MADISON, Wis. — A tense Tuesday continues in Los Angeles after protesters clashed with police over recent immigration raids.

Though almost 2,000 miles away, what is unfolding there has Wisconsin lawmakers talking.

Federal immigration crackdowns aren’t just happening in California.

Ramón Morales-Reyes of Milwaukee, who made national headlines after being falsely accused of threatening President Donald Trump, is still facing deportation because he doesn’t have legal permission to live in the country.

Yessenia Ruano, a teacher’s aide in Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS), has also been fighting for an extension to her temporary status.

Those two examples alone make what has happened on the West Coast hit close to home for some Wisconsin lawmakers.

Protesters confront police on the 101 Freeway near the metropolitan detention center of downtown Los Angeles, Sunday, June 8, 2025, following Saturday night's immigration raid protest. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

“There’s very peaceful protesting going on, and so for the way it’s being said on TV, it’s not exactly that way,” State Rep. Priscilla Prado, D-Milwaukee, explained.

Prado, who calls Los Angeles her hometown after moving to Milwaukee in 2005, still has family there who have participated in the protests. She said what people have seen on their screens isn’t what is happening in the streets.

“I think that it can happen anywhere, but that is what the National Guard is there for—to protect the protesters,” Prado added. “We have every right to protest.”

State Rep. Bob Donovan, R-Greenfield, said he supports law enforcement at all levels, including local, state, and federal.

“I certainly am disgusted with the riots that are going on there,” Donovan said. “Sadly, I think there’s been some politics involved in policing, and that creates problems.”

Los Angeles police officers with batons and riot gear attempt to move back protesters in downtown Los Angeles on Monday, June 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

Donovan wishes more people would take a deep breath, a step back and let the laws and system work.

“I think what we have experienced over the last four years under the previous administration is a lot of these laws simply weren’t enforced,” Donovan explained. “Well, now, under President Trump, there’s a desire to enforce these laws, and I support it wholeheartedly.”

Prado, on the other hand, wants people to remember they are human before anything else.

“Bringing these agencies in and scaring these people who are just trying to live a life and live an American dream, that’s not right,” Prado said. “That’s inhumane. That’s not what the American dream is.”