Given recent immigration enforcement actions in Los Angeles, Chicago and particularly Minneapolis, Vermont advocates and legislators are calling for protections to be enshrined in state law.
“No one is safe. Not immigrants, not innocent children, not even citizens.
State Rep. Leonora Dodge, a Democrat from Essex and Essex Junction, said she and her constituents have been horrified by recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions across the nation.
“As a Latina legislator, I know personally how fear and uncertainty ripple through immigrant families when enforcement crosses the line into abuse. My friends and family are afraid.”
As a result, Dodge has helped draft legislation to protect state residents from federal actions. She outlined these proposals during a “No Secret Police” press conference at the State House in Montpelier this week.
“The bills include requiring law enforcement to be clearly identifiable, strengthening protections against vigilantes impersonating immigration agents, keeping ICE out of our schools, health facilities and libraries and guaranteeing access to legal counsel for people facing deportation. Our constituents have been loud and clear: defend Vermont from the chaos and violence of federal assaults on immigrants, on their allies and on anyone unlucky enough to land in the middle of ICE operations.”
State Sen. Tanya Vyhovsky, a Progressive and Democrat from the Chittenden Central District, says her chamber has introduced similar legislation.
“We believe from the testimony from a constitutional law professor at Columbia that we do have the right to do this. We do not have the right to say only federal law enforcement, but we do have the right to say all law enforcement. We are working to continue crafting that language so it is as strong and protective and as defensible as possible because in Vermont we do not want secret police.”
The Senate also plans to expand the list of sensitive locations in Vermont, where civil arrests without a judicial warrant are prohibited. Vyhovsky said she is frustrated about how little the state can do, but says she and other members of the Judiciary Committee are determined to protect residents.
“We will not let our civil rights be eroded upon. We will not let our neighbors be rounded up and sent to concentration camps. We will not allow the death of democracy and the erosion of the rule of law because this brave little state says no to hate, says no to white supremacy and says no to extrajudicial secret police.”
Wednesday’s event at the State House drew dozens of people – support that Falco Schilling, Advocacy Director for the ACLU of Vermont, said he was overwhelmed to see.”
“We have all seen the images coming out of Minnesota and around the country of heavily armed and unidentified federal agents ignoring basic human rights and violently targeting people based on the color of their skin, their accents, or because they simply exercise their First Amendment rights. We are here today to say enough is enough. Vermont can and will act to protect our communities.”
Sen. Becca White, a Democrat from Windsor County, said ICE activity hits close to home. She was with Mohsen Mahdawi, a Columbia University student and legal resident of Vermont and the United States, when he was detained by ICE last April.
“I'm really, really angry. A few months ago, I had a friend who was detained by ICE when we were outside of his citizenship interview. And when I asked the men with masks, and I said I'm a state senator, who are you? They said, I don't need to tell you who I am. It was shocking to me that even in a position of privilege when I demanded information, I was told I don't have to do that.”
Olga Cruz is an immigrant worker and leader with Migrant Justice. Speaking through an interpreter, she urged support of the House and Senate bills.
“I want to be treated with the fairness and justice that I deserve. I want to be able to live and travel freely, to go to church, to go to the store, to bring my children to school or to a park. I want to be treated just like the human being that I am.”
The Senate Judiciary Committee and the House Committee on Corrections and Institutions are currently taking testimony on the bills.
