Community, Rights, and Readiness: GCC Hosts "Know Your Rights" Training with Emilio De Torre
- 3 hours ago
- 5 min read
by Melissa Osowski, Lisa Gilmore, and Tony Keys
On Tuesday, March 10th, GCC once again brought the community together at Germantown American Legion Post 1 for an event that was both timely and deeply meaningful. These are heavy, uncertain times for many of us, especially as an ICE processing center is expected to open near our community. But gatherings like this remind us that knowledge, preparation, and community solidarity can offer both practical tools and real hope.
Know Your Rights training drew community members eager to learn how to protect themselves, support neighbors, and respond calmly and legally during encounters with ICE and law enforcement.
Speaker Rooted in Justice Work
Our dynamic speaker, Emilio De Torre, is Executive Director of Milwaukee Turners at Turner Hall Ballroom. De Torre previously served as director of the ACLU of Wisconsin and has spent years working at the intersection of civil rights, community justice, and public education. In recognition of that work, he was recently named a 2026 “Power Player” by the Milwaukee Business Journal: https://tinyurl.com/MBJ-Emilio-De-Torre
For 90 minutes, De Torre delivered a presentation that was both informative and easy-to-understand, blending history, practical guidance, humor, and candid conversation with the audience.
A Brief History of the Milwaukee Turners
De Torre began with the fascinating history of the Milwaukee Turners:
The Milwaukee Turners is the oldest civic group in Milwaukee, founded in 1853 by German immigrants and “Forty-Eighter” political refugees fleeing failed democratic revolutions in Europe.
Established as the Socialer Turnverein, they brought a tradition of combining physical training (gymnastics) with liberal politics, supporting abolition, education, and social reform.
The word Turner comes from the German word for gymnast, reflecting the movement’s early combination of physical training and civic engagement.
Founding members wanted to forget religious dominance.
Early Milwaukee Turners adopted a stance of fierce anti-clericalism and secularism, promoting "reason, against all superstition."
They strongly opposed organized religion—specifically Catholic and Lutheran dogma—favoring rationalism, intellectual freedom, and secular, community-based education.
Over the decades, Turner Hall became a center of progressive organizing in Milwaukee, even serving as a stronghold of activism during the repression of the McCarthy era.
Today, the Milwaukee Turners remain a diverse membership organization dedicated to non-partisan, civic educational programs and mental and physical wellness programming.
Legal Observers and Community Training
One of the programs De Torre highlighted was Milwaukee Turners’ Legal Observer training. Legal observers are citizens trained to document interactions between protesters and law enforcement. Their role is not to intervene but to observe, record, and help ensure accountability, recently hitting a milestone of approximately 800 people trained.
The training is offered free to the public through the Milwaukee Turners website for those interested in learning how to support civil rights during demonstrations and public events: https://www.milwaukeeturners.org/immigration-training
Preparing for ICE Encounters
The presentation centered on ICE preparedness — a topic that sparked thoughtful questions from the audience. Community members asked questions such as:
How do we avoid what happened in Minneapolis?
What should we do if we witness a confrontation with ICE?
How do we keep hope alive?
How can we support immigrant neighbors?
What should someone do if they are detained or arrested?
When detained, how do you determine if you are free to go?
Why are ICE not trained better?
De Torre addressed these questions with a mix of practical advice and realistic expectations about how law enforcement and immigration authorities operate.
Key Know-Your-Rights Points
Several important reminders stood out from the training.
During interactions with ICE or law enforcement:
Stay calm and keep your hands visible — De Torre recommended the “preacher position,” with hands clasped beneath the sternum.
Record everything. It is legal to record interactions with ICE and law enforcement. It is also good to narrate everything; e.g. "Officer, may I…"
Do not lie. Officers ARE allowed to lie during questioning. Civilians are NOT allowed to lie to law enforcement.
Authorities are trained to obtain consent.
Avoid biometric phone access (fingerprint or face ID). Use alphanumeric passcodes instead, since biometric access may be compelled.
Note: ICE has no official uniform. They are not trained to de-escalate. They are armed and trained to shoot to kill.
If you feel you're at risk, contact recommended immigration attorneys.
If ICE comes to your home:
Do not say or sign anything.
Ask for a valid judicial warrant. Often administrative warrants are presented. Do not open your door if not given a valid judicial warrant.
ICE is supposed to present a valid warrant before entering your residence. If they force entry without one, the legality of that action can later be challenged in court; however, that is often too late.
Do not sign documents you do not understand.
Create an 8 step plan/packet (see presentation link at the bottom of this post).
Stay calm.
If detained or arrested:
For businesses:
As a business owner, if ICE comes shut it down and call local police, especially if they are wearing masks.
Ask ICE agents to leave if they are in private areas without proper authorization.
Create a building plan now (see presentation link at the bottom of this post).
Stay calm.
De Torre emphasized that ICE agents are trained to get you to consent by any means necessary. They rely on confusion in a pressured, stressful situation to obtain consent. This makes it even more important to know what to do, how to help, and have resources and a plan in place so we can steadily act when needed.
Immigration in Wisconsin: By the Numbers
De Torre also shared a few facts that help put immigration in perspective in Wisconsin:
Approximately 308,000 immigrants live in Wisconsin.
Additionally 70,000 residents are undocumented.
Immigrants contribute roughly $3 billion in taxes annually in the state.
The average pathway to legal citizenship can take up to 18 years. This is the timeline when that individual is doing "everything right."
De Torre noted that by October 2025 ICE had deported more citizens than undocumented immigrants and the budget for ICE is more than some countries spend on their entire military force.
These numbers helped ground the conversation in reality and reminded attendees that immigration policy affects neighbors, coworkers, and families across the state.
Knowledge, Community, and Hope
Events like this do more than provide information. They build community resilience. They remind us that even during uncertain times, knowledge is power, and neighbors looking out for one another makes a difference. Those of us who attended left not only better informed and prepared, but perhaps most importantly, De Torre reminded us that community engagement is itself an act of hope.
Presentation link: https://www.milwaukeeturners.org/know-your-rights
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