Yesenia Villapando
By Marissa Ramirez
Federal law enforcement raids seeking undocumented individuals sparked fear in Wisconsin’s immigrant communities, including those at Edgewood College.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials spent four days in the state of Wisconsin performing immigration raids across 14 different counties, including Dane County. A total of 83 people were arrested, including 20 in Dane County.
Some of these individuals have been removed from the United States, and some have been offered bond while they await trial.
This four-day-operation, based out of an ICE office in Illinois, highlighted the differences in everyday life among students at Edgewood. Some students feared for their relatives, family friends, or even their own lives, while other students were unaware of what ICE even is.
Yesenia Villalpando, Edgewood College alumna and local activist, described the ICE presence as “having a ripple effect, even if you may not have been directly involved, for everyone on campus and in the larger community.”
Edgewood College showed its support in an email which was sent to all students from Dean of Students Heather Harbach. The email offered support for those impacted, specifically Dreamers, stating, “For those Dreamers here on our campus, I specifically offer the support of our Edgewood College community to you-you are not alone.”
Dreamers are those protected by DACA (Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals), “a federal government program created in 2012 under Barack Obama to allow people brought to the U.S. illegally as children the temporary right to live, study, and work in America,” according to an article by The Guardian.
The email also included a description of The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), a 2017 document that provides rules on the privacy of student records.
Support was offered by many faculty members, and there were events were held on campus to educate students. There was a showing of the documentary Papers. Afterward, Villapando and Dr. Donna Vukelich-Selva, an assistant professor in the Edgewood College School of Education, spoke about the raids that were happening and how to help.
Several businesses in Madison closed their doors during this time to show support of both employees and members of the community who may have been targeted.
Despite these responses, Villapando said she believes “the community acted too slowly because it was such a shock.”
“In the future, Madison hopes to be more prepared,” she said. “Organizations like Voces de la Frontera, Freedom Inc., Centro Hispano, and so many others are continuously working to put a plan of action into place for any future ICE operations.”
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