Wisconsin Consumers Expected To Pay Up To $8 Per Gallon Of Milk, If Anti-sanctuary Bills AB190/SB275 Pass

If the anti-sanctuary bills AB190/SB275 are approved by the Republican controlled legislature, the dairy industry will be affected by the lack of dairy immigrant workers and the price of milk will reach $8 per gallon.

By H. Nelson Goodson

Hispanic News Network U.S.A.

June 28, 2017

Madison, WI - On Wednesday, Luz Sosa, a local immigrant and civil rights activist and a Professor of Economics at the Milwaukee Area Technical College who was at the rally to protest several ant-sanctuary bills in Madison says, that Wisconsin residents could see an increase of $8.00 in the price of a gallon of milk at grocery stores, if the anti-sanctuary bills are approved and immigrant dairy workers leave their jobs to avoid being targeted by local immigration enforcement efforts.

Voces de la Frontera (VDLF), an immigrant and workers rights organization in a press release says, that immigrant families and supporters from six cities converged at the Wisconsin State Capitol to lobby and demonstrate against AB190/SB275, several bills introduced by Wisconsin Republicans to have local law enforcement act like immigration agents. Wisconsin Republicans introduced the bills in May, which are a copycat of Texas' new anti-immigrant law SB4, and are very similar to AB450, which was stalled and later expired without the Senate taking any action in February 2016.

Immigrant families and supporters visited the offices of Governor Walker and every legislator to deliver milk cartons saying "Got Milk? Not without Immigrants / Keep Famlies Together / No AB190." The group held a rally in the early afternoon featuring a diverse lineup of speakers including dairy workers and farmers, religious leaders, elected officials, and representatives of End Domestic Abuse Wisconsin and the American Civil Liberties Union.
One of the speakers from Manitowoc addressed the crowd and stated, "Wisconsin is the dairy state thanks to the strength of immigrant workers," said Miguel Estrada, a dairy worker from Manitowoc and member of Voces de la Frontera. "Manitowoc produces 13% of the dairy in Wisconsin. I want to ask Governor Walker, without us, who will do this difficult, necessary work? Many people are leaving because of Trump and programs like 287g and now AB190, but we need to stay calm.  We will keep fighting against this bigotry and hatred."

"AB190 seems to be an affront to all dairy farmers," said John Rosenow, a dairy farmer from Waumandee. "In recent times, the last 20 years or so, we, Wisconsin dairy farmers, have found someone who wants to do what we love. Their names are Roberto, Armando, Gregorio, and others like them. This bill would have police profile these workers instead of welcoming them into our communities. This is not something that will make the dairy industry thrive but it is something that will restrict growth and in the end reduce jobs. We dairy farmers wonder why the legislature is not trying to create a welcoming atmosphere for our employees knowing that a hostile climate will impact our ability to make a living."