Supervisor Dimitrijevic to Join DACA March and Hunger Strike

MILWAUKEE – County Supervisor Marina Dimitrijevic expressed her support for the national fight to maintain the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program Monday, announcing that she will join a hunger strike already in progress at 3:00pm today, and will participate in a 6:00pm march from Congressman Paul Ryan‘s district office in Racine to the Racine Unified School District offices.

Dimitrijevic released the following statement:

“Ending the DACA program while expecting an already failed Congress to come up with a replacement is a cruel punishment for documented youth who have done nothing wrong, and only want an opportunity to pursue their education and be able work here legally.

“Converting documented immigrants into undocumented immigrants and condemning the nearly 800,000 DREAMers to return to a life in the shadows is counter-productive and will make it even harder to find a long-term solution to our immigration challenges.

“DREAMers aren’t just part of our communities, they have accepted a deal with the government to provide their personal information so they could become legally documented, with the understanding that it would never be used against them as part of any deportation proceeding. President Trump‘s action today risks shattering their trust in our system, which could have serious long-term consequences for our democracy.

“As the child of immigrant parents, and the wife of an immigrant, I know what it’s like for immigrant families to yearn for the American Dream. Immigrants are here to stay, and I will stand with the DREAMers as they organize and fight for a better life, even if we have to fight deportation by deportation.

“We still have time to stop President Trump’s shameful immigrant-hating agenda, which is why today I’m joining DREAMers who have been on hunger strike since Friday, and will march with immigrant families and their allies to Speaker Paul Ryan’s office in Racine.

“DREAMers are making great sacrifices and showing all Americans how to live up to our values of equal opportunity and the freedom to pursue a better life for our families. I’m honored to represent a majority immigrant district on the Milwaukee County Board, and I will continue to work hard to ensure that all who live in Milwaukee County are treated with the dignity and respect they deserve.”

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.