerns for people in the Midwest. First reported by The Guardian and last Thursday in the Wisconsin Examiner, the Pentagon blimps are scanning parts of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Missouri and Iowa, potentially for “narcotics trafficking and homeland security threats.” […]
We will not ‘allow ICE…to take our friends and neighbors’
Community leaders spoke out against the abuse of immigrants during a rally at the Capitol in Madison on Thursday evening. Responding to news of the massive roundup of immigrant workers at food processing plants in Mississippi that left children stranded as their parents were hauled away, immigrant-rights activists and state and local officials hurriedly organized […]