Hundreds of people marched in Milwaukee’s annual May Day protest on a chilly, cloudy Friday, joining thousands of other protests, walk-outs, and economic black-outs taking place nationwide. After first gathering outside of the offices of the immigrant rights group Voces de la Frontera on Mitchell Street, a crowd spanning multiple city blocks marched north towards the downtown Federal Building. 

The action aimed to draw attention to the contributions of working class people, including immigrants,  while condemning the policies of the Trump administration, and calling for the release of Wisconsinites who’ve been detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). 

“No hate, no fear, immigrants are welcome here,” the protesters chanted, marching down the roadway with traffic assistance from both their own volunteers and Milwaukee police officers. 

Marchers were greeted with a performance by a mariachi band playing  music as people cheered and danced. Christine Neumann-Ortiz, executive director of Voces de la Frontera, said that those at the protest were joining “over 3,000 actions across the country, and tens of thousands of people in more than 30 cities that are part of a national immigrant-rights network.” 

Backed by the occasional rhythms of parade drums and cheers Neumann-Ortiz declared, “We are May Day strong!” She said that those participating in May Day protests are “leading the way in the movement against authoritarianism, against white nationalism, against ICE gestapo terror.” She praised the immigrant workers who couldn’t be there, as well as the students who participated in the May Day protest. Neumann-Ortiz said that President Donald Trump and his allies “want us to believe that we are powerless, and we know that is a lie.”

People of all ages and ethnic backgrounds came from as far away as Racine and Green Bay to attend the Milwaukee protest. They carried signs calling for the abolition of ICE, an end to the war and humanitarian crisis in Gaza and occupation of Palestinian people, rolling back U.S. militarism, taxing billionaires, an end to local police cooperation with ICE, and generally denouncing Trump’s policies and character.

From the stage, speakers also demanded the reunification of immigrant families separated by ICE, investment in human needs, and the establishment of what Neumann-Ortiz called “a dignified immigration system with a path to citizenship for the undocumented,” as well as for recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), and people  fleeing danger in their home countries. 

She also called for lawmakers to support granting state driver’s licenses for immigrants and praised members of Congress who withheld funding from  the Department of Homeland Security as they sought accountability and standards for ICE officers. 

Speakers’ remarks in English were  translated to Spanish for the crowd. 

José Ramirez, president of the Milwaukee Chapter of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement, said he is both the  son of immigrants and an immigrant himself. Ramirez and his sister were born in Mexico and came to the U.S. in the early 2000s. Both of his parents worked in the meat packing industry. When he grew older, Ramirez became a first-generation union member, and worked jobs in concrete and demolition. 

Ramirez asked the crowd to look around at the different colors, flags, signs, and people. “I like to believe that everybody here truly believes in the same thing,” despite their differences, Ramirez said. “That women’s rights are human rights. That gay rights are human rights. That workers’ rights and immigrant rights are human rights.” 

Ramirez stressed that the victories working-class people have achieved have not come because of the sympathy of career politicians, whether Democrat or Republican, but from the sacrifice of working-class people.

Kareem Sarsour, the son of Salah Sarsour —  the president of the Milwaukee Islamic Society who was arrested by ICE in late March — also addressed the crowd. While he was born and raised in Milwaukee, Kareem said that his father was an immigrant who’d grown up as a Palestinian boy in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Sarsour was a legal permanent resident for over 30 years when ICE officers ambushed him at a property he owned. Sarsour’s family and supporters believe that he was targeted because of his longtime advocacy for Palestinian liberation, and for sharing his experiences while in Israeli custody. Sarsour is being held in an immigration detention facility in Indiana.

Kareem recalled that on March 30, his wife called him at work and told him  that his father “was abducted and nowhere to be found.” Kareem Sarsour said that “no family should get that call.” He said of Salah Sarsour and other people he called “heroes”  “we believe God is with them, and with our unity we’re able to take a stand and say enough is enough! In sha’ Allah — God willing — justice will prevail, our heroes will come back home, Palestine will be free, and our families will be reunited.”

Ingrid Walker Henry, President of the Milwaukee Teacher Education Association (MTEA), said, “ Everywhere we turn, our rights are under attack. Our neighbors are being terrorized by a hostile administration, they are using every trick in the fascist playbook.” Walker Henry called Sarsour a “pillar of our community,” and denounced his detention. “I have three words — and I’m going to want you to repeat them — free Salah now!” 

Walker Henry said that her union members are getting organized “because we know that no one is coming to save us, except us.” MTEA members established school defense teams to protect schools and families this school year, “because no family should have to choose between taking their children to school and risking their family’s safety,” she said. “Across this city, MTEA members are stepping up to protect our children from this administration.” 

Walker Henry said  actions like May Day teach the next generation how to fight back against oppression. “MTEA members will not rest until every student, every public school, and every family has what they need to thrive.”

May Day protesters in Madison met Friday at noon at Library Mall on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus and marched about a mile to the state Capitol. As hundreds of marchers made their way up State Street, they chanted phrases of support including “No hate! No fear! Immigrants are welcome here!” and “Sí, se puede!” Mariachi Sol de Madison played music as protesters assembled on the Capitol steps.

Rebe Silvey with Voces de la Frontera said that the organization has brought together labor, youth, faith leaders and essential workers for May Day — or “Day Without Immigrants” — actions for the last 20 years in Wisconsin. Madison police estimates that about 3,000 people marched.

Silvey noted protesters in Wisconsin this year are joined by hundreds of other May Day actions that had been organized across the country. According to a map on the May Day Strong website, there were actions planned in nearly 40 locations across Wisconsin. 

The nationwide day of action called for “No work. No school. No shopping.”

The march brought out thousands of Wisconsinites angry about increased federal immigration enforcement under President Donald Trump, similar to the No Kings protest in March and an anti-ICE protest held in January. 

Silvey said that school closings on Friday as teachers and students joined the May Day march  showed that “educators understand the urgency of this moment.” Madison Public Schools and the Sun Prairie School District canceled classes Friday due to anticipated absences of staff. Members of Madison Teachers Inc. (MTI), the union that represents teachers and staff, participated in the protests. MTI and the South Central Federation of Labor AFL-CIO officially endorsed the protests.

Silvey said 250 immigrant-led businesses across 17 cities in Wisconsin shut down for the day. During the event, Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway and Dane County Executive Melissa Agard issued May Day proclamations. 

“That is power. That is solidarity. That is collective action,” Silvey said.

Students and teachers from Madison East and Madison West high schools walked from their schools to the Capitol. 

Silvia Gomez de Soriano, a bilingual resource specialist at Madison East and member of MTI, said families and the whole community are “under attack.” 

Andrea Missureli, president of MTI, said that the union stands in solidarity with families who are living in the shadow of ICE.

“This fear has been dangerously normalized, but we refuse to accept it. Every child deserves to walk into school, feeling welcome, safe and seen — not looking over their shoulders,” Missureli said.

Gomez de Soriano said she has seen the link between students’ feeling of safety and their ability to learn. 

“Students miss class and sacrifice their dreams because they are afraid their parents won’t return from an immigration appointment,” she said. “These racist operations are a brutal part of a broader assault on the working class.”

Missureli said the march was not the end of the fight. 

“We must carry this energy into the fall,” she said. Wisconsin has a large slate of state legislative races, congressional races and a gubernatorial election in November that will shape  the direction of the state. “We need to elect working-class people who actually want to fight for our families, leaders who want to stand with us to abolish ICE and ensure the safety of our community,” Missureli said.

A group of Madison East seniors spoke from the steps including Alyne Espinoza Mora, who is the daughter of immigrants. 

“I’m here because of them. I wouldn’t be here if they hadn’t risked their lives to come to the U.S. I’ve never seen anyone work as hard as my parents do. They work so hard every day only for the system to treat them as if they’re animals,” she said. “Why do my parents live in fear? Why can’t my mom go back to Mexico to see her dad? Why is my dad scared of dropping off my sister at the Chicago airport? Because of ICE… I’m tired of seeing immigrants being treated like less simply because of their status. We all deserve to live in a world where we feel safe and included.”

State Rep. Francesca Hong (D-Madison), who is running in the Democratic primary for governor and is the daughter of immigrants, said people need to send a message to “fascists” that immigrants belong in the country.

“The beautiful immigrant community, our community, we make this state stronger. I cannot imagine the depth of moral rot and dysfunction that would move a federal agency to abduct or disappear our neighbors without a sense of shame or an admittance of wrongdoing,” Hong said. “ICE is truly a cruel enforcer of fascism.”

She called for people to invest in mutual aid efforts, attend legal-observer and know-your-rights training and to help take care of their community.

“If we do not, I fear that we will not honor our shared humanity, because when we recognize our shared humanity, when we build community, when we share joy with one another, that is building resistance, and that is building a better world,” Hong said. 

May Day protests for immigrant and workers’ rights are planned for Friday in Wisconsin. 

Voces de la Frontera is organizing the “Day Without Immigrants” actions in Madison and Milwaukee. The marches are part of the May Day Strong nationwide day of action. Organizers are calling for “No work. No school. No shopping.” 

In Milwaukee, protesters will meet at the Voces offices in Milwaukee at 10 a.m. and march to the Federal Building. Protesters in Madison plan to meet at Library Mall on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus at noon and march to the state Capitol.

Madison Public Schools has canceled classes Friday due to anticipated absences. Members of Madison Teachers Inc., the union that represents teachers and staff, are participating in the walkout which their union officially endorsed, as did the South Central Federation of Labor AFL-CIO. 

In a statement, MTI said on its website that it is “aligning with Voces de la Frontera’s demands .. . while calling attention to the state’s failure to live up to its obligations to Wisconsin public school students.”

“MTI members voted overwhelmingly to take this action because our country is in crisis, and our vulnerable communities are paying the price.” The statement said, adding, “Our students are experiencing heightened anxiety, leading to absences and trouble concentrating at school. They are afraid that ICE agents will come for them, their parents, or their friends—a heavy burden no child should have to bear.”

Christine Neumann-Ortiz, executive director of Voces de la Frontera, the Milwaukee-based immigrant workers’ rights group, said during a press conference last week in the Wisconsin State Capitol that this year’s May Day is unique.

“It represents a very important national escalation of resistance against the growing inequality between the ultra rich and working people,” Neumann said. “It lifts up the national demands of abolish ICE, citizenship for all, an economy for all, and it includes the state demands of abolishing 287g” — agreements with local law enforcement agencies to aid federal immigration enforcement —  “which has been aggressively growing like a cancer in our state, and the closing of the ICE processing facility in Milwaukee.” 

Neumann added that it is a day of “solidarity with immigrant workers and their families who are being terrorized by militarized operations, the use of physical violence, racial profiling, warrantless arrests, and deadly conditions and detention centers” and “to defend our basic constitutional rights that are being challenged, regardless of immigration status.” 

According to a map on the May Day Strong website, there are actions planned in nearly 40 locations across Wisconsin.

International Workers Day on May 1 commemorates the great labor struggles of the 19th and early 20th centuries, when workers fought and died for decent wages and working conditions.

The militant energy of the early labor movement, long dormant in the United States, has been making a comeback recently as Americans chafe at economic instability, the destruction of health care and other basic rights and protections, and recoil from a government dedicated to further enriching billionaires at the expense of working people. Add to that the campaign of terror the Trump administration has launched against immigrants who do much of the manual labor in this country and the violent repression of the neighbors who try to protect them, and it’s starting to feel like 1886.

On Friday, May 1, labor unions and immigrants rights groups are coming together to organize mass walkouts in more than 3,000 cities across the U.S. “No work. No school. No shopping” is the tag line for the national campaign, joined in Wisconsin by Madison Teachers Inc., the Southcentral Federation of Labor, and myriad civic groups. 

This week’s protests grow out of “A Day Without Immigrants,” the May Day general strikes that began 20 years ago to oppose Wisconsin U.S. Rep. James Sensenbrenner’s federal bill that proposed making unauthorized presence in the U.S. a crime punishable by mandatory prison sentences. For the first time, in those May Day protests, “you saw largely Latino immigrant, working-class families … with grandparents and baby strollers, coming out in this peaceful wave of mass marches,” recalls Christine Neumann-Ortiz, executive director of Voces de la Frontera, the Milwaukee-based immigrant workers’ rights group. “It really was like an earthquake, and it shelved that terrible bill and put the conversation of immigration reform back on the table.”

This year, national labor unions are showing up for the May Day actions in a big way. That’s inspiring, because it’s clear that massive resistance from a broad, working-class movement is what it’s going to take to stop the brutal repression and outright theft of public resources by the current regime.

“Workers’ rights and immigrants’ rights are the same,” Andy King, managing director of the Fair Immigration Reform Movement (FIRM) said on a May Day press call this week. His group’s May Day demands include no more funding for ICE and Border Patrol, permanent protections and a pathway to citizenship for immigrants, and stopping the construction of megawarehouses for the mass detention of human beings. 

The fear-mongering about immigrants coming from the Trump administration is not an accident, Neumann-Ortiz said during the same call. “It’s a strategy to divide us, to scapegoat and to distract from the real challenges working families face, and in particular, the growing control of our economy by billionaires.” She talked about the heartbreaking case of Elvira Benitez, a mother of three from Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin, who was arrested by ICE during a routine check-in after she was approved for a green card. Now she’s sitting in detention in Kentucky, and her youngest daughter is under medical supervision for suicidal thoughts related to the traumatic experience of being separated from her mom, Neumann-Ortiz said.

She also highlighted the case of Salah Sarsour, president of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee, a legal permanent resident, who was detained by ICE in what appears to be a retaliatory arrest for his political speech defending Palestinian rights. 

A secretive police agency that whisks people away in order to silence dissent should worry all of us. “And these are not isolated cases, as we know,” Neumann Ortiz said. “It’s a system.”

Deaths in ICE custody have hit a new record since the beginning of Trump’s second administration. Yet the federal government plans to expand warehouse detention to house more than 92,000 people. Adriana Rivera of the Florida Immigrant Coalition told reporters on FIRM’s May Day press call, “our state has become ground zero for a system that warehouses human beings for top dollar, makes jokes and merch at their expense, where suffering is hidden and accountability is absent.”

“Shut down these disgusting warehouses and choose a path rooted in care,” she demanded.

What is happening to our country? What will it take to wake people up?

During the same week I listened to activists planning the May Day walkout, my phone rang and an automated voice informed me that Wisconsin U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson was holding an impromptu “telephone town hall” in the middle of a weekday afternoon. I stayed on and listened to Johnson tell his constituents that he favors eliminating the Senate filibuster in order to fully fund the Department of Homeland Security without the guardrails Democrats are seeking for ICE and Border Patrol. We’re living in too “dangerous” a time not to act immediately, Johnson said, and Congress is “too broken” to make these decisions in a deliberative fashion. That’s why, he explained, now that President Trump is in office and Republicans hold a majority, he has switched his position on ending the minority party’s power to filibuster legislation. Johnson wants to get Democrats out of the way to pass the SAVE America Act, which will severely curtail voting rights on the thoroughly disproven theory that undocumented immigrants are voting in large numbers and swaying U.S. elections. 

Johnson listened approvingly to voters on the call who recycled Trump’s Big Lie that Democrats are stealing elections. He expressed his enthusiasm for RFK Jr. and “progress” on his pet issue — getting rid of supposedly harmful vaccines. Some callers expressed anxiety about the Iran war, with Johnson reassuring them that it was going “perfectly.” One woman swore at him and was disconnected. But the most revealing part of the call came when a caller mentioned that a lot of people are worried about health care — a brewing crisis in Wisconsin where 63,000 people are losing Medicaid coverage because of Trump’s cuts and another 20,000 have dropped their Affordable Care Act coverage because of rising premium costs after Republicans refused to renew ACA enhanced tax credits.

The root cause of the problem with health care, Johnson said, is the government’s involvement. 

“Take a look at Amazon, what that private sector competitor has done to deliver products in hours, sometimes at a really low cost. So private sector consumerism works, but we’ve driven consumerism out of healthcare by having somebody else pay for it,”  he said. His solution? “Move to a rational system of catastrophic care plans, and then most of healthcare paid out of pocket with real consumerism.”

Never mind Johnson’s choice to hold up Amazon as a paragon of business, a company that was sued by the Federal Trade Commission for illegally blocking competition, inflating prices using its monopoly power, and stifling innovation. Never mind the multiple lawsuits brought by its drivers for high-pressure, inhumane working conditions and that unfortunate incident in which a warehouse worker died on the floor while his coworkers were allegedly told by management to ignore him and keep production rolling.

Setting all that aside, how many regular voters in Wisconsin agree that the best way to handle crushing healthcare costs is to make them pay out of pocket for every medication, office visit and procedure?

As Trump’s approval ratings reach a new low and gas prices spike, Johnson’s position that you should cover the full cost of your healthcare out of pocket is unlikely to give Republicans a bump.

The problem in our country is that we seem to have lost the class consciousness that animated the labor movement of the Progressive Era.

Instead, today, we have a right-wing populism that purports to defend the interests of blue collar workers but is, in fact, investing in the immiseration of the vast majority of Americans, the theft of their healthcare, their education, their wages and workplace protections, for the benefit of oligarchs like Johnson, who couldn’t care less if people suffer, sicken and die, so long as he remains rich. 

I don’t think people can put up with this for much longer. The inhumane treatment of regular, hardworking people, the pain and waste of the greed-driven regime we are living with should turn the stomach of every American. 

May Day is a sign of hope.