Vermont Governor Phil Scott’s weekly briefing today focused on the state legislature’s lack of progress on his priorities. The Republican was also bombarded with questions about the state’s role in ICE detentions.
Scott began his briefing noting that he had outlined four priorities for the legislature to act on this session. The Republican in February laid out his goals for education, public safety, housing and affordability.
“I didn’t just ask the Legislature to talk about them, I asked them to make real progress. And now that we’re well into the session it’s important to make sure the incremental progress we’ve made turn into bills I can actually sign into law,” Scott said. “First, education. It still needs a substantial amount of work. Next, public safety. I want to thank the Senate Judiciary Committee for moving some important bills which are part of our public safety package and hope the House Judiciary Committee will move the bills as quickly as possible. We’ve also seen some progress in the energy and affordability policy areas, but not enough.”
Democrats in the Vermont House last week passed their own version of an education reform plan. Key elements include a funding formula based on the cost to educate a student; a method to update school district boundaries and greater oversight of the Agency of Education.
As Governor Scott continues to push for policy change, the Republican faced questions about policy changes and immigration enforcement under President Trump.
In the aftermath of the detention of Columbia University student and protester Mohsen Mahdawi outside a Colchester immigration center on Monday, Scott faced numerous questions about agreements between Vermont and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, that allows the federal agency to hold federal detainees in state-owned Vermont prisons.
The state Senate Pro-Tem and other legislators have asked the governor to cancel the ICE contract. Scott noted that the contract stipulates that it would take 120 days to cancel and regardless would be an impractical choice.
“I get the frustration that people are feeling. People want to do something about what they’re seeing happening, not just in our state but across the country. So they see this as an opportunity to at least take some action. I mean, I’ve considered that but is it going to have the effect that we want?” Scott asked. “If you eliminate the contract, you cancel the contract, then what? Does it mean it stops people from being detained? No, it doesn’t. Are they just sent someplace else that maybe they’re not as safe as here? Yeah.”
Scott offered his thoughts about people being taken by masked agents with unmarked cars and no insignias on uniforms and expressed concerns about a loss of fundamental rights.
“It just seems out of character for us here in the US. This is something I would see in another country that doesn’t appreciate freedom like we do and transparency and it just seems counter to everything we believe in. Our country was founded on basic principles like freedom and due process and exercising our rights to free speech and so forth. So I worry about the erosion of that and what could be happening as a result,” mused Scott.
On Monday, US District Court Judge William Sessions ordered Mahdawi not be taken out of the country or the state pending further court action. As of Tuesday he was reportedly being held at Northwest State Correctional Facility in St. Albans. The ICE contract with Vermont ends in August.
