(C) Common Dreams
This story was originally published by Common Dreams and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .
Vermonters rally to demand the release of 2 migrant leaders [1]
['Austyn Gaffney', 'More Austyn Gaffney', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow', 'Class', 'Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus', 'Display Inline', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar', 'Where Img', 'Height Auto Max-Width', 'Vertical-Align Bottom .Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow .Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar']
Date: 2025-06-17
Supporters rally to protest the detention of two Migrant Justice activists, Jose Ignacio “Nacho” De La Cruz and Heidi Perez, outside of the Statehouse on Monday, June 16. Photo by Austyn Gaffney/VTDigger
Rossy Alfaro stood in front of the Vermont Statehouse on Monday evening and, in a voice choked with emotion, told hundreds of onlookers about the despair and rage she felt since immigration authorities detained her daughter and partner two days earlier.
“It is an injustice that they have been taken from me and it has shattered my heart into a million pieces,” said Alfaro, who is also spokesperson for Migrant Justice, a Burlington-based advocacy organization for migrant workers. “We want them back with us because no one should have to feel the pain that I am feeling now.”
On Saturday morning, her partner, 29-year-old Jose Ignacio De La Cruz, known as Nacho, and her daughter, 18-year-old Heidi Perez, drove to farms in Franklin County to deliver food, according to Will Lambek, a spokesperson for Migrant Justice.
“They were bringing food to members of their community who didn’t want to put themselves at risk leaving the farm to drive the streets and backroads of this state,” said Lambek. Many farm workers rely on people to bring them food in order not to leave their farms, he said in an interview earlier that evening.
They were driving home to Chittenden County on VT Route 105 in Richford when they were pulled over by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers. De La Cruz asked why they were pulled over and when the agent didn’t provide a reason, they exercised their right to remain silent, Lambek said Monday.
Within 10 minutes of stopping them, around 12:30 p.m., officers shattered the glass of the driver’s seat window, opened the door, and forcibly detained them, according to Lambek.
Ryan Brissette, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesperson, said the arrest near the U.S.–Canada border stemmed from “suspicious border activity.” He did not clarify what the suspicious activity was by the time of publication.
“The vehicle’s occupants refused to answer the agents’ questions, would not roll down the vehicle’s windows, and refused to comply with the agents’ lawful orders,” Brissette wrote in an email Tuesday. “Agents were forced to break a window to remove both occupants.”
They were brought to Richford Station and processed. De La Cruz is currently held in the Northwest State Correctional Facility in Swanton and Perez is being held at the Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility in South Burlington, according to the state prisoner locator.
Brissette said it was determined that both De La Cruz and Perez were citizens of Mexico and did not have a legal immigration status in the U.S., and therefore remained in custody pending removal proceedings.
“Border Patrol will continue to enforce the law,” Brissette wrote. “Those illegally present in the United States will be apprehended and will face consequences.”
Jose Ignacio “Nacho” de la Cruz with his son. Photo courtesy of Migrant Justice.
Marita Canedo, a Migrant Justice spokesperson, was on the phone with De La Cruz when he was arrested, she said at the rally Monday night.
“Nacho did everything that he knew to defend his rights,” Canedo said. Under every administration, she said, the treatment of immigrants is the same. “They want to put us in fear. They want to hide us,” she said.
Both De La Cruz and Perez are prominent leaders within Migrant Justice.
De La Cruz served on the Coordinating Committee, the principal leadership body of the advocacy organization. He was a leader in the Milk With Dignity campaign, a program demanding fair working conditions for dairy workers, after spending years working in the dairy industry, sleeping on wooden pallets and on tractors, according to friends and co-workers who spoke at the rally. His work has been central to immigrant rights legislation that passed through the Vermont Legislature, according to Migrant Justice, including a new law increasing housing access for immigrant families that was signed by Gov. Phil Scott on Thursday.
He now works as a worker-owner at New Frameworks, a Vermont-based sustainable construction company.
Perez was a frequent attendee at migrant rallies and marches and used her voice in the legislature to push for a 2024 law that ensures all students, regardless of immigration status, could access in-state tuition and need-based financial aid. She graduated from Milton High School a week before she was detained. She planned to attend Vermont State University in the fall, using the expanded opportunities and protections from the law she helped pass.
Pete Wyndorf, a teacher at Milton High School, said he and his colleagues strongly condemned her arrest, which they called “a kidnapping of a community member and the unjust treatment of individuals who have every right to be here.”
Heidi Perez at a rally for the Milk with Dignity campaign. Photo courtesy Migrant Justice.
De La Cruz and Perez filed petitions in federal district court, which accepted jurisdiction of their case, and issued temporary restraining orders against the government to prevent their transfer out of Vermont, Lambek said Monday.
“They’re asking for the judge to grant their release because of the unconstitutional nature of the detention,” Lambek said. “We certainly believe they have a strong claim and that that claim should prevail.”
Arrests of migrant residents have ramped up since President Donald Trump took office in January, including detainment of nine farm workers in April and the deportation of four. In May, four landscape workers and ten construction workers were also detained by Border Patrol agents in northern Vermont.
Rebecca Sheppard, a Montpelier resident retired from the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board, was among the ralliers on Monday.
“I’m worried about their safety, and I think they have the right to be here,” Sheppard said. She’d attended the No Kings Rally at the Statehouse Saturday in the capital city, the day De La Cruz and Perez were arrested.
The Saturday rally drew more than 1,000 people to the Statehouse, while 16,000 more showed up at the Burlington waterfront. They were part of more than 40 events held across Vermont to protest the Trump administration’s immigration policies, budget cuts, assault on medical rights, and protect democracy as President Trump held a military parade in Washington, D.C. on his 79th birthday.
This spring, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials boosted arrests through workplace raids in cities like Los Angeles that led to anti-ICE protests. In response, the Trump administration deployed U.S. Marines to one of the country’s biggest cities and commandeered the California National Guard. California Gov. Gavin Newsom is challenging the takeover in federal court.
The Trump administration has set a goal for immigration arrests at 3,000 per day, according to Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff. Over the past week, arrests by immigration officials shot up to 2,000 a day, detaining workers at restaurants, factories, farms, and other businesses like Home Depot.
Pushback from industry leaders led President Trump to abruptly pause raids this weekend, according to The New York Times, until Sunday night, when he again called on ICE to increase mass deportations in Democrat-led cities like Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York City.
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the administration’s plan to overhaul the federal budget including massive cuts to social services like Medicaid, would also increase immigration enforcement. Reconciliation provisions under the bill include funding one million annual migrant removals, hiring 10,000 new ICE personnel, and creating centers to detain at least 100,000 people per day. The bill would also create an asylum application fee. Instead of applying for free, individuals would need to pay $1,000.
In Montpelier, the personal impact of these policies could be seen as 10-year-old Regina, a friend of Perez, struggled to speak through her tears.
“Heidi is my friend, she is an inspiration to me,” said Regina, whose last name was withheld by organizers because she is a minor. “I hope one day I can grow up to be a fighter for rights like her.”
[END]
---
[1] Url:
https://vtdigger.org/2025/06/17/vermonters-rally-to-demand-the-release-of-two-migrant-leaders/
Published and (C) by Common Dreams
Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 3.0..
via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/commondreams/
