About the Team

In February 2009, while working with the Community Teams program of the Healthy Wisconsin Leadership Institute, the Milwaukee Latino Health Coalition hosted a forum entitled “Is Immigration a Health Care Issue?”

This forum consisted of an immigrant woman’s story of crossing the border, leaving family and culture behind in exchange for an opportunity for an economically better life.  What she found along the way was discrimination, abuse, social isolation, depression, and illness.

A panel of government and community experts responded to this story with the resources they could provide to this woman unveiling the gaps in the system and providing suggestions for policy change.  The forum fostered awareness of the negative impacts that immigration status, socio-economic status, and social isolation have on health, and served as a spring board to creating the Immigration Action Team.

The Immigration Action Team (I-ACT), formed in May 2009, consists of community members affected by immigration policy; community health promoters; and agency, health care, and government representatives.  The goal of this team is to confront and alleviate the negative impact immigration policies have on the lives of Milwaukee Latinos.

Our agenda includes improving access to higher education through educating the community on the new In-State Tuition Policy passed in the Wisconsin state budget during the summer of 2009 and through working with the University of Wisconsin system to improve enrollment procedures for immigrant residents.  Specifically we are working with State Representative Pedro Colon, who introduced this change, in order to understand the policy better.  We are working with the Roberto Hernandez Center at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in order to assist Milwaukee area Latinos to enroll at UWM.  We are also developing educational materials to distribute in high schools with high Latino attendance in order to inform school counselors of these changes.

This year we will be working to provide legislation and lobbying education to MLHC members so that they can effectively impact legislative actions related to immigration and health care.  We are in the beginning stages of collaboration with the Wisconsin Public Health Association, a leading advocate for health related policy change.

If you are interested in working with this diverse group of passionate individuals, contact Raisa Koltun for more information.  Our meetings are held at CORE/El Centro at 611 West National Ave.