Protesters gather outside the Federal Building in Milwaukee to denounce the arrest of Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan on Friday, April 25. Groups that took part in the demonstration say Dugan's arrest has given new gravity to this year's protests planned for May Day in support of immigrants and workers. (Photo by Isiah Holmes/Wisconsin Examiner)

Leaders of the Fair Immigration Reform Movement (FIRM), a national network of immigration reform activists, held a virtual press conference Wednesday, ahead of a nationwide day of action on May 1. Although May Day demonstrations are held annually, this year the protests carry a new gravity. Leaders of organizations including FAIR, composed of 38 immigrant-led groups across 32 states, drew attention to the arrest of Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan, and growing concerns about the Trump Administration targeting immigrant communities. 

Christine Neumann-Ortiz, executive director of the Wisconsin-based Voces de la Frontera, said momentum to resist Trump’s  policies has grown after the April 1 Wisconsin Supreme Court election. “It was a resounding defeat at the voting booth for Trump’s endorsed candidate for our state Supreme Court race, and a resounding rejection of Elon Musk’s blatant efforts to buy our election,” Neumann-Ortiz said during the Wednesday press conference.

After the election, Wisconsinites mobilized to participate in mass protests against Trump and Musk’s firing of federal workers and canceling of federal programs. United, mass actions, Neumann-Ortiz said, will be crucial in the days ahead. The May Day protest, she said, “really represents the next iteration in this warring resistance to Trump’s efforts to impose dictatorship in this country, and to really challenge the scapegoating of immigrants and refugees for social inequality [while]  he is contributing to significantly widening that gap.” 

May Day also will be an important platform to build alliances between working-class people, she said. Neumann-Ortiz said communities in Wisconsin had recently experienced “an operation that was being conducted by the FBI and Department of Homeland Security investigators under so-called ‘wellness checks’ of unaccompanied [immigrant] minors and their sponsors’ homes.” 

Voces de la Fronterea learned of the operation through a 24/7 immigration emergency hotline the group operates. Neumann-Ortiz told Wisconsin Examiner that Voces de la Frontera is aware of such cases in Milwaukee, Whitewater, and Waukesha. The group had received a call involving an 8th grade student who was home alone when several armed agents arrived, allegedly saying they didn’t need a judicial warrant to enter. 

“So again, it was just these manipulative tactics,” Neumann-Ortiz told Wisconsin Examiner. After Voces de la Frontera was contacted, the group sent an immediate community response to assess what was going on. “What we uncovered is that basically this was an operation that’s being conducted to check in on unaccompanied minors who had come through and had a sponsor like, in this case, a family member. But again, this is not the role of the FBI. Their job is to target organized crime, or trafficking, things like that. They do not…This is not how any kind of wellness check is conducted. This is not the body…the agency that would do that.” 

Neumann-Ortiz said that Voces members insisted that if agents wanted to interview the minor, they should go to an attorney’s office to do the interview. “We do feel that this is, I would say, highly suspect in terms of what could unfold.”

Wisconsin Examiner reached out to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) offices in Milwaukee regarding the “wellness checks.” A FBI spokesperson said in an emailed statement that, “The FBI is assisting our partners including, Homeland Security Investigations and Office of Refugee Resettlement, with a nationwide effort to conduct welfare checks on thousands of unaccompanied children who have been identified as crossing the border without a parent or legal guardian. Sadly, children crossing the border alone and living in the U.S. without the protection of a loving parent or guardian can be vulnerable to exploitation, trafficking, and violence. Protecting children is a critical mission for the FBI and we will continue to work with our federal, state, and local partners to secure their safety and well-being.”

An ICE spokesperson said in an email the agency is “familiar” with the Wisconsin Examiner’s inquiry, and said to contact the Department of Homeland Security. In response to Wisconsin Examiner’s inquiry, Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in an emailed statement, “The previous administration allowed many of these children who came across the border unaccompanied to be placed with sponsors who were actually smugglers and sex traffickers.” 

McLaughlin added, “DHS is leading efforts to conduct welfare checks on these children to ensure that they are safe and not being exploited. Unlike the previous administration, President Trump and Secretary Noem take the responsibility to protect children seriously and will continue to work with federal law enforcement to reunite children with their families. In less than 100 days, Secretary Noem and Secretary Kennedy have already reunited over 5,000 unaccompanied children with a relative or safe guardian.”

Since late March, at least three people have been arrested by ICE agents as they appeared at the Milwaukee County Courthouse for routine proceedings. The most recent arrest also resulted in an FBI investigation being launched against Judge Dugan, who federal agencies accuse of obstructing their effort to arrest a man who was appearing before her. The arrest drew thousands of people into the streets to support Dugan. On Saturday, April 26, over 1,200 people gathered outside the Milwaukee FBI office, decrying Dugan’s arrest as authoritarian, fascist, and inconsistent with American values. 

On the press conference call Wednesday, Neumann-Ortiz was joined by leaders of FIRM-member organizations from across the country. May Day protests are expected in states across the country. David Chiles, interim executive director of Sunflower Community Action in Kansas said Trump’s policies are “a race to the bottom” and “a war on wages, on benefits, on dignity itself.” Chiles said that on Thursday, “we’re fighting back.” Cathryn Jackson, public policy director of CASA, who will march with groups toward the White House, said, “Immigrants and allies are rising up to say ‘enough is enough.’  May 1, international day of action, we are joining hundreds of marches, rallies, walk-outs, demonstrations with one very clear unified message” — One struggle, one fight, workers unite.

Protesters gather outside the Federal Building in Milwaukee to denounce the arrest of Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan on Friday, April 25. Groups that took part in the demonstration say Dugan's arrest has given new gravity to this year's protests planned for May Day in support of immigrants and workers. (Photo by Isiah Holmes/Wisconsin Examiner)

Leaders of the Fair Immigration Reform Movement (FIRM), a national network of immigration reform activists, held a virtual press conference Wednesday, ahead of a nationwide day of action on May 1. Although May Day demonstrations are held annually, this year the protests carry a new gravity. Leaders of organizations including FAIR, composed of 38 immigrant-led groups across 32 states, drew attention to the arrest of Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan, and growing concerns about the Trump Administration targeting immigrant communities. 

Christine Neumann-Ortiz, executive director of the Wisconsin-based Voces de la Frontera, said momentum to resist Trump’s  policies has grown after the April 1 Wisconsin Supreme Court election. “It was a resounding defeat at the voting booth for Trump’s endorsed candidate for our state Supreme Court race, and a resounding rejection of Elon Musk’s blatant efforts to buy our election,” Neumann-Ortiz said during the Wednesday press conference.

After the election, Wisconsinites mobilized to participate in mass protests against Trump and Musk’s firing of federal workers and canceling of federal programs. United, mass actions, Neumann-Ortiz said, will be crucial in the days ahead. The May Day protest, she said, “really represents the next iteration in this warring resistance to Trump’s efforts to impose dictatorship in this country, and to really challenge the scapegoating of immigrants and refugees for social inequality [while]  he is contributing to significantly widening that gap.” 

May Day also will be an important platform to build alliances between working-class people, she said. Neumann-Ortiz said communities in Wisconsin had recently experienced “an operation that was being conducted by the FBI and Department of Homeland Security investigators under so-called ‘wellness checks’ of unaccompanied [immigrant] minors and their sponsors’ homes.” 

Voces de la Fronterea learned of the operation through a 24/7 immigration emergency hotline the group operates. Neumann-Ortiz told Wisconsin Examiner that Voces de la Frontera is aware of such cases in Milwaukee, Whitewater, and Waukesha. The group had received a call involving an 8th grade student who was home alone when several armed agents arrived, allegedly saying they didn’t need a judicial warrant to enter. 

“So again, it was just these manipulative tactics,” Neumann-Ortiz told Wisconsin Examiner. After Voces de la Frontera was contacted, the group sent an immediate community response to assess what was going on. “What we uncovered is that basically this was an operation that’s being conducted to check in on unaccompanied minors who had come through and had a sponsor like, in this case, a family member. But again, this is not the role of the FBI. Their job is to target organized crime, or trafficking, things like that. They do not…This is not how any kind of wellness check is conducted. This is not the body…the agency that would do that.” 

Neumann-Ortiz said that Voces members insisted that if agents wanted to interview the minor, they should go to an attorney’s office to do the interview. “We do feel that this is, I would say, highly suspect in terms of what could unfold.”

Wisconsin Examiner reached out to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) offices in Milwaukee regarding the “wellness checks.” A FBI spokesperson said in an emailed statement that, “The FBI is assisting our partners including, Homeland Security Investigations and Office of Refugee Resettlement, with a nationwide effort to conduct welfare checks on thousands of unaccompanied children who have been identified as crossing the border without a parent or legal guardian. Sadly, children crossing the border alone and living in the U.S. without the protection of a loving parent or guardian can be vulnerable to exploitation, trafficking, and violence. Protecting children is a critical mission for the FBI and we will continue to work with our federal, state, and local partners to secure their safety and well-being.”

An ICE spokesperson said in an email the agency is “familiar” with the Wisconsin Examiner’s inquiry, and said to contact the Department of Homeland Security. In response to Wisconsin Examiner’s inquiry, Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in an emailed statement, “The previous administration allowed many of these children who came across the border unaccompanied to be placed with sponsors who were actually smugglers and sex traffickers.” 

McLaughlin added, “DHS is leading efforts to conduct welfare checks on these children to ensure that they are safe and not being exploited. Unlike the previous administration, President Trump and Secretary Noem take the responsibility to protect children seriously and will continue to work with federal law enforcement to reunite children with their families. In less than 100 days, Secretary Noem and Secretary Kennedy have already reunited over 5,000 unaccompanied children with a relative or safe guardian.”

Since late March, at least three people have been arrested by ICE agents as they appeared at the Milwaukee County Courthouse for routine proceedings. The most recent arrest also resulted in an FBI investigation being launched against Judge Dugan, who federal agencies accuse of obstructing their effort to arrest a man who was appearing before her. The arrest drew thousands of people into the streets to support Dugan. On Saturday, April 26, over 1,200 people gathered outside the Milwaukee FBI office, decrying Dugan’s arrest as authoritarian, fascist, and inconsistent with American values. 

On the press conference call Wednesday, Neumann-Ortiz was joined by leaders of FIRM-member organizations from across the country. May Day protests are expected in states across the country. David Chiles, interim executive director of Sunflower Community Action in Kansas said Trump’s policies are “a race to the bottom” and “a war on wages, on benefits, on dignity itself.” Chiles said that on Thursday, “we’re fighting back.” Cathryn Jackson, public policy director of CASA, who will march with groups toward the White House, said, “Immigrants and allies are rising up to say ‘enough is enough.’  May 1, international day of action, we are joining hundreds of marches, rallies, walk-outs, demonstrations with one very clear unified message” — One struggle, one fight, workers unite.