Migrant Justice Justicia Migrante

On International Workers’ Day, farmworkers held a sixteen-hour picket of Hannaford Supermarket to demand Milk with Dignity. The campaign notched a new achievement, as Hannaford chose to close its Williston store hours early in the face of overwhelming pressure from farmworkers and allies.

Dairy workers spent May Day educating consumers about the systemic labor abuses in Hannaford’s supply chain and urging them not to cross the picket line. While past actions have proven successful in dropping stores’ sales – as hundreds of potential customers show their solidarity by turning away – May Day’s picket succeeded, for the first time, in closing the store itself. 

This is a powerful signal that so long as Hannaford continues to avoid responsibility for ensuring the rights and wellbeing of dairy workers in its supply chain, it will pay a higher and higher price. The company claims to want dialogue, yet they have not meaningfully come to the table to engage with farmworkers. The choice for Hannaford has never been more clear: join Milk with Dignity or face the consequences of inaction.

Read more for the full photo-report!

This Friday, farmworkers will lead an all-day picket of Hannaford Supermarket over labor abuses on farms supplying Hannaford-brand milk. Throughout the day outside of the Hannaford store in Williston, Vermont, workers and allies will call on consumers to respect the picket line and not shop at Hannaford. Together, we will show the supermarket chain that farmworkers and consumers are united demanding Milk with Dignity!

The action on International Workers Day comes on the heels of a recent trip to the Netherlands to participate in the shareholder meeting of Ahold Delhaize, Hannaford’s parent company. Migrant Justice brought the testimonies of dairy workers directly to Ahold’s CEO and Board of Directors – and into the company’s headquarters during a protest the following day. The pressure has forced a response, but more is needed to bring the $100 billion corporation to the table.

On International Workers’ Day, join farmworkers on the picket line at Hannaford in Williston any time from 7am-11pm to demand Milk with Dignity!

Read more for the full call to action!

Migrant Justice has returned from a week in the Netherlands, where we traveled to take the fight for Milk with Dignity to the corporate owners of Hannaford Supermarket. The visit marked a new set of achievements in the campaign, bringing us one step closer to expanding essential protections for farmworker rights. 

For years, farmworkers have called on Hannaford – one of the largest buyers of dairy in our region – to protect the rights of farmworkers in its supply chain by joining the Milk with Dignity Program. Thousands of workers and consumers have taken action to denounce abuses on farms supplying Hannaford-brand milk. As Hannaford has responded with denials and false solutions, farmworkers have expanded the campaign to its parent company, Ahold Delhaize, the Netherlands-based $100 billion grocery conglomerate.

The weeklong visit revolved around Ahold’s annual meeting of shareholders, where Migrant Justice representatives and allied investors shared farmworkers’ testimonies and demands directly with the company. While Ahold has not yet committed to join Milk with Dignity, the CEO and top executives repeatedly affirmed the importance of the issue and committed to dialogue with Migrant Justice.

Read more to see the full-photo report and press from the Netherlands’ delegation!

This week, Migrant Justice is taking action for Milk with Dignity on both sides of the Atlantic. A delegation is currently in the Netherlands, home of Hannaford Supermarket’s parent company Ahold Delhaize. And on Tuesday April 7th, another group will pay a visit to the headquarters of Ahold’s operations in the United States.

Tuesday’s event at the Ahold USA headquarters will mark the first time that Migrant Justice has taken action at the Quincy, MA offices. Farmworkers and allies will hold a press conference to demand that Ahold end the systemic human rights violations in its dairy supply chain.

April 7th at 1pm: join us in Quincy at the Ahold USA offices to demand Milk with Dignity!

Read more to learn about Migrant Justice’s trip to the Netherlands and take action to support Milk with Dignity!

In just one week, Migrant Justice will return to the Netherlands, home of Hannaford Supermarket’s parent company, to directly address corporate executives and directors. We will enter the annual shareholder meeting to share the stories of dairy workers enduring abuses on farms supplying milk to Hannaford Supermarket, to denounce Hannaford’s false solutions, and to urge the company to take action now by joining the worker-driven human rights program Milk with Dignity.

Add your voice today! Take a minute to call Hannaford President Mike Vail and demand Milk with Dignity!

Read more for an update on the Milk with Dignity campaign!

On March 11th, heavily armed ICE agents violently and illegally detained three community members in their home in South Burlington, Vermont. Agents broke down the door, entered with guns drawn, brutally handcuffed the non-resistant residents – including an 18-year-old U.S. citizen – and detained Cristian Jerez and sisters Johana and Camila Patin.

Following mass public outcry – and near constant rallies outside the Vermont federal courthouse last week – Johana, Cristian, and Camila have all been freed and reunited with their families. In orders releasing the three, federal judges excoriated ICE’s blatant constitutional abuses, writing in one ruling that they “had to confront the extraordinary context in which [the] arrest took place. The Government has adopted a policy of mass detention for immigrants despite the constitutional limitations on civil detention… [The] arrests are the product of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.” Judges concluded that “[o]nly immediate release could abate the constitutional harm.”

The sad reality is that arrests like these are not unique. Migrant Justice documented over 100 detentions of immigrant Vermonters last year, many of them violent and unlawful. Unconstitutional detentions have been the cornerstone of Trump’s national immigration policy. 

What was unique about 3/11 was not ICE’s unconstitutional policing but the mass community resistance to ICE’s assault – and the collaboration of state and local police aiding ICE in overcoming that community resistance.

Join Migrant Justice at the Vermont State House on Tuesday, 3/31 at 4:30pm. Speak out to say no to police collaboration with ICE in VT!

Read more to get the full story of the 3/11 ICE raid and learn about how police violated their own policy to aid ICE.

On Friday, March 20th, Camila won her release and walked out of the court a free woman. Camila had spent nine days in detention, separated from her family, following the brutal ICE raid of her home in South Burlington on March 11th. 

Camila's triumphant release caps a week of near constant rallies in support of detained community members. Hundreds of Vermonters spent hours chanting and singing in support of their neighbors' freedom – even withstanding yesterday's driving spring blizzard – and celebrated the releases of Camila, Cristian, and Johana, as well as of Jaime, a Winooski resident detained by ICE in a traffic stop the day before the South Burlington raid.

Now that all the detainees from the 3/11 ICE raid have been freed, the focus now turns to the fight for accountability. Read more for information on next steps!

We are thrilled to share two tremendous updates today, as the fight for immigrant rights continues to heat up in Vermont. Despite the increasing attacks from federal deportation agencies, Vermonters are organizing, standing up to ICE's abuses, and winning freedom for detained community members.

Cristian Andrade returned home today after winning release on immigration bond. He had been held behind bars since last Wednesday, when he and his housemates were violently detained by ICE. The detentions came at the end of a day-long standoff with hundreds of community members who had rallied in support of the besieged families. Cristian's case was initially heard by a federal judge on Monday and Tuesday before being sent to immigration court for a bond hearing. After hearing arguments from the attorneys for Cristian and ICE, the judge ordered his release on $10,000 bond.

Just hours later, another immigrant community member won his freedom as well. Jaime Castro Guaman walked out of the federal courthouse in Burlington, Vermont to a cheering crowd of family members and supporters. Jaime had been detained by ICE in South Burlington just one day before the highly publicized home raid that resulted in the detentions of Cristian, Johana, and Camila. Undercover ICE agents stopped Jaime on his way to work and detained him. Following the judge’s ruling, after nine days in detention, Jaime is once again a free man.

Read more to get the full story and take action in support of immigrant rights!

Johana is free and back with her family! She walked out the front doors of the Vermont Federal District Court yesterday into the open arms of hundreds of supporters. Through the organized solidarity of her community, Johana was ordered released after five arduous days in detention and was reunited with her partner and two young daughters.

The federal courthouse in Burlington has been the sight of nearly continuous protests this week. We sang, chanted, and testified for hours outside Johana's hearing, followed by hours more yesterday and today in similar hearings for Cristian. Unfortunately, the judge hearing Cristian's case declined to order his immediate release – despite a strong condemnation of ICE's tactics in last week's detention.

Read more for more information and a message from Cristian, sent from prison.

On March 11th, Vermont law enforcement agents leveraged state power to support federal immigration agents in what we believe to be a clear violation of the state’s Fair and Impartial Policing Policy. Together, police and immigration officers violently separated families, ripped immigrant Vermonters from their home, and attacked protestors who bravely stood in solidarity with their neighbors.

This marks a drastic escalation of longstanding patterns of human rights abuses and violence carried out against our community by local, state, and federal law enforcement. We demand the immediate release of Cristian Jerez Andrade, Camila Patin Patin, and Johana Patin Patin, as well as a thorough investigation into the officers’ misconduct and violations of Vermont’s Fair and Impartial Policing Policies. We also demand that any charges against protesters be dropped.

Read more for the full press release.