U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan urged local governments to step up and better support immigrant communities because the federal government “isn’t going to be there to do the right thing” when authorizing potential U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids at a news conference Monday.
Opting to skip the fanfare of Inauguration Day in Washington D.C., Pocan spent his day speaking with communities he said are at risk under another Trump presidency, including LGBTQ+ people, Latinos and low-income seniors.
“It’s a very eye-opening day…the bottom line: people are very worried about what could happen, and I don't know if I have an answer for them right now,” Pocan said at a news conference held at Centro Hispano. “Part of our challenge right now is making sure that we’re in this together and that we’re going to survive whatever Donald Trump throws at us the best we can.”
Despite Congress being in session for less than a month, Pocan said there have been a number of bills introduced specifically targeting immigrant communities including the Laken Riley Act, which would give states the power to challenge federal immigration policies and require federal authorities to detain migrants accused of theft and violent crimes.
Throughout Trump’s campaign, he repeatedly promoted false claims on immigration, including suggesting migrants in the U.S. who have committed murder did so because “it’s in their genes.” It wasn’t the first instance Trump’s immigration rhetoric echoed Adolf Hitler.
Despite Trump’s claims, there is no evidence that immigrants are more likely to commit violent crimes. Several studies have found that immigrants commit lower rates of crime than U.S.-born citizens and that there is no clear relationship between violent crime and immigration.
“I think it's more about the rhetoric than the actual practice, and that's going to hurt a lot of people in our local community,” Pocan said.
There were roughly 10.5 million individuals living in the U.S. without legal status in 2021, or about 3% of the population, including an estimated 70,000 undocumented immigrants in Wisconsin. Roughly 47,000 of undocumented immigrants in Wisconsin are employed, and the state’s dairy industry relies heavily on undocumented workers.
Pocan was joined by Centro Hispano Executive Director Karen Menendez Coller at Monday’s news conference, who spoke about the work Centro Hispano has done to provide Latino and immigrant community members with health care and support.
“I think over the next four years and beyond, we're going to need our allies to be there, for everybody to be what they need to do and for us to make sure that when it comes to Madison and Dane County, we're really equitable and supporting everybody that deserves it,” Menendez Coller said.
Menendez Coller said Wisconsin’s Latino community is “here to stay” and called on Wisconsinites to continue to uplift and support the community.
“I'm at a point where I want to celebrate our joy, and I want to celebrate our humanity, and I hope the message about our community really centers on that moving forward, so that we can bridge those divides that say that we're different. We’re not another community. We’re the fabric of Wisconsin,” Menendez said.
In Wisconsin, Latinos make up the largest marginalized population in Wisconsin and one that has grown 7.6% in the last decade. Roughly one third of Wisconsin’s Latino population are immigrants.
Anna Kleiber is the state news editor for The Daily Cardinal. She previously served as the arts editor. Anna has written in-depth on elections, legislative maps and campus news. She has interned with WisPolitics and Madison Magazine. Follow her on Twitter at @annakleiber03.
