Protesters lie in front of a garage Thursday to stop agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement from leaving the downtown Milwaukee building. Credit: Alyssa Pointer

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Immigrant advocates blocked garage doors for two hours Thursday morning at the downtown Milwaukee office of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to protest recent immigration raids in the city.

"This is a pragmatic action, not a symbolic one," said Christine Neumann-Ortiz, executive director of the immigration advocacy group Voces de la Frontera. "We're literally shutting down ICE."

The protest was part of the national "Not One More" campaign organized by the National Day Labor Organizing Network, which has orchestrated rallies and acts of civil disobedience in cities across the U.S. this spring. With Congress stalled on immigration reform and deportations under President Barack Obama surpassing 2 million, the labor network is calling on the president to issue an executive order halting deportations until reform legislation is passed.

More than 70 protesters marched on the sidewalk in front of the building, 310 E. Knapp St., chanting and waving signs with slogans such as "Keep Families Together" and "Not One More Deportation."

Ten of the advocates formed lines in front of each garage door, sat down and linked their arms together with plastic pipes. They included the niece, daughter and brother of Manuel Lopez, an immigrant who was arrested in an immigration raid May 27 and remains in the immigration department's detention center in Dodge County.

Police arrived around 7 a.m. Thursday, but no action was taken by authorities against the protesters, who disbanded around 9 a.m. No immigration department vans left the facility during the protest.

"We're declaring victory," said Leilani Lopez, a sister-in-law of Lopez. In the past, vans left for raids early in the morning, between 5 and 7 a.m., she said. "We succeeded in bringing attention to the cause."

Brianna Lopez, 11, said she was getting in the car to go to school when immigration agents showed up to arrest her father.

"The past three weeks have been really hard," she said. "I miss him so much."

Officials defend arrests

Immigration authorities have defended the Milwaukee arrests of 49 people in the past month, saying most were criminals who posed a danger to society.

"ICE fully respects the right of all people to voice their opinion without interference," said Gail Montenegro, speaking for the immigration department's Chicago office. "While we continue to work with Congress to enact common-sense immigration reform, ICE remains committed to sensible, effective immigration enforcement that focuses on its priorities, including convicted criminals and other public-safety threats."

Participants in Thursday's protest argued that many detainees had no criminal record, or their only crime was entering or re-entering the U.S.

"For ICE, every undocumented immigrant is a criminal," said Jonathan Zuniga, one of the activists blocking the garage doors.

Manuel Lopez, a lawful permanent resident who has lived in the U.S. since he was 8, does have a criminal record: He was convicted in 1997 of carrying a concealed weapon and in 2001 for possessing and delivering cocaine. Lopez's family said he was offered money to deliver a package, not knowing he was taking cocaine to undercover cops.

"But he turned his life around, learned from his mistakes and is now a role model for his children," Neumann-Ortiz said.

Antonio Ayala, who participated in the rally with his wife, Olga Perez, was arrested May 27 and spent three days in the Dodge County detention facility before being released on $5,000 bail. His criminal convictions were three drunken-driving cases more than 10 years ago. He now faces deportation.

"I have five kids here, one who is 6 years old," he said. "If I'm deported, my family will disintegrate."