Contact: Sam Singleton-Freeman, 414-469-9206, [email protected]
Who: Prince of Peace Catholic School students and teachers, community supporters
What: March in solidarity with DACA recipients
When: Wednesday, June 6th, 9:30am CST
Where: March starts at Prince of Peace Catholic Church & School, 1114 S 25th St, Milwaukee, WI 53204
MILWAUKEE – On Wednesday, June 6th, students, teachers, and community supporters from Prince of Peace Catholic School in Milwaukee will march to show solidarity with immigrant youth protected from deportation by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, and to call for DACA recipients to be protected from deportation. Prior to the march, the Prince of Peace students raised money to donate to Voces de la Frontera to support immigrant youth and the fight for DACA. Prince of Peace students are in grades K4 through 8.
Since September 2017, President Trump has repeatedly attempted to end DACA, and on May 1st, a coalition of seven Republican-governed states led by Texas filed a federal lawsuit seeking to eliminate the program.
“We’re doing the march because it helped us raise money and educate people about DACA,” said Yamil C., a fourth grade student at Prince of Peace. “DACA is in big trouble and we need to help. Families are being separated and that’s not okay.”
“In the beginning of the year, I told the kids, if you see a problem in our world, and do nothing about it, the problem continues,” said Katelyn Bartlett, a teacher at Prince of Peace. “To create change, you have to do something. That’s exactly what they did, and their idea has morphed into an action bigger then we ever imagined. They’ve driven this whole thing.”
“The march is important because it shows we care,” said José O., a fourth grade student at the school. “We care for people. We care about them because they’re humans. We all are humans and need to work as a team. We’re doing it because it’s important to us. We actually stand up to people. We don’t just watch injustice happen without doing anything about it.”
“More and more, we see young people across the country speaking out for change,” said Christine Neumann-Ortiz, Executive Director of Voces de la Frontera. “We are tremendously inspired by the independent efforts of these students, and we’re honored to receive the donations resulting from their efforts. Although two federal judges have now issued decisions temporarily protecting DACA recipients, ultimately it will be the efforts of community members like these young people that creates the political will for those in Congress and the White House to take action to permanently protect immigrant youth.”
