>> The surge of Ice and customs and border control
enforcement action across the border in Minnesota has
resulted in the arrest of more than 3000 people,
according to the agencies, which say the operation
there will continue. Will that kind of escalated
force come here? Advocates for immigrants in Wisconsin
believe Milwaukee will soon be a target. That includes
Daryl Morin, the national president of Forward Latino.
He joins us from the Milwaukee area. Thanks very
much for being here. >> Thank you for having me
here. >> So you have said that
it's your and others belief that Ice will undertake a
widespread operation in Milwaukee. What information
do you have that that's going to happen?
>> Well, yes. Over the last couple of weeks, there's
been a growing consensus at all levels of government
here in Wisconsin that pending a dramatic change
in priorities, there will be a large scale
enforcement action here in the state of Wisconsin.
We're seeing that they have just under 3500 agents up
there in Minneapolis. And daily we see them coming
into western Wisconsin probing, detaining
individuals, attempting to detain others, etc. And I
think it's the firm belief of many that it's just a
matter of time before they come all the way down to
southeastern Wisconsin. >> And what would bring
them to southeastern Wisconsin?
>> Well, we know there's a huge population here in
southeastern Wisconsin. Not too many people know this.
Wisconsin are Hispanics are the largest minority
population in the state of Wisconsin. And there's
obviously a tremendous population down here in the
southeastern part, as well as in rural areas
throughout the state, in our farms and our dairies,
etc. So everything we've heard is that there there
is sincere interest at the highest levels to come to
Wisconsin. >> Do you think that the
extent of what's unfolded in Minneapolis would happen
in Milwaukee? >> Tragically, yes. As
we've been working with our partners and Los Angeles
and New Orleans in Charlotte, etc. we've seen
these significant enforcement actions take
place. And most troubling, most concerning about that
is that individuals for no probable cause are being
detained are being threatened, in some cases
being even assaulted. So it's a tremendous concern
not just for our immigrant population, but for
Wisconsinites in general. >> I know that Milwaukee
police policy is that they will not detain or arrest
an individual solely for a suspected violation of
immigration law, and President Trump has dubbed
both Madison and Milwaukee sanctuary cities, although
that is not an official kind of status. How does
that factor into whether the administration surges
in Wisconsin? >> Well, I think there's a
lot of political calculations that are going
into that, quite honestly, with regards to law
enforcement's response, I tell you, that's those are
discussions we're having every day. We only need to
turn on the news to see what is happening in other
places. As I mentioned, to U.S. citizens and
immigrants alike, where their rights are being
violated and what we're going to be asking law
enforcement to do here is to do their job. And if
they see a resident of Wisconsin being assaulted,
being unlawfully detained, we're going to ask them to
intervene. They're here to protect us. And sadly,
we're seeing our federal agents that are supposed to
be doing the same, doing the opposite. So we're
concerned. I will also share this, as I say, with
business leaders around the state, farmers, dairy
farmers as well. There's a growing consensus that as a
purple state, any kind of large scale operation here
in Wisconsin would actually cost more votes than when
being a purple state. We're hoping the administration
takes that into account before making the final
decision to come here. >> To your understanding,
how prepared are Milwaukee police and city leaders and
others should Milwaukee become a powder keg?
>> Well, we've been working with our partners around
the state, both in the private sector and our
private sector and government sectors. We've
been very pleased that everyone is taking prudent,
prudent steps to make sure that the residents and
citizenry of Wisconsin will be protected. So can't go
too far into details on that. But we're grateful
for the partnerships we have with many members of
law enforcement and government, as well as our
private and nonprofit partners.
>> How has the immigration enforcement changed the
lives of people and families and communities?
Yvonne lawfully present people?
>> Well, there's tremendous fear. Once again, it's one
thing. If we were seeing enforcement action truly
going after the worst of the worst. But that's not
what's happening here. We're seeing over 70% of
people who are being detained have no criminal
record. We're seeing U.S. citizens and those lawfully
present detained, even U.S. veterans that have served
our nation with dignity and honor. So there's
tremendous fear here. We're seeing people are going out
less, they're spending less. They're driving less. We're
seeing absenteeism in schools and in workplaces
tick up. So it is having a significant impact. And
should things escalate further, I think we could
see a significant shift in the productivity across the
entire state if they were to come here in force.
>> You have urged preparation for Ice
enforcement. What does that look like?
>> Yeah. So as I share this information today, I don't
want to be causing panic. Right. It's time for
thoughtful preparation. It's time for our
governments and law enforcement agencies to
prepare. And it's time for people who may be at risk
to prepare to put things in place. I'll share with you.
Last time we saw a significant increase in
immigration enforcement, we were getting calls from
school districts asking what we could do to assist
them because their parents weren't here anymore, to
pick them up from school. We're working with people
in the health care field to discuss how can we safely
move people back and forth who are going to be in need
of dialysis and other treatments, as well as how
are we going to dispense food once again to people
who no longer feel safe leaving their homes? So
there's quite a bit of work going into this right now
at every level. Glad to be able to do the work, but
sad that it's needed nonetheless.