Milwaukee, WI: Supporters rally at school to support teacher targeted for promoting immigrant rights

Milwaukee, WI – On January 29, 50 people rallied in front of Allen-Field Elementary School on Milwaukee’s South Side to support Milwaukee Public Schools teacher and union member Alondra Garcia. The rally protested the suspension that Garcia, a second grade bilingual teacher at Allen-Field Elementary, was forced to serve by the principal of the school, Fritz Blandon.

Blandon, an avid supporter of Donald Trump, issued the suspension after a series of events which included Garcia mentioning to parents of her students that she would be sending their children home with immigrant rights resources. He claimed that Garcia’s message was “political” and that she violated other rules, but his crackdown reveals his own reactionary politics and is a politically motivated attack.

It should be noted that Milwaukee Public Schools passed a Safe Haven resolution in 2017, which says that all MPS sites are “a Safe Haven for undocumented students and families. The resolution outlines the steps the district will take to assure students and families that any actions that might be taken by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on school grounds will be opposed by all legal means available.”

Garcia said that the suspension is only one aspect of a multi-pronged effort by the school’s administration to retaliate against her and create an environment that is hostile for her fellow workers and the children the school.

“The work environment is very divisive. It’s administration vs. teachers. [Blandon] has begun to specifically target me since this first attack. After having had my first disciplinary hearing, I received another letter for having supposedly fundraised without his permission,” Garcia said. “I had asked parents if they could and would be able to support with voluntary donations, as in items to use for a classroom project that would positively benefit the houseless community. That is what led to having another disciplinary letter in my file and today’s suspension without pay.”

The rally, held on the day of Garcia’s suspension, featured a number of speakers from different organizations, including the preeminent immigrant rights group in Wisconsin, Voces de la Frontera. City Council Member Juan Miguel Martinez and State Representative Ryan Clancy also made comments condemning the actions of Principal Blandon. All speakers made it clear that this attack from the school’s top administrator is obviously not an isolated incident.

Garcia is herself familiar with the challenges of being an undocumented immigrant, something she was not afraid nor shy to share with those in attendance at the rally. Despite the one-day suspension, which was unpaid and accompanied by a statement in her personnel file, Garcia remains committed to advocating for the rights of her students and the immigrant community of Milwaukee more broadly.

“It’s important to fight to protect the students we serve because they depend on us to advocate for them. Accountability comes with action, otherwise they are just words, and we know words do not mean anything to create true justice,” Garcia said.

Garcia continued, “We demand that the ‘leader’ at Allen-Field Elementary be held accountable for his words and actions that are outright harmful to the community he serves and is supposed to protect from ICE. We demand justice for all educators being targeted and disciplined for simply providing the necessary resources our families so desperately need in these times of worry and danger. We demand justice for our students, our families, our educators, our community and myself.”

More meetings are being coordinated in relation to this attack on Garcia. Supporters are calling for Blandon to lose his job. This is only the beginning of what is sure to blossom into a larger campaign in the broader struggle of fighting for immigrant rights under a second Trump administration.

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