‘Day Without Latinos’:Thousands occupy Wisconsin Capitol

“It’s not just a question of passing a bill that may not have that much of an impact, but it really does make a difference to us in retaining our current workforce and attracting new employees”, Holevoet said.

“We must oppose two anti-immigrant laws rapidly moving through the state Legislature that will become laws if we don’t unite as a community to stop them”, Neumann-Ortiz said.

One of the bills being contested is Assembly Bill 450, which aims to prohibit “sanctuary cities” from being created in the state.

The rally in Madison is expected to get under way at 10 a.m.

A caravan of buses, vans and cars will converge on the steps of the Madison state capital for the rally to protest the bills.

Hundreds are jamming the state Capitol today to protest two bills from the Wisconsin Assembly: One, forbids any city from ordering its police departments not to question the immigration status of people.

Organizers at Voces de la Frontera, a Wisconsin immigrant-rights group, are calling the action “A Day Without Latinos”.

Around the state, businesses are planning to close and people are planning to skip work and school in protest.

Controversial “anti-immigrant” ID bill explainedA recently passed bill aims to clear up the standards for municipal IDs by preventing towns and counties from issuing them.

“[They should] deny services and show them really how strong the Latino community is”, he said.

The head of one dairy farm told the paper it reached a compromise, where it agreed to give full pay to a handful of its employees while they go to the rally and represent their coworkers, to avoid working with a skeleton crew. “I think a lot of the talk about other issues is a distraction from that”.

Quivey’s Grove, another popular Madison restaurant, also confirmed it will be closed for the rally, as will Le Petit Croissant, a small Madison bakery.

Immigrants account for more than 40 percent of the hired help on dairy farms, according to a University of Wisconsin study.