In response to two bills which they believe are “anti-immigrant,” thousands of Latino individuals, as well as other immigrants and their supporters, gathered in Wisconsin’s capital in unity against the possible legislation.

According to the Wisconsin State Journal, one of the bills, SB 533, “would place restrictions on a local government’s ability to issue identification cards to people such as immigrants who are in the country illegally.” The other bill, AB 450, “would withhold state funding from so-called ‘sanctuary cities.’ These are cities where public employees are prohibited from inquiring about someone’s citizenship status.”

SB 533 has passed the Assembly and the Senate, and is currently in the hands of the Gov. Scott Walker, while AB 450 has passed the Assembly and is awaiting a decision in the Senate.

“I think the law they are trying to pass is very degrading. It is disrespectful to condescend and generalize a whole group of people as criminals when many of them have not committed a crime,” Valentina Dominguez, junior, said.

Legislators, however, believe that the protesters have misunderstood the goals behind the bills.

“The goal of the legislation is to make sure that people who commit crimes are punished,” Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, said. “The basic idea that fear is being instilled is not coming from the Wisconsin Legislature. It’s coming from the activists who want to try to pursue a political agenda.”

Similarly, Dave Gorak of La Valle, executive director of the Midwest Coalition to Reduce Immigration, called the protest “outrageous,” according to the Wisconsin State Journal, and said, “These people have no respect for our laws or our sovereignty, yet they want us to respect them for attempting to cut the legs off our enforcement policies.”

The goal of the rally was not solely to protest the potential legislation, though. Dubbing the protest, “A Day Without Latinos and Immigrants in Wisconsin,” those in attendance were absent from school and work, hoping to demonstrate what a community without immigrants would look like.

Businesses including Quivey’s Grove in Madison and a McDonald’s in Middleton closed their doors, either in support of their Latino employees or because there were not enough employees present to stay open. Other shut-down-businesses in the Madison area included Tutto Pasta, Casa de Lara and Endless Knot. Similarly, El Rey, a grocery store in Milwaukee, shut down for the event, as well as La Brioche, a Milwaukee bakery. 

Protesters also included Madison students. According to the Wisconsin State Journal, 16 percent of Madison East and West students were absent in order to join the other 14,000 people inside the Capitol or on Capitol grounds and the 20,000 on the surrounding streets.

Thomas Wagner, Middleton dairy farmer, said his own business would most definitely feel the effects of a community without immigrants, as 13 Latinos–more than half of his farm’s employment–work on his dairy operation.

“We need these people in our state,” Wagner told the Wisconsin Street Journal. “They are good, honest, hard workers.”

Although she did not attend the protest in Madison, Alo Delgado, senior, stayed home from school yesterday in support of the protesters. She said that although her main reason for staying home was to protest the bills, she also joined because she thinks “it is time that people knew the true consequences of what they were asking for.”

“I feel like they are angrier for the current problems we are facing as a country and they are looking for a scapegoat, which has become the immigrant,” Delgado added. “If we really want to succeed we need to come together and accept each other for our differences.”