DACA recipient detained, Milwaukee activists sound alarm

MILWAUKEE - Immigration activists in Milwaukee are voicing concern after a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipient was detained by U.S. Border Patrol agents earlier this month in El Paso, Texas.

What we know:

Catalina "Xóchitl" Santiago, a community activist and DACA recipient with valid work authorization, was taken into custody at the El Paso airport, an incident that has since drawn national attention.

Locally, members of Voces de la Frontera are warning about the impact cases like Santiago’s could have on the more than half a million DACA recipients nationwide.

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On Wednesday, Aug. 27, Voces de la Frontera held a public gathering at Clarke Square Park, in support of the immigrant community and to raise awareness about the incident.

Local perspective:

"We fight back because an attack on one of us is an attack on all of us," said Fernanda Jiménez-Hauch, a Voces de la Frontera member. "There is a lot of fear happening in our community. We do not want to push you further into the shadows."

Christine Neumann-Ortiz, executive director of Voces de la Frontera, called it more than an immigration issue. 

"[It’s] not just an attack on another group of immigrants," Neumann-Ortiz said. "It's also an attack on people that fight for social justice and so that's why it's very imperative that we not treat this as one more thing that's wrong."

Immigration attorney Marc Christopher called the detention unprecedented and said he has not seen anything like it played out before.

"I'm advising my clients, unless they’re permanent residents, to not fly domestically, certainly not fly internationally," he said. "I'm having all my DACA clients do an assessment to see if there is something else available to them – just using much caution as possible."

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Neumann-Ortiz said the group will not back down.

"We will not be silent, we're not gonna back down and we're gonna continue to fight until every family can live with dignity, safety, and freedom," she said.

Dig deeper:

FOX6 News reached out to U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, other Republican members of Congress and Immigration and Customs Enforcement for comment, but has not yet received a response.