Showing posts with label Voces de la Blah Blah. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Voces de la Blah Blah. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 1, 2026
Friday, January 16, 2026
Wednesday, January 14, 2026
Monday, August 10, 2020
Workers, advocates say Strauss fired meatpacking workers after COVID-19 safety complaints
From JSOnline:
Maria Perez
Maria Perez
Milwaukee Journal Sentine
Some meatpacking workers and advocates say meat processing company Strauss Brands fired many of its employees in Franklin after some complained about the lack of COVID-19 safety measures.
Voces de la Frontera, which filed a workplace safety complaint with the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration in late April, says the company fired 30 employees who had worked for Strauss for 12 to 20 years.
The group says the company used old letters from the Social Security Administration as a reason to fire the workers, though the federal agency explicitly says the letters should not be used to take action against employees.
Some workers said the company told them they weren’t authorized to work in the U.S.
Christine Neumann-Ortiz, executive director of Voces de la Frontera, questioned the timing of the terminations.
“Why did they use these letters when there’s an active investigation of OSHA, which is in the process of interviewing workers?” she said.
Strauss Brands hasn't responded to requests for an interview.
Most fired workers were told they were terminated because the Social Security Administration had informed Strauss that their Social Security numbers and names didn’t match the agency's records, according to the accounts of six workers and the immigration advocacy group.
Monday, July 20, 2020
Fire and Police Commission headed for showdown with police chief, as its chairman faces new ethics probe
From JSOnline:
The Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission has given little sign what might await the city's police chief at Monday's meeting.
But no matter what action the board takes, the meeting has become a referendum on the future of Chief Alfonso Morales.
Activists and advocacy groups including Voces de la Frontera have called for the chief's ouster, while the Milwaukee Police Association, the union representing rank-and-file officers, has mounted a full-throated defense of Morales and ramped up calls for the commission's chairman, Steven DeVougas to resign, taking out ads on billboards and in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
An independent investigator's report released earlier this month found DeVougas likely violated the city's ethics code and lied about representing a prominent real estate developer accused of sexual assault. DeVougas has denied wrongdoing and has resisted calls for his resignation.
Friday, June 19, 2020
Protesters go to Assembly Speaker Robin Vos' home to lay a wreath
From JSOnline:
Alison Dirr, Ricardo Torres and Matt Piper, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Alison Dirr, Ricardo Torres and Matt Piper, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
 |
| Four protesters - (from left) Christine Neumann-Ortiz, Fabi Maldonado, Chance Zombor and Adebisi Agoro speak before laying a wreath at the driveway of the home of Assembly Speaker Robin Vos in Burlington |
Protesters on Thursday went to the Rochester home of GOP Assembly Speaker Robin Vos to lay a wreath of flowers in response to his recent comment appearing to blame immigrant “culture” for a COVID-19 outbreak in Racine County.
“We’re here to send a message to Robin Vos, who hasn’t had to risk his life or the life of a loved one to work to support them,” said Christine Neumann-Ortiz, executive director of immigrant advocacy group Voces de La Frontera.
Neumann-Ortiz called on Vos to resign, apologize and "support real change.”
It was revealed recently in a secretly recorded meeting with Gov. Tony Evers that Vos seemed to blame immigrant “culture” for Racine County seeing an increase in coronavirus cases.
Vos responded in a statement Thursday saying the protests were about politics.
"Today was not about worker benefits; it was about politics, which is unfortunate," Vos said. "At a time when everyone is looking for answers, we should be finding ways to work together."
Protesters met at Echo Veterans Memorial Park to pay tribute to those who have died from the coronavirus after contracting it at work.
Dozens drove from the park to Echo Lake Foods, where they dropped off a wreath. Neumann-Ortiz believes Echo Lake Foods and Briggs & Stratton could have done more to protect and provide more benefits to their workers.
According to Voces, Juan Manuel Reyes Valdez, who worked at Echo Lake Foods, died after contracting the coronavirus, and Michael Jackson, who worked at Briggs and Stratton, died after contracting coronavirus.
They then drove to Vos’ house with another wreath but were told by Racine County sheriff's deputies that they couldn't leave items at the mailbox. The deputies offered to take the wreath and photos to store them at their sub-patrol station, where they could be picked up later.
Racine County Supervisor Fabi Maldonado agreed to pick up the wreath and photos later on.
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| Chance Zombor, from left, the grievance rep for United steelworkers Local 2-232; Adebisi Agoro, holding a photo of his cousin of Mike Jackson, back second right, a 45-year-old father of eight who collapsed in late May while on the assembly line at Briggs & Stratton and later died of COVID-19; Fabi Maldonado, Racine County Board supervisor; and Christine Neumann-Ortiz, executive director of Voces de la Frontera, walk with a wreath to be placed at the driveway of the home of Assembly Speaker Robin Vos in Burlington. (Photo: Mike De Sisti / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) |
Wednesday, October 2, 2019
Voces De La Blah Blah Asking MPD to Stop Collaborating with ICE
From The Shepherd Express:
BY EVAN CASEY
BY EVAN CASEY
A community group is asking that the Milwaukee Police Department (MPD) stop collaborating with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. This after a video surfaced Monday of an MPD officer assisting ICE during an operation where they detained a Milwaukee man in front of his family.
Jose De la Cruz-Espinosa was detained by ICE agents because they had a warrant for a probation charge on him, according to the MPD. MPD was called to the site after the family of Cruz-Espinosa refused to get out of their vehicle when ICE agents approached him. ICE agents asked for assistance from an MPD officer, who according to a statement from Voces De La Blah Blah, opened the vehicle for ICE.
Voces held a press conference Thursday to call on the Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission policies committee to change their procedure orders for operating with ICE. In that press conference, Kristine De la Cruz, the wife of Jose, spoke.
“My world was turned upside down,” said De la Cruz. “Without him, I don’t know how we’re going to survive."
The De la Cruz family.
De la Cruz says her husband was a hard worker, who owned and operated a small construction company. She says he was also the sole provider for her family.
“They do not understand what a positive influence my husband was in the Milwaukee community,” she said.
Currently, De la Cruz is being detained in a Dodge County detention facility.
“Right now, we don’t know what’s going to happen,” said De la Cruz.
The incident caught Mayor Tom Barrett’s attention, as he issued a statement asking the Fire and Police Commission to look into the incident. Thursday, the Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission policies committee was planning to vote on changes to Milwaukee Police Standard Operating Procedure 130, which generally says that the MPD can collaborate with ICE when needed. However, that vote was cancelled.
Christine Neumann-Ortiz, executive director of Voces De La Blah Blah, says this procedure is unacceptable in Milwaukee.
“This has to be fast tracked,” said Neumann-Ortiz Thursday. “Instead, we have been getting slow walked and stone walled.”
Neumann-Ortiz said she had discussions with the MPD in June about changing the language relating to SOP 130. She urged community members to attend the next Fire and Police Commission meeting on Oct. 3 to talk out against the order.
"This fear and mistrust of local law enforcement extends to children in these households who are living through a deportation of a parent or a raid. This is why the Fire and Police Commission members must vote to strengthen MPD policy against ICE collaboration," Neumann-Ortiz said in a statement.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin also spoke out against MPD's involvement with ICE.
"Local police do not have to deal with ICE the way MPD did the other day," said Chris Ott, the executive director of the ACLU of Wisconsin.
The MPD released a statement about the incident.
"While officers were on scene, the Department of Corrections issued a violation of probation (VOP) warrant for De la Cruz-Espinosa’s arrest. Because of this warrant, and not because of his immigration status, MPD assisted in De la Cruz-Espinosa’s arrest. ICE agents ultimately took him into custody,” it says.
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| Kristine De La Cruz speaks at a press conference Thursday. |
Friday, September 27, 2019
A video shows Milwaukee police assisting ICE with an arrest. Mayor Tom Barrett has called for a review.
From The Journal Times.com:
Jesse Garza, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Jesse Garza, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett on Thursday asked the Fire and Police Commission to review an incident in which officers are captured on video assisting immigration agents in the arrest of an undocumented immigrant.
The video is proof of collaboration between the Milwaukee Police Department and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to immigrant rights group Voces de la Frontera.
The group reiterated the claim at a news conference at City Hall on Thursday after the cancellation of a meeting of the Fire and Police Commission's policies and research committee on proposed revisions to the Police Department's policy regarding immigration enforcement.
The meeting was canceled after video of the apprehension was released to the media.
"It is undeniable from video recordings … that Milwaukee Police Department collaborates with ICE to break up families,” Christine Neumann-Ortiz, executive director of Voces de la Frontera, said in a statement.
“It is exactly why we have been calling on Mayor Barrett, Police Chief (Alfonso) Morales and members of the Fire and Police Commission to support revising existing MPD language to ensure incidents like these do not happen."
I call on "Mayor Barrett, Police Chief (Alfonso) Morales and members of the Fire and Police Commission" to enforce our laws, including that one which makes illegal aliens illegal. Voces de la Blah Blah is a terrorist group that targets teenagers to join its cause because rational adults won't join.
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