Migrant Justice Justicia Migrante

The past few weeks have seen some big advances in the Milk with Dignity campaign. Following the new agreement with Vermont Way Foods, pressure continues to mount on Hannaford Supermarket to get with the program.

This spring, Hannaford’s parent company Ahold Delhaize conceded to years of farmworkers’ courageous denunciations of abuses in the company’s dairy supply chain by commissioning an independent human rights investigation. Migrant Justice recently hosted the investigators charged with looking into labor violations, connecting them with workers on farms supplying Hannaford-brand milk. Farmworkers were unanimous in calling on the company to address systemic human rights violations by joining the Milk with Dignity Program. The investigators now head back to Europe to submit their report to the company.

Stand with farmworkers on Saturday, 11/15. Join the Milk with Dignity pickets of Hannaford Supermarket in Morrisville (10am-12pm), South Burlington (1-3pm), or Middlebury (4-6pm) – or come along for all three!

Read more to learn about the upcoming Milk with Dignity Day of Action!

On August 27th, undercover ICE agents pulled over Guadalupe and Emanuel in their painter’s van in South Burlington, VT. Even though the agents were looking for someone else, they detained the father and son, sending them halfway across the country to a detention center in Michigan.

Thousands of you sprang into action, signing petitions and marching to denounce the arrests and call for their release. And the community support worked! Last week, an immigration judge ordered Guadalupe and Emanuel’s release. After six weeks behind bars, the two are now back in Vermont with their family and community.

Read more to get the full story!

On October 3rd – the anniversary of the launch of the Milk with Dignity Program – we shared an exciting announcement. After years of behind-the-scenes work, local brand Vermont Way Foods premiered a new dairy line sourced in partnership with Milk with Dignity!

The announcement has been making waves in the dairy world and hitting the headlines. The local NBC News affiliate noted “Vermont Way Foods partners with Migrant Justice to promote organic dairy,” while the region’s largest newspaper, The Addison Independent, ran an article titled “Milk with Dignity program expands with cheese product.” Coverage was syndicated nationally to Yahoo! News and MSN.

Read more to get the full story and see more news coverage of the Milk with Dignity expansion!

Farmworkers and dairy entrepreneurs gathered on October 3rd in Middlebury, VT to celebrate a partnership between dairy workers and Vermont Way Foods. The local, organic produce brand will soon launch a new cheese in collaboration with the Milk with Dignity Program. The “Cheese with Dignity” line will be sold at stores around the region.

As part of the agreement between Vermont Way Foods and Migrant Justice, conditions in the product’s dairy supply chain will be monitored for compliance with worker-defined labor standards. The Program’s Code of Conduct sets standards for wages, hours, health & safety, and housing conditions, and creates enforceable protections against discrimination, retaliation, and violence. Vermont Way Foods will pay a premium to invest in improved farmworker wages and working conditions. 

Read more to see the full photo-report from the event and signing ceremony!

End of day update: over 250 calls made!

In our last post, we shared with you news about an exciting partnership with Vermont Way Foods to expand the Milk with Dignity Program. In the coming months, cheese bearing the Milk with Dignity logo will be sold in stores around the region. This coming Friday – the eighth anniversary of the first agreement with Ben & Jerry’s – we will be celebrating the partnership with a pre-launch product tasting!

The entrance of a new company into the Milk with Dignity Program highlights the continued failure of Hannaford Supermarket to take responsibility for abuses and human rights violations in its dairy supply chain. As one of the largest dairy buyers in the Northeast, Hannaford has a tremendous opportunity to drive positive change in the industry by joining the Milk with Dignity Program.

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

On October 3rd, 2017 dairy workers and corporate executives at Ben & Jerry’s joined together for a historic occasion. After years of farmworkers urging the global ice cream brand to join the Milk with Dignity Program, the two sides signed a contract in front of the company’s flagship scoop shop. This represented the first time that a dairy company entered into an agreement with the farmworkers in its supply chain and led to the launch of the Milk with Dignity Program.

In an exciting development, through a new partnership with Vermont Way Foods, Milk with Dignity is set to expand! Co-owned by four non-profit food hubs across the state, Vermont Way Foods has brought locally-grown, organic produce to a regional market since 2022. The brand is soon to launch a new cheese, to be found in stores this fall.

Read more to get the full story!

10/19 Update: Followng a public campaign denouncing their arrest and calling for their release, Guadalupe and Emanuel are free and back in Vermont! Read more!

Guadalupe and Emanuel Diaz are imprisoned in an immigration detention center after being pulled off the street by ICE in South Burlington, VT. On August 27th, plainclothes agents pulled over the father and son while driving the van of the painting company where they work. Even though ICE was apparently looking for someone else, Guadalupe and Emanuel were detained and are now facing possible deportation.

The ICE detention of Guadalupe and Emanuel is just one of dozens of immigration arrests carried out across Vermont since the start of the Trump administration. While ICE and Border Patrol have surveilled, detained, and deported immigrants in the state under previous administrations, detentions and deportations have reached unprecedented levels in recent months – and are continuing to escalate. 

Guadalupe and Emanuel must be freed! Sign the petition to tell the immigration judge to release the father and son, so they can return to their family and community in Vermont.

Read more to get the full story, or sign below!

Nacho and Heidi are free! After nearly a month behind bars following an unjust and illegal Border Patrol detention, they are back where they belong: with their family, their community, and in the struggle for human rights.

This tremendous victory is the direct result of people power. Together, we stood up to Trump’s machinery of mass deportation. Thousands of you wrote to ICE denouncing the arrest, and hundreds of you turned out to demand their release. From an emergency protest at the Border Patrol barracks on the day of their detention, to rallies at the Vermont State House and the Federal Court, we said together: “Not one more deportation!”

Read more to see quotes from Nacho and Heidi celebrating their release!

Heidi and Nacho have won their freedom and will soon be released, after nearly a month behind bars. The two Migrant Justice leaders received hearings in immigration court today, resulting in a judge granting them bond and ordering their release.

This result would not have been possible without the hundreds who took action at protests across Vermont denouncing the detentions and the thousands who sent messages to ICE demanding their release. Rossy Alfaro, mother to Heidi, partner to Nacho, and leader in Migrant Justice celebrated the outcome: 

“Today, we showed that our unity makes us strong. We won't be defeated. And every day, the Migrant Justice community grows even stronger. Together, we will continue to fight to ensure that injustices like the one my family is suffering from won't happen to others. We won't allow our families to be separated."

Read more to get the full story!