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Last week there was a shooting at San Diego’s Islamic Center. Three people were killed and the shooting is being investigated as a hate crime. A few days later in Milwaukee, there was a panel event celebrating the new book Muslims in Milwaukee, a deep study into the history, placemaking and challenges in Milwaukee’s Muslim community, which includes fighting Islamophobia.

Dr. Anisah Bagasra is an associate professor of psychology at Kennesaw State University in Georgia and she studies trends of anti-Muslim rhetoric. She talks about what happened in San Diego and what we should know about the rise of Islamophobia

During President Trump’s second term, the U.S. refugee program has been decimated. The number of new arrivals has plummeted, and refugees already in the country are now facing a freeze on green card processing and cuts to public benefits.
Last year, we talked with two brothers from Afghanistan about building a new life in Milwaukee, and how refugee resettlement providers have helped them.

We’re listening back to a conversation with one of Milwaukee’s celebrated labor leaders who fought for migrant workers’ rights: Jesus Salas. Salas co-founded Obreros Unidos (Workers United), which led a historic march in 1966, demanding lawmakers address violations of the state’s minimum wage laws and housing codes.

For Salas, defending migrant laborers and their rights is a personal call to action. He was a migrant worker alongside his family starting when he was 7 years old.

Paleteros, or traditional Mexican ice cream vendors, are a fixture on Milwaukee south side. Here's the story of one of the vendors, told by a local artist, Paula Lovo, who has a lifelong love of paleteros.

Artist Christie Tirado's life is defined by migration. Her parents moved from Mexico to the U.S. in search of better job opportunities. Growing up, Tirado frequently traveled to visit family in Mexico. On these trips, she became fascinated with how culture is passed down. That’s the subject of her art exhibit in Milwaukee. You can see some of Tirado’s work here.

In January, the Trump administration paused visa processing for people from 75 mainly African, Asian and Latin American countries. It left a lot of refugees already living in the U.S. in limbo. Some of their employers laid them off, wrongly thinking that they weren’t authorized to work.

Two young organizers, one undocumented and one not, share how their personal experiences led them to advocate for immigrant rights and immigration reform. They’re part of Comité Sin Fronteras, an advocacy group in Milwaukee.

Janeth and Lizeth Zorrilla are originally from Mexico, but have lived in the U.S. since they were children. In 2017, they opened La Finca Coffee House in a suburb of Milwaukee. The business is inspired by their Mexican heritage and even features coffee beans from their grandfather’s farm in Oaxaca. In 2024, WUWM asked them to share their story as immigrant entrepreneurs.

Her father was in critical condition in a hospital in Mexico, after a tragic motorcycle accident. But as an immigrant and DACA recipient, she was concerned about traveling to see him. We talk to one woman who is watching how ICE in airports could affect people like her. And, an immigration attorney shares the air travel advice she’s giving her clients.

A recent piece in Milwaukee Magazine digs into how life has changed for immigrants in the Milwaukee area, amid the federal immigration crackdown. It shares the stories of DACA recipients, undocumented parents, asylum seekers and more as they navigate legal hoops to build lives, families and careers in the U.S.