Hojun Choi
Montpelier residents who stood in the way of ICE officers to prevent a raid in South Burlington last week say they’re left with questions about what more can be done locally in response to federal immigration enforcement activity.
Carly Abrams, who lives in Montpelier, said the experience broke her trust in local law enforcement.
“Any hope I had that Vermont police would be different, that things would be different because it’s Vermont, was just shattered,” Abrams said.
The hours-long faceoff on March 11 was the most public and direct confrontation activists in the state have had with law enforcement. On March 13, hundreds of people marched in Burlington in protest of the raid.
Federal agents have detained three people — none of whom were named in the warrant related to the South Burlington property, according to a VTDigger report. Additionally, multiple protesters were taken into custody, Seven Days has reported.
Vermont-based immigrant advocacy organization Migrant Justice has identified the three people detained as Christian Jerez-Andrade, 31; Camila Patin Patin, 20; and Johana Patin Patin, 31; and called for their release. The organization is also pushing for an investigation into the raid, citing a possible breach of the state’s policy on fair and impartial policing.
A federal judge on March 16 released Johana Patin Patin, who is from Ecuador and is seeking asylum, according to a Seven Days report. As of press time March 17, the other two people who were detained remained in custody.
Mal Seegal of Montpelier, who also stood alongside anti-ICE demonstrators near Dorset Street in South Burlington, said they think the policy was “weaponized” by local police officers who were present during the raid.
“They choose when they don’t participate,” Seegal said. “They chose not to participate when ICE and state police were beating people up and kidnapping them.”
In separate news releases, South Burlington and the Vermont State Police have said their departments were not given prior notice about the March 11 federal immigration enforcement operation. Vermont State Police have confirmed ICE agents “deployed flash-bang devices and chemical agents” to break up the crowd as a law enforcement vehicle was trying to leave the area.
Gov. Phil Scott has described federal agents’ actions on March 11 as “unnecessary.”
“The actions of federal law enforcement, from outside the state yesterday, further demonstrates a lack of training, coordination, leadership, and outdated tactics which put both peaceful protesters and Vermont law enforcement in a difficult situation,” Scott said in a statement.
Montpelier resident Maya Faulstich-Hon recalled how she heard explosions going off near her feet and people scattering to flee from the chemical irritants being sprayed in the air by law enforcement.
Faulstich-Hon, who was wearing protective equipment on her face, said she was able to provide aid to those around her. She said she did not see any police officers trying to help people who were injured.
“Burlington police insisted that they were there to protect protesters, to protect the right of people to protest, but that’s not what I saw or experienced,” Faulstich-Hon said. “It seemed like they were very clearly there to keep protesters back from interfering with ICE activity.”
Faulstich-Hon said she hopes to see more Montpelier elected officials support state legislation that would provide more local protections against federal immigration enforcement actions.
“I would very much want to see city leaders speaking out and supporting more Vermont-specific measures to ensure the safety of everybody who lives here, regardless of their citizenship status,” Faulstich-Hon said.
Aaron Wagener, who moved to Montpelier about nine months ago, said he grew up in Burlington. Wagener said he was with a group of anti-ICE activists toward the back of the Dorset Street home when state and federal officers entered the house through the front of the property.
“We could hear the scuffles and the banging and screaming inside the house as they were going around grabbing people and taking them out of the house,” Wagener said.
As the commotion unfolded behind him, Wagener, who is Jewish, said he was reminded of some of the horrific stories about the Holocaust he’d heard while growing up.
Wagener said he thinks more needs to be done at the local level to take a stronger stance against what he sees as overt human rights violations. The 31-year-old is also the co-president of Apartheid-Free Montpelier.
“I think there aren’t really any circumstances in which Vermont state troopers and local police should be collaborating with ICE, and I think we as community members in Montpelier need to be ready to stand up to them in any way we need to,” Wagener said.
