Fear of Mass Deportations Looms Over Immigrant Community in Wisconsin Following Trump’s Reelection
Racine resident Fernanda Jimenez, 24, has spent most of her life in the United States after immigrating from Mexico with her mother and siblings at the age of five.
For nearly a decade, Jimenez has been protected from deportation under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which allows individuals who arrived in the U.S. as children to live and work here legally.
However, with former President Donald Trump’s recent reelection victory, she and many others in Wisconsin’s immigrant community are facing renewed anxiety about their futures.
Jimenez, who graduated from Alverno College in Milwaukee earlier this year and now works as a grant writer, is also applying to law school. She hopes to use her legal education to further her passion for community organizing. But, as the 2024 presidential race intensifies, Jimenez and her peers are experiencing a rising sense of uncertainty and fear.
“Our community is terrified,” Jimenez said, citing the uncertainty surrounding the future of DACA and the potential for mass deportations. “People are concerned for their family members who are undocumented and not protected under DACA.”
Trump’s campaign included promises of mass deportations, with Tom Homan, former acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), named as his “border czar.” Homan has indicated that while deportation efforts will prioritize individuals deemed to be a public safety threat, no one in the country illegally is exempt from deportation, including individuals working in the U.S.
In response to these developments, Voces de La Frontera, a Milwaukee-based immigrant rights group, has organized community meetings across Wisconsin to discuss strategies for protecting immigrants without permanent legal status.
Executive director Christine Neumann-Ortiz noted that while many fear deportations, she doesn’t anticipate mass voluntary departures. Instead, some immigrants may leave Wisconsin for states offering greater protections.
Neumann-Ortiz stated that Voces plans to launch awareness campaigns through strikes, protests, and civil disobedience, asserting that the immigrant community must stand up for “human decency” and solidarity. She also believes that many Trump voters chose him due to economic concerns, not out of a desire to remove immigrants.
However, David Najera, Hispanic outreach coordinator for the Republican Party of Wisconsin, argued that Trump’s immigration policies are necessary due to concerns over crime, public health, and the strain on government resources.
Najera pointed to issues like overcrowded hospitals and schools, but studies show that immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than native-born Americans, and in 2022, Wisconsin’s immigrants without permanent legal status contributed $240 million in state and federal taxes.
Immigration attorneys, such as Marc Christopher from Milwaukee, are advising their clients to strictly adhere to the law to avoid attracting attention from immigration authorities.
Christopher warned that the incoming administration’s deportation efforts could expand beyond individuals with serious criminal records to include those with minor offenses, such as driving without a license—a common issue for immigrants in Wisconsin, where undocumented individuals cannot obtain driver’s licenses.
Aissa Olivarez, managing attorney at the Community Immigration Law Center in Madison, anticipates an increase in the use of “expedited removal” for immigrants who have been in the U.S. for less than two years, making it easier for authorities to deport them without a hearing in immigration court.
Both Christopher and Olivarez expressed concern over the potential end of DACA, especially in light of the Supreme Court’s conservative majority. Christopher predicts that the current court may find DACA unconstitutional, following previous attempts by the Trump administration to end the program.
Jimenez, who is currently protected under DACA, fears that her participation in the program could make her a target for deportation. “They have our entire information,” she said, “and that’s really where our fear is. They know who we are. They know we’re undocumented.”
Immigrant rights groups are also concerned that mass deportations could have devastating effects on mixed-status families—households where one member may be a U.S. citizen while others lack permanent legal status. Jimenez is especially worried for her brother, a DACA recipient whose U.S.-born children could suffer if he were deported.
In addition to the concerns of DACA recipients, individuals seeking asylum in Wisconsin also fear the impact of a second Trump term. Asylum seekers like Byron Chavez, a 28-year-old from Nicaragua, are anxious that tightening immigration restrictions could endanger their chances of gaining asylum.
Chavez, who fled human rights violations in Nicaragua, expressed hope that the U.S. government will grant him asylum, despite the possibility of stricter laws under the incoming administration.
As Wisconsin’s immigrant community faces an uncertain future, advocates are preparing for a sustained fight to protect their rights and maintain their place in American society.
