The immigration case of Morales
Reyes isn't the only one in
Milwaukee raising concerns.
There's also Yesenia Ruano,
a teacher's aide in the public
schools and mother, who was told
to self-deport to El Salvador
even though she has a pending visa
application for human trafficking
victims and no criminal history.
Her immediate removal from the U.S.
Was put on hold for now.
But local leaders have taken a
stand over the federal immigration
crackdown.
Releasing public statements in
solidarity.
The Milwaukee Common Council
declares ICE actions further
fuel anti-immigrant sentiment
being pushed at the national
level.
Council President Jose Perez joins
us now and thanks very much for
being here.
Thank you for having me here and
the opportunity to share the
Common Council's view and the things
we're doing here in Milwaukee.
Tell us more about why you
feel the council should weigh in on
these cases, these people.
Well, you know, I think Milwaukee
has always been a welcoming place
for immigrants.
Our council cares about fairness,
about process.
Uh, and it's important that these
things are held front and center.
You have teachers aid
who has been entrusted by
the community to look after
our Children been here 14 years, no
criminal record.
And we want a system that
supports our
Milwaukeeans that way and creates
opportunities and a path for
citizenship.
Because that's what the American
dream is about.
And the council felt
compelled to show
some solidarity about what we
consider as fairness in this broken
system that we have.
How in your mind have you seen a
rush to judgment in these cases?
You know, when we think about the
impact of
human trafficking, these
things take time.
These things we feel deserve
a due process.
And in this case,
having to wait so long and then for
the moment of having to deport,
self-deport in
a community where we want and need
more teachers and people in
education, there is a rush to
the judgment and to be
much more fair than that.
Does it feel like immigrants in your
city and across the state are not
being given that due process
or that that process is quick and
can be too often flawed?
Yeah, well, it feels that
way, especially when it takes as
long as it does.
People petition, have
to wait years.
Even in Yesenia
Rano's case, 14
years to come to
a conclusion after applying for
the visa, it
just takes a long time.
It disparages people from
staying within the process
continue to apply.
It's expensive.
So that That sense of
it not being a fair process
that is
inclusive creates
lots of animosity about
the hope that if you
do all the right things, in the
end, this
immigration process will make the
right decision.
How does the kind of ICE
enforcement that we've
seen recently tear at the fabric
of your community?
Well, we have
Milwaukeeans that aren't sending
their children to school, aren't
showing up for work, that
have done nothing wrong or are
waiting on the system, feeling that
it's coming after them.
And the Latino community has been,
the Latino and immigrant communities
had a huge impact on the
economics in Milwaukee,
have stabilized the population
growth.
We're cranking out young people,
educated, going to
college. And yet.
Doesn't feel like the sense the
rate of return or the investment
back in the Latino immigrant
community is is
making any sense.
So it's created fear.
It's created a sense of
not wanting to participate.
And we need we need public safety is
very important. We need our
immigrants to always contact the
police to have all the confidence
that the system is working.
And when they're in fear or
living in fear in the shadows, it's
difficult to do that.
Does the attention that you and
others are putting on these cases,
these people, force
the Department of Homeland Security,
do you think, to afford more
thoughtful kind of enforcement and
including due process?
That's what we're hoping.
We're hoping that the attention
we're providing to it isn't
one of agitation or
being antagonistic, but
when we see good people in our
community that have invested
time and energy, that are doing the
right things, we're calling on
the system to be fair.
We are calling on system to
really look at
the folks and the fabric of our
community, what makes it up and
really.
Being conscious about that.
We don't always feel that that's the
case.
Have you or the council had
communication with ICE or the
Trump administration?
Um, not directly.
I know that, um, uh,
that would be something for us to
consider. I know that we've reached
out to our congressional reps when
we hear of things in the community,
hoping that, since at that
federal level, they can communicate
with ice around, um
the truth around either raids or why
people are deported or figuring out
this list. How does someone make
this list of folks
that are being either?
We hear that they're They're
following people in communities,
they're pulling them over.
And sometimes we wanna know what is
the criteria to make this list?
So we're educated about these stops,
knowing why they're doing what
they're doing but we haven't heard a
word.
Council President Jose Perez, thanks
very much for joining us.
Thank you for having me.
Thank you.
Good luck with all of that.
We're working at it.
We appreciate the opportunity to
share that
we're concerned about the situation.
Well, again, thank you for your
time.
Thank you.
You too, bye-bye.