People have been calling Jennifer Maldonado's phone ever since the morning of Sept. 25, when word began spreading that federal immigration authorities were picking up dairy farm workers in a Walmart parking lot in Manitowoc.

The news that 21 people without legal status were detained by the FBI and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has shaken people in Manitowoc County, a community of about 80,000 people in eastern Wisconsin. Much of the county's agricultural and manufacturing sector relies on Latino immigrants .

Maldonado, who leads a local immigrant advocacy group called Crusaders for Justicia, said people are asking her: "Is it safe? Are they still here? Can we take our kids to school? What happens if we get taken?"

"There's just this mad rush of trying to protect their fam

See Full Page