MILWAUKEE — A community cookout took place Saturday afternoon at Clarke Square Park in response to recent immigration enforcement activity reported in Milwaukee’s South Side neighborhoods.
Organizers with Comité Sin Fronteras referred to the event as a “Steak Out,” aimed at bringing people together during what they describe as a period of heightened fear among undocumented residents.
“People have told us they’re afraid to go to work or school or drive,” Fernanda Jimenez-Hauch said.
Jimenez-Hauch, a DACA recipient and founder of Comité Sin Fronteras, said a hotline with her organization received about 30 reports of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) presence in the past month.
“There was a case where we saw ICE in this neighborhood,” Jimenez-Hauch recalled. “Just this Thursday, a man was separated from his family and detained by ICE after dropping off his daughter at school.”
The incidents come after multiple high-profile ICE arrests earlier this year, including at the Milwaukee County Courthouse that led to federal charges against a county judge.
“And that’s why we’ve been bringing these events to neighborhoods like Clark Square Park. So that people know that we cannot live in fear and we should not let them let us live in fear,” Jimenez-Hauch said.
Comité Sin Fronteras organized the cookout with support from Milwaukee Diaper Mission, UMOS, Oak Leaf Familia Bicycle Club, Party for Socialism and Liberation, MKE Alliance, and Voces de la Frontera.
Organizers provided free meals and mutual aid resources to offer community support and visibility.
Eva Mucka, an undocumented healthcare worker and organizer, said she has lived in the U.S. for 20 years without a change in status.
“I’ve grown up here 20 years and my status has not changed. I don’t know if it will ever and I can’t wait for politicians to decide what happens to me,” Mucka said. “We have the means to provide solutions for what's going on.”
The group said the cookout is part of a broader effort to organize community gatherings and trainings through their rapid defense network.
“A lot of people said they needed this. Things like this have given them relief that there’s people out there fighting and protecting our communities,” Jimenez-Hauch said.
Comité Sin Fronteras plans to hold similar events in Racine and other parts of southeastern Wisconsin.
TMJ4 reached out to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Chicago Field Office to see how many people have been detained in Wisconsin so far this year but didn’t immediately hear back.
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