Migrant Justice Justicia Migrante

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.

Despite the unceasing attacks from Trump’s deportation agencies, workers are courageously continuing to organize for dignified working and housing conditions in the dairy industry. 

After last year’s agreement with organic brand Vermont Way Foods to create a new “Cheese with Dignity” product (on shelves soon!), farmworkers are redoubling calls on Hannaford Supermarket to join the program. Together, workers and consumers can hold Hannaford responsible for ensuring dignified treatment in its dairy supply chain.

Join with campaign supporters today to call Hannaford and demand Milk with Dignity. Make your call now!

Read more to get the latest on the Milk with Dignity campaign!

End of day update: 275+ calls made!

The last two months have seen a surge of activity, both from the murderous paramilitary forces of ICE and Border Patrol attacking communities, and from the inspiring responses of those same communities to organize in self-defense. From Minnesota to Maine – and here in Vermont – federal deportation agencies continue to persecute immigrants at unprecedented levels while encountering new forms of resistance at every turn.

The popular pressure against Trump’s attacks is having an impact. On Friday, the U.S. Senate blocked continued funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Migrant Justice has been meeting with Vermont’s congressional delegation in recent weeks to urge an end to funding for ICE and Border Patrol. We applaud last week’s vote against these abusive agencies.

The DHS shutdown – while not immediately halting immigration enforcement – is a step in the right direction and puts the focus squarely where it belongs: the outrageous levels of funding for these lawless agencies. Rather than falling into the trap of negotiating symbolic or counterproductive “reforms” like body cameras, Migrant Justice calls on elected officials to hold the line and ensure that not another dollar goes to ICE and Border Patrol.

Read more to learn about our legislative agenda and the responses to recent detentions in Vermont.

As 2025 comes to a close, we want to share a photo-report from one final farmworker-led action for human rights. In November, as temperatures plunged, farmworkers and allies once again hit the picket line to demand Milk with Dignity.

Immigrant farmworkers set up pickets in front of three Hannaford stores over the course of the day, calling on the supermarket chain to address the human rights abuses in its dairy supply chain by joining the worker-led Milk with Dignity Program. As farmworkers and allies picketed in front of stores, potential Hannaford customers turned around rather than cross the picket line. While workers picketed the stores, Hannaford’s sales dropped by over 20%.

Read more to see the full photo-report on the Migrant Justice website from November’s day of action!

This past year has been one of the most difficult in the history of Migrant Justice. The Trump administration has escalated attacks on immigrant rights, brutalizing and terrorizing communities across the country. The assault is taking place in the courts, through policy changes, and in the streets.

Vermont has not been exempt from this onslaught: we have seen a tenfold increase in detentions and deportations in the state since the inauguration. Over one hundred people in our community have been detained by ICE and Border Patrol through dozens of workplace raids, home arrests, and racial profiling traffic stops. Each detention is a person traumatized, a family separated, and a community terrorized.

But this is not simply a story of suffering. As attacks on immigrants have grown, so too has the community’s strength and resilience. At great personal risk, Migrant Justice leaders continue to organize for human rights. Cristian Santos, speaking at a rally over the summer, issued a courageous call for resistance:

“While ICE patrols the streets, they would have us cower in our homes, terrorized into submission. But we will not allow this government to criminalize us, detain us, and separate families. No human being is illegal. What is illegal is the dehumanization and criminalization of human beings. We are not alone, we are all part of the struggle for justice and dignity, and we must all move forward together.”

Support immigrants organizing to stand up to Trump’s attacks. Donate to Migrant Justice today!

Then read more for the full 2025 Migrant Justice fund appeal!

The recent call-in day to Hannaford headquarters was a big success! Hundreds called the office of president Mike Vail, leaving messages demanding Milk with Dignity. Throughout the campaign, thousands of supporters have made calls to the grocery chain to show their support for farmworker rights.

Mike Vail isn’t the only one feeling pressure this week. His bosses at Hannaford’s parent company – multinational Ahold Delhaize – are feeling the heat, too, thanks to a new blockbuster exposé in news journal De Correspondent. The article pulls back the curtain on the shocking labor abuses in Hannaford’s dairy supply chain, revealing that the $100 billion Dutch company (nearly three times bigger than Dutch institution Heineken, for example) is getting rich off labor practices that would be illegal in the Netherlands.

Read more for excerpts of the stunning article and details on the upcoming pickets at Hannaford stores!