Milwaukee, WI
Here’s a guide to Milwaukee’s Layton Park neighborhood
Located on the city’s south side, Layton Park is one of more than 75 distinct neighborhoods in Milwaukee.
Working-class Poles and Germans arrived in the late 19th century, but now, the largely residential neighborhood is about three-quarters Latino. Home to just over 8,200 residents, Layton Park is one of Milwaukee’s most populated neighborhoods.
The neighborhood and its surrounding area are known for their vibrant Latin American and Caribbean influences, ample outdoor recreation opportunities and beloved, hidden-gem restaurants.
Here’s what to know about and check out in Milwaukee’s Layton Park neighborhood.
More: Here’s a guide to Milwaukee’s Tippecanoe and Town of Lake neighborhoods
More: What to know about Milwaukee’s Brewers Hill neighborhood
More: Here’s a guide to Milwaukee’s lower east side neighborhood
Where is Milwaukee’s Layton Park neighborhood?
Neighborhood boundaries in Milwaukee are not completely set in stone and may differ depending on who you ask.
However, most sources define Layton Park’s boundaries as W. Becher Street at the north and W. Cleveland Ave. or W. Kinnickinnic River Parkway at the south, and S. 35th Street at the west and W. Forest Home Avenue and S. 27th Street at the east.
An earlier definition in the 1970 “Metropolitan Milwaukee Fact Book” defined the neighborhood’s boundaries as “Lincoln Ave. from 16th St. to 24th St., Becher St. from 24th St. to 35th St., and Howard Ave. from 16th St. to 35th St.,” according to UW-Milwaukee’s Encyclopedia of Milwaukee. Today, this area includes Layton Park, Forest Home Hills, Southgate, Southpoint and parts of the Jackson Park, Morgandale, and Polonia neighborhoods.
Layton Park was a Polish neighborhood in the 1800s
In 1849, Englishman John Layton purchased land now bounded by Lincoln Avenue, Forest Home Avenue, and 31st Street, wrote Jim Nelsen, Golda Meir School social studies department chair, for the Encyclopedia of Milwaukee. When Layton arrived, the area was home to white farmers and Native Americans. Layton and his son Frederick are the neighborhood’s namesake and shaped much of it, building a farm, residence and inn.
In 1885, the Laytons sold their land, and it was subdivided for houses, Nelsen wrote. Working-class Polish residents, as well as some Germans and other northern Europeans, made up the majority of the neighborhood’s residents by the turn of the century.
The neighborhood’s Polish roots are still evident in a lot of nearby places: Pulaski High School, Pulaski Park and Pulaski Indoor Pool, just to name a few. Many things in the area are named “Pulaski” after General Casimir Pulaski, a Polish hero of the American Revolution, Nelsen explained.
“He actually didn’t speak more than probably a few words of English, but he was an officer during the time of the American Revolution and fought on the American side,” Nelsen said. “So, for a lot of Polish residents here back like 100, 150 years ago, there was this big concern of, ‘We want to be American right away, but we also want to be Polish. So, what can we do to be proud Polish-American? Oh man, there’s this American-Polish patriot!’”
Layton Park has been home to Maynard Steel Casting since World War I. From 1951 to 1999, the neighborhood was also the site of Southgate Shopping Center, Milwaukee’s first shopping mall. Leon’s Frozen Custard, currently Milwaukee’s second-oldest custard stand, popped up on 27th Street in 1942.
Latino immigrants, mainly from Mexico, began settling in Layton Park and much of the rest of Milwaukee’s south side in large numbers in the mid-to-late 20th century.
“Latinos were able to settle successfully alongside the Poles because they shared so many traits in common,” wrote anthropologists at Urban Anthropology Inc. in their “190 Milwaukee Neighborhoods” project entry on Layton Park. “These included the Catholic faith, the focus on the Madonna figure, polka music traditions, similarities in childrearing and eldercare practices, and an entrepreneurial spirit.”
Today, Layton Park is home to a vibrant, majority-Latino community
Today’s Layton Park neighborhood is largely residential. Nelsen said its reasonably priced homes attract first-time homeowners and immigrants. As of 2020, Layton Park is about 75% Latino.
The main commercial corridors in the neighborhood are along Lincoln Avenue and W. Forest Home Avenue. Many restaurants and small auto repair businesses line these streets. Nelsen said Layton Park attracts job-seekers with lots of opportunities in retail, restaurants and at Aurora St. Luke’s Medical Center, one of the neighborhood’s biggest employers.
Kevin Solis is the senior outreach and engagement manager for VIA Community Development Corporation. He works with residents of Layton Park ― and the nearby Burnham Park and Silver City neighborhoods ― on civic engagement: voting, providing public comment at the mayor’s budget hearing and organizing neighborhood projects.
Solis said Layton Park’s Latino culture is on display in the neighborhood’s food offerings.
“We can see it, not only in the restaurants that are available, but there are grocery stores that cater a lot to our community,” he said. “This makes the community feel more like home.”
Solis cited El Rey Foodmart on Burnham Street and Cermak Fresh Market on Miller Parkway, both just north of Layton Park’s official boundaries, as examples. El Rey is a Milwaukee-based Central and South American specialty food store chain, while Cermak specializes in a variety of cultural foods from across the globe, including Latin American cuisine.
Layton Park’s Latino culture is also evident in the nearby churches, such as Our Lady Queen of Peace Parish, which offers Mass in Spanish multiple times a week as well as other Latino Catholic traditions like Quinceañeras and Spanish-speaking faith groups.
What to eat, see and do in and around Milwaukee’s Layton Park neighborhood
Nelsen recommends Mazos Hamburgers, 3146 S. 27th St. The small diner has been around since 1934.
“Most people drive past and don’t realize it’s there,” he said. “But, if you’re just looking for a hole-in-the-wall type place with home-cooked food with reasonable prices, it’s not a bad place at all to get a burger.”
One neighborhood favorite is Tu Casa Mexican Restaurant and Bar, 3710 W. Lincoln Ave. The restaurant promises “The tastes of Mexico, the feelings of home” on its website, and the menu features Mexican favorites well-known in the U.S., like tacos and enchiladas, as well as authentic dishes and seafood that some Milwaukeeans may be less familiar with.
Another spot to check out is Neveria Las Maravillas, 2908 W. Lincoln Ave. The shop serves traditional Mexican ice cream in a wide variety of flavors, as well as elotes, fruit and drinks.
Layton Park and the surrounding area are also a hub for food trucks.
“If you walk around, you’ll for sure bump into a food truck,” Solis said. “And I will guarantee that it will have something delicious for you.”
One truck he recommends is Mexicano Express, 3301 W. Burnham St. A Puerto Rican food truck, Sabor Divino, just opened a brick-and-mortar location at 3300 W. Lincoln Ave.
Just east of Layton Park’s official boundary is the Forest Home Cemetery and Arboretum. The 200-acre cemetery was established in 1850 and is the burial site of many “beer barons, industrialists, mayors, governors, senators and families who have made significant contributions to, and helped to build, Milwaukee,” the cemetery says on its website. A list of notable people buried at Forest Home can be found on its website.
The cemetery offers self-guided and public summer tours. It also hosts a Día de los Muertos festival and 5K, as well as a Halloween event called “Spirits of the Silent City,” where professional actors portray famous Milwaukeeans buried in the cemetery and guide visitors on an educational, after-dark tour. The cemetery is also an arboretum, where people can enjoy walking and cycling trails, birdwatching and 2,600 trees of over 100 labeled species.
The Kinnickinnic Sports Center, 3070 S. 20th St., is also nearby. It features an archery range, basketball court, baseball and softball diamonds, trails and a playground.
Solis also recommends the recently renovated Burnham Playfield, 1755 S. 32nd St., which now has a splash pad, playground, soccer fields and basketball courts.
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Milwaukee Police Department (MPD)
MILWAUKEE – A shooting in Milwaukee on Thursday night, April 10 left one person wounded. It happened around 9 p.m. near 60th and Vienna.
What we know:
The victim, a 74-year-old, was taken to the hospital for treatment of injuries.
The circumstances leading up to the shooting are under investigation. No arrests have been made.
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What you can do:
Anyone with any information is asked to contact Milwaukee police at 414-935-7360 or to remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers at 414-224-Tips or P3 Tips.
The Source: The information in this post was provided by the Milwaukee Police Department.
Milwaukee, WI
A gay Venezuelan stylist was sent to a Salvadoran prison after a disgraced Milwaukee cop’s report: What we know
Tattoos used by officials to identify and deport Venezuelan migrants
Advocates for Venezuelan migrants say immigration authorities are using tattoos to wrongfully tie them to the Tren de Aragua prison gang.
A disgraced former Milwaukee cop with credibility issues helped seal the fate of a gay Venezuelan makeup artist sent to an El Salvador prison, according to documents reviewed by USA TODAY.
A report approved by the police-officer-turned-prison-contractor claimed the Venezuelan man was a member of the notorious Tren de Aragua gang.
But concerns about the credibility of Charles Cross, Jr., 62, who signed the report, had already landed him on a list of Milwaukee County law enforcement officers accused of lying, bias, or breaking the law years earlier.
Reached by phone by a USAT reporter, Cross deferred all questions to his employer’s headquarters.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump claims that he loves the idea of expanding the use of El Salvador’s prisons by sending American inmates there, but still needs to know more about it, according to a USA TODAY report.
“I love it,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday. “If [El Salvadorian President Nayib Bukele] would take them, I’d be honored to give them. I don’t know what the law says on that, but I can’t imagine the law would say anything different … If they can house these horrible criminals for a lot less money than it costs us, I’m all for it.”
Here’s what to know about the case, as well as the latest on legal immigrants who have been detained by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement under Trump’s directive to ramp up deportations.
Who is former Milwaukee cop Charles Cross Jr.?
Cross, 62, was fired from his position as a Milwaukee Police Sergeant in October 2012 after driving his car into a family’s home while intoxicated. His blood alcohol level was more than double the legal driving limit, court records show.
The former officer appealed the decision and resigned in the process, according to the department. He was also being investigated for claiming overtime he allegedly hadn’t earned. USA TODAY has requested Cross’s disciplinary and employment records.
Additionally, in 2007, Cross received a misdemeanor conviction after kicking in the door of the apartment he shared with his girlfriend and threatening to kill himself with his service revolver, according to court records. Afterwards, he temporarily lost his job but later was reinstated after appealing to the Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission.
The incident landed him on the Milwaukee County Brady list, a compilation of law enforcement officers with credibility concerns.
Does Charles Cross Jr. now work for ICE?
Four months after resigning from the Milwaukee Police Department, Cross was hired at CoreCivic, a company that runs many of the immigration detention centers for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Today, he is one of the private prison contractors helping to identify Venezuelan migrants as members of the criminal outfit Tren de Aragua – a designation that’s landing them in a Salvadoran prison without due process.
According to a court filing, Cross typed his name over the title “INVESTIGATOR” on the form that implicated Andry José Hernandez, a gay makeup artist from Venezuela who has denied any connection to Tren de Aragua.
Can contract workers legally make detainment decisions?
The legality of having contract workers detain and deport people is questionable, according to Greg Chen, senior director of government relations at the American Immigration Lawyers Association.
In cases such as Hernandez’s, a key issue is whether there was other corroborating evidence and whether a law enforcement official under the Department of Homeland Security made the final call to send him to El Salvador, he said.
“It would be highly problematic if that determination was being made, in fact, by a private prison employee,” Chen said.
It’s unclear whether Hernandez was also evaluated by federal agents, or if Cross and another CoreCivic employee, Arturo Torres, were Hernandez’s sole screeners. It’s also unclear if other corroborating evidence was used to tie him to the criminal group.
Who is Andry José Hernandez?
Andry José Hernandez, 30, is from Capacho, Venezuela. He worked as a makeup artist for a state-run television station, where he was constantly discriminated against and threatened for his sexual orientation and political views, according to the affidavit.
Last year, he quit his job and fled Venezuela for the U.S. Hernandez claimed he was being persecuted as a gay man – one of the protected groups allowed to claim asylum under U.S. law.
Why was Andry José Hernandez detained?
Hernandez initially tried crossing into the U.S. illegally and was intercepted by U.S. Border Patrol agents, who returned him to Mexico, according to court filings. He then presented himself at the San Ysidro Port of Entry in San Diego in August after making an appointment through a government app called CBP One.
Hernandez passed an initial “credible fear” interview with a federal agent but, after Border Patrol officials questioned him about his tattoos, he was transferred to ICE custody and sent to the Otay Mesa Detention Center in San Diego.
There, Torres questioned Hernandez. Torres filled out questionnaires suggesting the asylum-seeker’s tattoos, including a crown on either wrist, next to the words “Dad” and “Mom,” linked him to Tren de Aragua. Hernandez repeatedly denied being part of the group, and Paulina Reyes, a lawyer for Hernandez, has said the crown tattoos represent his connection to his hometown’s annual “Three Kings” festival.
On one form, dated Dec. 10, 2024, a points-based rubric sheet titled “STG MEMBER VALIDATION / CONFIRMATION,” Hernandez was given a “5” for his tattoos. None of the other categories, including “intelligence information received from other agencies” or “group photos” with other gang members, were checked. Still, he was named a “SUSPECT.”
The document is signed “Completed by” Torres and “Confirmed by” Cross.
The Justice Department says these accelerated deportations of alleged gang members who Trump says “invaded” the U.S. are allowed under the Alien Enemies Act. This 1798 law was previously only used during declared war times against other countries.
Where was Andry José Hernandez detained?
Hernandez was transferred to a federal detention center in Texas a few weeks after his review with Torres and Cross, around March 6, according to a court filing.
After this, he was sent to El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center, known as CECOT.
His lawyers haven’t heard from him since his arrival at CECOT.
How does ICE investigate if migrants have gang affiliations?
Former ICE acting director John Sandweg said ICE agents routinely investigate whether detained migrants had gang affiliations or criminal histories.
Historically, the gang designation was something made by a federal official and reviewed by supervisors before the allegation went in front of an immigration judge, he said. Even then, suspicion of gang alliance was something used to target or fast-track a migrant’s deportation – not the sole reason for their removal, Sandweg said.
“The idea that government contractors might be making that decision would be very alarming,” Sandweg said.
“People are being rendered to a torture prison on the basis of these flimsy and inaccurate determinations,” said Heidi Altman, vice president of policy at the National Immigration Law Center, an advocacy group. “Using private prison contractors to make those determinations is just another level of recklessness.”
Internal DHS and FBI documents previously obtained by USA TODAY revealed that federal authorities for years have questioned the effectiveness of using tattoos to identify members of Tren de Aragua, also known as TdA.
“Gang Unit collections determined that the Chicago Bulls attire, clocks, and rose tattoos are typically related to the Venezuelan culture and not a definite (indicator) of being a member or associate of the (TdA),” reads a 2023 “Situational Awareness” bulletin on the criminal gang written by the U.S. Custom and Border Protection’s El Paso Sector Intelligence Unit.
Who else has ICE detained recently?
Here are just some of the individuals ICE has detained in recent weeks, according to USA TODAY reports. None of them have a criminal record.
What to do if you or someone you know is detained by ICE:
Here is what to do if you are arrested or detained by ICE, according to the American Civil Liberties Union:
- Do not give any explanations or make any decisions without a lawyer present.
- If you have been arrested by police, you have the right to make a local phone call. The police cannot listen to your call if it is to a lawyer.
- If you have been detained by ICE, you have the right to contact your consulate, or have authorities inform the consulate of your detention.
- Give your immigration number (“A” number) to your family to help them locate you. Keep a copy of your immigration documents with someone you trust.
You can find additional information regarding your rights from the National Immigration Law Center here.
DES MOINES, Iowa – Goalie Matt Murray stopped 38 shots to lead the Milwaukee Admirals to a 5-0 win over the Iowa Wild on Wednesday, April 9 at Wells Fargo Arena.
What we know:
The win moved Milwaukee into sole possession of first place in the Central Division. The Admirals have 85 points through 69 games. Texas has 83 points in 67 games. Both teams have 9 points to clinch the division title.
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It was the Admirals’ final regular-season road game. Milwaukee finished with a 17-13-2-4 record.
The Admirals return to UW-Milwaukee Panther Arena on Saturday, April 12, to host Chicago.
The Source: The Milwaukee Admirals provided information.
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