KENOSHA, Wis. —Community leaders, faith leaders and civil rights advocates gathered this month to condemn anti-immigrant posters that appeared across Kenosha, as police continue investigating who is responsible.
The posters, which depicted a green alien inside of a firearm target alongside the acronym “MAGA,” were first reported in early June after residents discovered them posted on telephone poles throughout the city, according to Racine County Eye. WISN 12 reported the Kenosha Police Department opened an investigation after receiving reports of the signs.
During a press conference hosted by Forward Latino, a national Latino civil rights and advocacy organization based in Wisconsin, President Darryl Morin called the posters an attempt to intimidate immigrant communities.
“This messaging, these posters, is unacceptable. It’s wrong, and it’s un-American,” Morin said. “Regardless of whom these posters are intended to target, they promote intimidation, discrimination, and violence.”
Morin said the organization has documented an increase in hate incidents across the country in recent years and encouraged anyone who experiences threats or harassment to report them to law enforcement and advocacy organizations, such as theirs.
Community member Angeles Arzate said she discovered one of the posters while driving her children to school and immediately reported it after finding additional signs throughout the city.
“To see something like this in the city of Kenosha, it’s really hurtful,” Arzate said during the press conference.
According to Spectrum News 1 Wisconsin, community organizations said similar posters have also been reported in Waukegan and North Chicago, Illinois.
According to WISN 12, Waukegan police said the same posters have been appearing there for weeks, only half an hour away.
Faith leaders joined the coalition in condemning the displays, giving their own remarks during press conference.
“These anti-immigrant posters are a symptom of a much deeper issue,” said the Rev. Wesley Isberner of Congregations United to Serve Humanity. “A rampant hatred of our immigrant and asylum-seeking neighbors has taken root in our country, including here in Kenosha, and this is dangerous.”
Residents who encounter one of the posters should report it to the Kenosha mayor’s office so city officials can document and remove it as part of the investigation, speakers said during the news conference.
As of late June, no arrests or suspects had been publicly announced. WISN 12 reported the investigation remains ongoing.
Community leaders condemn anti-immigrant posters in Kenosha as investigation remains open was first published on WI Latino News and was republished with permission.
Angeles Ponpa is the Managing Editor of Latino News Network Midwest, overseeing Illinois Latino News, Wisconsin Latino News, and Michigan Latino News. She is based in Illinois.
Demonstrators rally outside the U.S. Supreme Court as justices hear oral arguments on whether President Donald Trump can deny citizenship to children born to parents who are in the United States illegally or temporarily, on Capitol Hill, in Washington, Wednesday, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)
Luz Angela Nuñez with her daughter Aisha Quershi Nuñez at their home in College Point, Queens. Photo: Mia Anzalone for Documented.
Kimberly Alvarez, 25, with her daughter Evangeline and her husband John Alvarez in Medellin, Colombia. Photo courtesy of Kimberly Alvarez.Alvarez arrived in New York City in February 2024 with her husband John Alvarez as asylum seekers from Venezuela. In April 2025, Alvarez found out she was pregnant with her first child, a baby girl. Her first reaction, she said, was fear.“How am I going to keep her alive?” she said. “That’s what I was thinking. ‘How am I going to be able to take care of her?’”At the beginning of Alvarez’s pregnancy, she said she was aware of the immigration enforcement occurring around the country, but vowed not to let it deter her from showing up to her doctor’s appointments.“When you went out, you were always on alert because you didn’t know if [ICE] might be around. I never saw anything suspicious,” Alvarez said. “But of course, you feel scared.”In October, when Alvarez was six months pregnant, her husband was detained by ICE agents at 26 Federal Plaza. When the immediate shock wore off, she obsessively checked the Online Detainee Locator System to find out where her husband went. A day later, she discovered that he was being kept at Delaney Hall detention center in New Jersey. Alvarez quickly set up an account to pay for phone calls, and every two days, she would pay about $10 for a one-hour call, updating her husband about the baby, her appointments and how she was doing.“Crying was the only way for me to release the tension,” said Alvarez, who worried that her lack of sleep and bad diet were impacting her baby. “Crying was the only way for me to release the tension.”—Kimberly AlvarezThat tension built up day by day, week by week following her husband’s arrest. Alvarez had stopped her work as a cleaner in the neighborhood’s synagogues two weeks before her husband’s detention because of her pregnancy. The plan, she said, was to rely solely on his income as a maintenance worker for “the food, the rent, everything.” Left with few choices, Kimberley had to rely on her mother’s income as a cleaner. The older woman had moved to New York from North Carolina to assist with Alvarez’s pregnancy. “I feel like I’m supposed to help my mom, not the other way around,” Alvarez said. “I felt powerless because I couldn’t do anything.”On Dec. 9, Alvarez gave birth to a daughter, Evangeline. While her baby was healthy, Alvarez’s anxieties did not go away. While she returned to cleaning synagogues a few months after Evangeline’s birth to help make ends meet, Alvarez and her daughter rarely left home. Alvarez said she felt paralyzed, getting frequent alerts from a neighborhood WhatsApp group when ICE was spotted nearby. One day, she said, ICE arrested her friend’s husband in Sunset Park, in an area where she would sometimes take Evangeline for walks.“I’m so afraid that I’ll go out and run into one of them and that they’ll take her away from me,” Alvarez said. “That’s my biggest fear, that someone will take her away from me and I won’t know where my daughter is.”In March, her husband decided to voluntarily remove himself from the United States and move back to Colombia, where he is originally from. It was a family decision, but it was not a happy one — hiring immigration lawyers was too expensive, Alvarez said, adding that staying in the U.S. felt too uncertain. 
McConnell and Platner both feel entitled