“What does it mean for us as a country if we’re able to again enter into language that basically says that these people are not like us?” Ibarra said. “They’re lesser than, they’re not as human as we are, and we’re going to round them up, we’re going to detain them, and we’re going to deport them without, with, without any regard to their humanity.” He said Latin American undocumented workers don’t play a marginalized role in the economy, but are central to it, especially in Wisconsin. Ibarra co-authored a study with the university and Legal Action Wisconsin that found an estimated 70% of the dairy farm labor force are undocumented workers. “What you have here is almost an open secret that everybody knows,” he said, “including industry owners, that they have large percentages of undocumented workers.”
Interviews: Armando Ibarra