Guadalupe and Emanuel are free!

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.

Migrant Justice is organizing not only to free those in detention but to prevent ICE arrests before they happen. This week we held rallies on back-to-back days to support two community members – Guatemalan farmworker leader Wuendy Bernardo and Ugandan pastor and healthcare worker Steven Tendo – with appointments at the Vermont ICE office that could have led to their detention. Neither person was detained, and Wuendy won the reprieve from deportation that she has fought for for years!

Despite these heartening victories, the attacks on immigrant communities continue to escalate. Migrant Justice has documented dozens of ICE and Border Patrol arrests across Vermont so far this year – resulting in the detention of nearly 100 people – and this is likely just a fraction of the full number. Each detention and deportation represents a person traumatized, a family separated, and a community terrorized.

The movement needed to oppose the escalating encroachments on human rights in Vermont and across the country is bigger than any one organization. That’s why Migrant Justice has joined with community groups and labor unions to plan the Vermont People’s Summit, a daylong conference of panels and workshops, to build our collective power.

Join us on Saturday, October 25th, from 10am-7pm in Winooski for the People’s Summit!

p.s. Following the exciting recent announcement that Vermont Way Foods has joined the Milk with Dignity Program, the campaign for Hannaford Supermarkets to follow suit continues to pick up steam. Save the date 11/15 for the next Milk with Dignity day of action!