Blogs

Migrant Justice packed the Vermont State House to demand Housing Access for Immigrant Families. The campaign against housing discrimination is heating up, as immigrants and allies rallied in the State House, legislators heard testimony, constituents flooded the phone lines, and over 1,600 of you sent emails to your senators and representatives.

The Housing Access proposal continues to move forward, with a pared down version having passed the Senate as part of a larger housing bill (S.127) and the full bill receiving multiple hearings in a House committee (H.169). There is serious momentum behind the campaign, but the bill is also running into roadblocks from banks, landlords, and those who want to preserve the ability to deny housing to immigrant families.

Take a moment to email your legislator today to demand Housing Access for Immigrant Families!

Read more to see the full photo-report from the State House action!

In recent months, we have reported out on a campaign this legislative session to expand housing access for immigrant families in Vermont. Migrant Justice has developed a proposal – supported by dozens of organizations and sponsored by over forty legislators – to stop discrimination against immigrants and prevent landlords from asking about immigration status.

We are excited to announce that the proposal is moving forward. A pared down version was included in a larger housing bill that passed out of the Senate and has moved on to the House of Representatives. And the proposal in its original form is now receiving hearings in a House committee.

Join us in the State House on 4/1 to rally for Housing Access for Immigrant Families! The day will kick off at 11am with a press conference, followed by an afternoon hearing starting at 1pm.

Read more to learn about the proposal for Housing Access for Immigrant Families!

Throughout the day on March 27th, hundreds of supporters will flood Hannaford's phone lines to urge the company to join Milk with Dignity. Make your call now!

Over the course of the Milk with Dignity campaign, Hannaford has received thousands of calls from customers in solidarity with the human rights of farmworkers. These calls – along with thousands of customer emails; endorsement letters from faith communities, shareholders, and civil society organizations; and dozens of farmworker-led protests – have forced Hannaford to respond.

Read more to get the full story and learn about the Hannaford consumer pledge!

End of day update: over 300 calls made!

In a few short weeks, Migrant Justice will return to the Netherlands – home of Hannaford Supermarket’s parent company – to bring the demand for Milk with Dignity to their doorstep. Multinational grocery giant Ahold Delhaize will hold its Annual General Meeting of company shareholders, and Migrant Justice will be in the room to call on the corporation to take accountability for the human rights violations in Hannaford’s dairy supply chain.

Read more to learn about the upcoming trip!

The Vermont legislature is considering a bill to expand housing access for immigrant families. Developed by Migrant Justice and supported by dozens of organizations and agencies, the proposal​​ would stop discrimination against immigrants and prevent landlords from asking about immigration status.

Vermont's legislators need to hear from you! Take a moment to email your Senators and Representatives to voice your support for Housing Access for Immigrant Families.

Read more to learn more about this campaign!

This has been a busy month for Migrant Justice. We are moving forward the fight for justice and human rights on all fronts, whether in the Vermont State House advancing a bill to expand housing access for immigrant families, in the press announcing the launch of the Building Dignity and Respect Program in the state’s construction industry, or on the streets responding to the increase in immigration surveillance and arrests.

Every day brings more news out of Washington of renewed attacks against immigrant rights. Employers take advantage of heightened fear and insecurity to abuse immigrant workers. At a local sawmill, for example, ten immigrant workers organized to demand long-promised raises and an end to abuses in employee housing; rather than meet with his employees, the boss summarily fired his workers and attempted to throw them out of their homes. And in the dairy industry, the need to expand Milk with Dignity to protect the rights of farmworkers has never been greater.

Today, supporters are making calls to Hannaford Supermarket to demand Milk with Dignity. Make your call now!

Read more to learn about more steps to support the campaign for Milk with Dignity!

End of day update: over 250 confirmed calls!

Vermont Construction Company – one of the largest and fastest-growing builders in the state – has committed to join a program setting labor and housing standards for construction workers. The Building Dignity and Respect Program will soon provide enforceable rights protections for the hundreds of workers on Vermont Construction sites.

On January 27th, dozens of construction workers gathered in the headquarters of Vermont Construction to witness the signing of the agreement of cooperation. Migrant Justice leader and construction worker José Ignacio, company president David Richards, and Doug Mork – Director of the Building Dignity and Respect Standards Council – addressed the assembled journalists and supporters. Then, to raucous applause, each worker passed to the front to add their name to the accord, signalling the community’s commitment to bring Building Dignity to Vermont. 

Read more to see the news coverage from the recent announcement and learn about how immigrant workers – from Florida, to Vermont, to Minnesota – made this possible!

Vermont Construction Company has signed an agreement of cooperation announcing its commitment to become the first Vermont builder to join a worker-driven program monitoring and enforcing labor and housing standards. The commitment will bring the Building Dignity and Respect Program to Vermont’s fast-growing construction industry and provide much-needed protections to a sector lacking in regulation.

Surrounded by workers and speaking at a signing ceremony outside the Colchester offices of Vermont Construction Company, Co-Founder David Richards said: “The Vermont Construction Company is proud to support efforts to improve the welfare of construction workers in Vermont. As an inaugural member, VCC has signed a formal Term Sheet and will help support a third-party auditor to review subcontractor pay, safety, and housing. We welcome the oversight and guidance of the Building Dignity and Respect Standards Council.”

José Ignacio, a construction worker, joined the owners of Vermont Construction Company at the podium. Speaking in Spanish, he lauded the commitment: “Vermont needs more construction workers to address the state’s housing crisis, but many of us who find work in the industry do not have the protections we need to keep ourselves safe or prevent abuse. We are glad that Vermont Construction is making this commitment to the workers on its projects, and we will join together to make sure that workers are treated with the respect and dignity that we all deserve.”

Read more to see the full announcement!

On January 10, Migrant Justice kicked off the 2025 legislative session in the Vermont State House by calling on elected officials to remove the discriminatory barriers that keep immigrant families stuck in substandard housing. 

Hundreds of immigrant families are moving to Vermont looking to make the state their new home. And increasingly, long-time dairy workers are moving off the farms and into new jobs in other industries. This often means moving out of employer-provided housing and looking for an apartment for the first time. But many landlords refuse to rent to workers and their families because of their immigration status, leaving them out in the cold. 

The difficulties that immigrant workers face finding housing are particularly cruel, given that many are working in the construction industry building housing themselves. At the State House press conference, former dairy worker and current construction worker José Ignacio illustrated the point.

“Every time we build a new house in Vermont, it brings me great pride to know we’ve put a roof above somebody’s head. It’s my dream, one day, that the houses that we are building are open for our own community to live in.”

Read more to get the whole story!

We face a difficult road ahead. The United States has ended an election cycle dominated by racist fear-mongering against immigrants with the election of a candidate promising mass deportations. The national climate of xenophobia is felt everywhere: one vigilante in a Vermont border town, for example, has recently become a local celebrity by documenting himself detaining groups of migrants and boasting on social media. 

Trump’s return to the White House will bring untold suffering to Migrant Justice’s community of immigrant farmworkers and to immigrant families around the country. Yet we are no strangers to discrimination, deportations, and the separation of families. Even before the election, Border Patrol had drastically increased its presence in the area, leading to more detentions of farmworkers, while ICE flaunted its own rules to deny due process and deport families. The criminalization of immigrant communities will take a new form, but it is not new.

Support immigrant farmworkers organizing to resist criminalization and deportation. Donate to Migrant Justice today!