Milwaukee Protests Target Deportations, Democratic Leaders

Highway bridges all over Milwaukee became sites of political protests Saturday, as demonstrators criticized President Donald Trump and Democratic Party leadership.

Holding homemade signs, they said they worried about the rule of law and feared possible cuts to government programs like Medicaid. Protests also happened across Wisconsin.

At an overpass in downtown Milwaukee, 69-year-old John Reid reflected on the things he hoped would’ve been national priorities in 2025 — universal health care, artificial intelligence, “housing that people can afford.”

“I don’t know that anybody really knows where AI’s going, so what kind of jobs are people going to have in the future?” the retired lab tech from near Racine asked.

“Why doesn’t there seem to be anything that looks at that and tries to get people ready for whatever’s coming?” he said.

Reid said he “can’t believe this is America in 2025.” He said was concerned about potential cuts to Medicaid and Trump’s potential use of the Insurrection Act of 1807.

Quotes from American history used to comment on deportations

It was 30-year-old Ren Audetat’s first protest since Trump’s inauguration. She’s a restaurant manager who usually works Saturdays, when protests have happened.

Her sign had a quote by Eugene Debs, a Socialist presidential candidate in the early 20th century: “While there is a lower class, I am in it, while there is a criminal element, I am of it, while there is a soul in prison, I am not free.”

“This quote’s kind of been stuck in my head lately,” she said. “Just thinking about all the people who were wrongly deported, otherwise kidnapped and sent to some of the harshest prisons in the world.”

Cars honked to cheers from the crowd, as did a Milwaukee County Transit System bus. A semi-truck passing on Interstate 43 bellowed from its horn.

“I worry about federal agencies that are not listening to court orders, I’m concerned about deportations without due process,” said 66-year-old Mollie Lazear of Glendale, a retired fundraiser for a Waukesha County women’s shelter.

She brought a quote from founding father Thomas Paine’s pamphlet “Common Sense,” written on a folder: “As in absolute governments the king is law, so in free countries, the law ought to be king, and there ought to be no other.”

‘A serious reboot’: attendees criticize Democratic Party

“To be honest, I’ve sort of lost faith in them,” said 60-year-old Gerald Leahy about the national Democratic Party.

“Any politician that comes forward, tries to capture this energy, I’m skeptical of,” he said. “Look where we are — two times they’ve lost to this man. That is pathetic. I think there needs to be a serious reboot of the party.”

Leahy said money in politics is “to the detriment to the vast majority of people, Americans.”

“Something has to be done here to remove that,” he said. “It’s for the interest of few, not for many.”

Thirty-four-year-old Liz Nisley came to the demonstration from Wauwatosa.

She was most concerned about “the lack of response from our Democratic leadership,” she said. “We don’t have people who are made for the moment.”

“Hakeem Jeffries, I think, is being too measured in his responses to things,” Nisley said. “I want them to fight more.”

She contrasted that with Republicans: “They message to their base very well.”

“Democrats need to step up to this movement,” Nisley added. “We’re here, people clearly care about this. I could be at home.”

Protests take place across Wisconsin, follow those 2 weeks ago

It was the second time this month that thousands of people rallied across Wisconsin as part of the nationwide movement organized by labor unions, pro-democracy and Democratic groups.

On April 5, large crowds gathered at Madison’s Capitol to protest cuts to government programs by Trump and top adviser Elon Musk. Madison protests on Saturday were more dispersed, as groups gathered outside a Tesla charging station, at James Madison Park and in the Shorewood Hills neighborhood.

A couple dozen protesters held homemade signs outside the Tesla charging station along East Washington Avenue. Cars honked in approval along the busy Madison corridor.

Monica Harkey of Madison wore an inflatable astronaut suit to the event to fit Elon Musk’s “space man” image, and held a sign saying “Bring empathy back to Earth.”

“Because he’s kind of against empathy,” she said.

Harkey, who is a scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison specializing in atmospheric sciences, said she and a lot of her colleagues are scared about losing their jobs given the federal cuts to research funding.

Harkey said her grandparents were in Poland during the Russian and Nazi invasions, and their experiences stuck with her.

“I made up my mind a long time ago I was always going to stand up for what’s right,” she said. “And if things start going south like they experienced, I wanted to show opposition.”

Barbara Martin of Sun Prairie said she wanted to join the protests because she feels it’s her duty.

“It energizes me,” she said. “It gives me more hope that people will get out.”

Matt Velguth of Madison said he was protesting “a lot of horrible stuff that the Trump administration is doing,” but he was particularly focused on the war in Gaza. He said protests are an important way to send a message to members of congress that the public doesn’t support what’s happening in Washington.

“And as you hear the people go by and honk, it gives them the courage to know, ‘Hey, it’s OK to be against this,’” Velguth said. “I think it really does help to move the needle.”

Other events at smaller cities across the state saw larger turnouts.

An organizer in Marshfield said about 150 people attended the protest Saturday at the city’s downtown square. In Door County, hundreds of protesters in Sturgeon Bay marched across the Maple-Oregon Bridge. In Stevens Point, the Portage County Democratic Party posted video showing protesters holding signs lining downtown sidewalks while drivers honked in support.

In Algoma, a city of about 3,200 that the New York Times in 2024 called “the most divided place in America,” about 65 people showed up with signs that included “Hands off HeadStart” and “Tariffs are taxes on us.”

And a group of about 30 protesters gathered outside the fire department in the Polk County city of Amery, which has a population of around 3,000. Other events included marches in Sheboygan, Green Bay and Baraboo.

Editor’s note: WPR’s Shawn Johnson and Rob Mentzer contributed reporting to this story.

‘People clearly care’: Milwaukee protests target deportations, Democratic leadership was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.