Campaign against laws that target immigrants to begin Wednesday
Steven Elbow β€” 1/21/2009 1:58 pm

Local activists were scheduled to hold a press conference Wednesday in front of the State Capitol to kick off a 100-day campaign against local, state and federal laws that target immigrant communities.

"We're going to be working very hard during these 100 days to keep pushing things on every single level, the federal, state and local, to change the things we need to change," said Alex Gillis, co-founder of the Immigrant Workers Union.

The press conference will be at the State Street entrance of the Capitol building at 5 p.m.

The local 100-days campaign will run in conjunction with other efforts across the nation. But Gillis said they will all be tailored to fit their communities.

Locally, the immigrant community continues to assail Dane County Sheriff Dave Mahoney for notifying federal authorities when the Sheriff's Office takes undocumented immigrants into custody.

The group also is working to change a 2007 state law, passed in compliance with federal REAL ID requirements, which requires driver's license applicants to prove they are in the country legally. Immigrant advocates have complained that leaves thousands of immigrants with no legal identification. As a result, immigrants who need cars risk arrest just for driving to work, Gillis said.

Gillis said he hopes the new Democratic majority in the Assembly, along with a Democratic majority in the Senate and a Democrat in the governor's office, will help get the ear of government.

"We understand that this is a new time now with the Democrats in power, and we want to just hold them accountable," he said. "Change has to be done and it has to be done very quickly."

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