Madison Magazine: Out of the shadows
media mention“But every time the tides of anti-immigration rise, so too does support for immigrants. On a frigid February day this year, an estimated 14,000 Latinos and their supporters descended on the Capitol Square to protest SB 533 and a second proposed bill (to fine so-called sanctuary cities that restrict police from asking one’s immigration status, a measure that failed). “A Day Without Latinos,” mobilized by Voces de la Frontera (which established a Madison chapter this year), drew non-Latino support as well, including the powerful Green Bay-based Dairy Business Association, and many area businesses closed that day in solidarity. In recent years, several groups have come out publicly in favor of immigration reform including the National Restaurant Association, the National Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers, driven mostly by the bottom line. Immigrants account for a healthy chunk of the economy and the workforce. A 2016 report by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy finds that undocumented immigrants pay nearly $12 billion each year in state and local taxes, and a 2015 memo from the American Immigration Council in Washington, D.C., says that if all unauthorized immigrants were removed from Wisconsin today, the state would lose $2.6 billion in economic activity.”