Although widespread rumors of weekend raids on Madison's undocumented immigrants turned out false, those who come to the area in hope of a better life are met by a number of changes and hardships.
Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz responded to the raid rumors in both Spanish and English, insisting that the city would have nothing to do with immigration raids unless ordered to take part by the federal government.
This is part of a philosophy of our municipal government that immigration law matters are primarily a federal government matter, and that to act otherwise would jeopardize the important trust relationship that we endeavor to cultivate with our community,\ Cieslewicz said.
But rumors aside, Madison's undocumented immigrant population has grown steadily in recent years. According to Centro Hispano, the Madison area is currently home to nearly 25,000 Hispanic immigrants, 18 percent of whom are classified as working class. In 2000, the U.S. Census reported that 8,500 Madison residents were of Hispanic origin.
Although the wages of immigrant workers are significantly better in the United States than in Mexico, they are still usually lower than those of legal citizens.
""Most immigrants end up working two jobs at seven dollars an hour, just so they have enough to live off of,"" said Virginia Zignego, assistant editor of the Spanish language La Comunidad newspaper.
Zignego said the embarrassment of not being able to afford health care without government assistance is often a problem for Hispanic immigrants.
""It's very stressful for the man if he's not able to provide for his family,"" she said.
Immigrants must also face changes in living situations, as large families are often legally barred from living together in close quarters.
""That can be difficult to navigate if they only have enough money to pay for a one bedroom apartment and they have five people that want to live with them,"" Zignego said.
And immigrant families are not always safe once they are in the U.S. children born to undocumented immigrant parents are U.S. citizens at birth, but citizenship does not extend to undocumented parents.
""If you're an illegal immigrant, you can still be deported and your kids are just here,"" Zignego said, explaining the 50 percent Latino absenteeism at one Madison middle school Monday. ""You may never see them again.""
The Madison Police Department has tried to avoid these unfortunate situations by taking a lenient stance on immigration enforcement.
""Our policy dictates that we will not go out and specifically seek illegal citizens of the United States, nor will we make it part of an investigation of something else,"" Police Spokesperson Mike Hanson said.
Hanson added police will continue their policy of ‘don't ask, don't tell' regarding undocumented immigrants.
""To my knowledge, there are no plans to change [our stance] anytime soon,"" Hanson said.
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