Contact: Jessica Schmidt, Voces de la Frontera, 414-469-9206, [email protected]
MADISON –Republican State Senators recently introduced an anti-immigrant bill SB151 that would forbid local municipalities to refuse to cooperate with ICE. The Senate Committee on Labor and Regulatory Reform is holding a hearing on Tuesday, Dec. 17 at 10:30 am in room 411South, after a press conference by Wisconsin’s largest grassroots immigrant rights organization, Voces de la Frontera.
Sanctuary rules protect undocumented immigrations from arbitrary arrests and deportations sought by the federal government. As a result, they encourage—rather than discourage—immigrant communities from fully cooperating with local police and other officials.
“All communities are safer when everyone is protected. Cities, villages, towns, and counties should not be prohibited from adopting any measurements that will make their residents feel safer,” said Christine Neumann-Ortiz, Executive Director of Voces de la Frontera
Police departments and sheriffs across the country agree that sanctuary policies encourage communication between immigrant residents and law enforcement, making everyone safer. If some people in the community are afraid to call the police when they’re in danger, or to serve as a witness in a criminal case, it makes it harder for the police to solve crimes and harder for D.A.s to prosecute criminals.
SB151 would also withhold state aid from any jurisdiction that enacts a policy to protect resident immigrants from punitive enforcement by federal immigration agents. For the City or County of Milwaukee, the loss of funds would be $5,000 per day, or $1,825,000 annually.This would undermine the ability of municipalities and counties to fund local law enforcement, schools, health care and other essential programs.
You can see the meeting agenda here
And read the text of the bill and other information here
What: Press Conference from Voces de la Frontera before public hearing on SB 151
When: Press conference on Today at 9:30am, public hearing at 10:30am in room 411 South
Where: Wisconsin State Capitol, 2 E. Main Street, Madison.
