May 6, 2012

Thousands carrying signs that said “Stop Ripping Families Apart” and “Education not Deportation” paraded Sunday from Milwaukee’s south side through downtown and on to Veterans Park at the lakefront for the annual May Day march for immigrant rights.

This year’s turnout for the march, which has taken place since 2006 to push for reform of the nation’s immigration laws, was smaller than in previous years, when they have been among the largest in the country.

Christine Neumann-Ortiz, executive director of Voces de la Frontera, the immigrant and low-wage worker group that organizes the marches, said although the turnout was not as strong as in other years, it was still large and “that shows the consciousness and sends a message on the issues we’re fighting for.”