Immigrants: Bienvenidos, Zoo Siab Txais Tos

Want to find out what your neighbors really think about the immigration issue?

Try putting one of these signs in your yard or window.

They were produced by the Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice (WNPJ), just in time for some May Day marches that focus on justice for immigrants.

The signs feature handwritten messages of "welcome" in six languages by people from many of Wisconsin's immigrant communities. The two-sided yard sign features "welcome" in Spanish and Hmong, single-sided 11×17 window signs feature either Spanish or Hmong.

The Milwaukee event is billed as a statewide action, organized by Voces de la Frontera and endorsed by Peace Action Wisconsin. The movement is growing and linking up with the antiwar movement.

Organizers at Voces say:

The immigrant rights movement has made great progress over the last two years in defeating some of the most anti-democratic legislative proposals in the history of this nation. All three remaining presidential candidates support some form of immigration reform. However, we face continued efforts to criminalize both employers and workers through initiatives like the Social Security No Match Letters, increased raids that tear families apart, and anti-immigrant local and state ordinances that have led to increased racial profiling, civil rights abuses, and economic damage to local communities.

Last year at least 80,000 people of all races and ages from across the state marched in Milwaukee to support civil rights for immigrants. This year we must mobilize again in massive numbers to send a clear message of the need for change.

This year's themes:

* Stop the raids and separation of families

* Just legalization

* Access to driver's licenses

* Stop Social Security No Match Letters

* Fair International Trade Agreements for Workers

* Good Jobs and Health Care for all

* End the War in Iraq

If you’d like a sign, here’s the info: Window sign: $2 plus postage. Call (608) 250-9240 or email [email protected] to order. For PC fashionistas, T-shirts are $15. Be the first on your block.