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Thousands On Strike In Wisconsin For A “Day Without Latinos”

by Gabe Ortiz on

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Thousands of Latinos, immigrants, refugees and their allies marched the streets of Milwaukee, Wisconsin yesterday in a “Day Without Latinos” action.

Hundreds of businessowners closed their doors and many others skipped work to march in protest of the anti-immigrant policies of Donald Trump and Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke, a top Trump ally. According to Huffington Post, Milwaukee Public Schools excused students who had parental permission to attend the rally.

According to Voces de la Frontera, one of the main organizers of the march and rally, Clark “has declared his intention to enroll his department in the federal 287g program, deputizing his sheriffs to act as ICE agents.”

“Voces is asking workers and students to leave work and school for the march, summed up as ‘No work, no school, no purchases,’ to show the positive contributions immigrants make,” reports the local Cap Times.

“Immigrants are the backbone to the dairy industry in my area and without them, the economy would get worse for all of us,” Jennifer Estrada, a community leader in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, said in a Voces press release.

“People should not be afraid of law enforcement, they should not live under the threat of their families being torn apart. I am proudly marching on Monday to say no to Sheriff Clarke’s plan to enroll in 287g. If it starts in Milwaukee, it will spread to other counties.”

This isn’t the first time the Wisconsin community has shown power through sheer numbers. Last year, a similar “Day Without Latinos” action drew an estimated 20,000 people to the state capitol in Madison.

Momentum is building for continued actions like “Day Without Latinos”. In New York City earlier this month, 1,000 Yemeni-American businessowners shut their doors to protest Trump’s Muslim Ban, which has been put on hold by the courts, and organizers of the Women’s March have declared they are planning a “Day Without a Woman” strike.