Hispanics are changing the face of local communities. Who are some of the new neighbors and what issues do they face?
Jorge Islas-Martinez uses a marker to touch up the lettering on a worn banner that reads, ‘We are humans, we are immigrants, we have feelings too.’ Islas-Martinez and a group were preparing for an immigration rally in Milwaukee.
Photo By: Dan Lassiter
A group touches up the lettering on a number of banners in preparation for an immigration rally in Milwaukee. They are, from left, Nancy Espana, Lincoln fifth grader, Juana Martinez, Jorge Islas Martinez, Maria Espana Whitewater Middle School seventh grader, Enrique Alas and Lincoln Elementary second grader Jose Espana.
Photo By: Dan Lassiter
Jose Cano adjusts a crooked letter on the sign for La Luz del Mundo church in Delavan, while his wife Margarita and 6-year-old daughter Karen watch. Cano says the church is a big part of his family’s life.
Credit: Lukas Keapproth
Maximo Arriaga, co-owner of Los Amigos restaurant in Janesville, came to the United States in 1986, but it was years before he became an American citizen.
Photo By: Dan Lassiter
Maximo Arriaga makes a plate of enchiladas at Los Amigos restaurant in Janesville.
Photo By: Dan Lassiter
Kim and Alma Olson were married in 1995. She is from the Philippines.
Photo By: Dan Lassiter
This photo by Janesville native Gary Meinert shows the thousands of personal items left behind on ‘The Amnesty Trail’ in Arizona. In 2004, many Mexican people misinterpreted President Bush’s discussion of a guest worker program. Many believed they would be granted amnesty and came across the border in the Altar Valley. Meinert has spent six years documenting the illegal activities of Mexican cartels and their drug and human trafficking.
Credit: Submitted photo
A group of illegal immigrants sits on the ground after being apprehended by the Border Patrol in Arizona. Janesville native Gary Meinert has traveled extensively through the desert southwest to document the situation along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Credit: Submitted photo
Gerardo Ojeda helps a calf into a pen at Larson Acres in Rock County. Ojeda legally came to the United States more than 25 years ago. In Wisconsin, immigrant workers have become a prime source of labor in the dairy industry. Estimates say half the immigrants working in the dairy industry are here illegally. Dairy farmers worry that immigration legislation could have a negative impact on the industry.
Credit: Lukas Keapproth
Pablo and Angela Carranza clean up after having dinner at their Janesville home. The Carranzas try to include the best elements of Mexican and American cultures in their lives and the lives of their daughters.
Photo By: Dan Lassiter
Pablo and Angela Carranza talk with their children, Luci, 4, left, and Kaitlin, 12, at the dinner table. The Carranzas say they sometimes feel as if they don’t fit in either in the United States or in Mexico.
Photo By: Dan Lassiter
The Carranza family of Janesville, from left, Pablo, Luci, 4, Kaitlin, 12, and Angela.
Photo By: Dan Lassiter
Delavan’s Karen Cano shows off her passport before leaving to study in Mexico as a foreign exchange student. The UW-Whitewater student spent five months studying at Technolgico de Monterey in Guadalajara, her father’s hometown.
