“Together we grow stronger every day. Join with Migrant Justice and fight for our rights!”

This past year has been one of the most difficult in the history of Migrant Justice. The Trump administration has escalated attacks on immigrant rights, brutalizing and terrorizing communities across the country. The assault is taking place in the courts, through policy changes, and in the streets.

Support immigrants organizing to stand up to Trump’s attacks. Donate to Migrant Justice today!

Vermont has not been exempt from this onslaught: we have seen a tenfold increase in detentions and deportations in the state since the inauguration. Over one hundred people in our community have been detained by ICE and Border Patrol through dozens of workplace raids, home arrests, and racial profiling traffic stops. Each detention is a person traumatized, a family separated, and a community terrorized.

But this is not simply a story of suffering. As attacks on immigrants have grown, so too has the community’s strength and resilience. At great personal risk, Migrant Justice leaders continue to organize for human rights. Cristian Santos, speaking at a rally over the summer, issued a courageous call for resistance:

“While ICE patrols the streets, they would have us cower in our homes, terrorized into submission. But we will not allow this government to criminalize us, detain us, and separate families. No human being is illegal. What is illegal is the dehumanization and criminalization of human beings. We are not alone, we are all part of the struggle for justice and dignity, and we must all move forward together.”

Migrant Justice has prepared for this moment with an infrastructure for community self-defense. We are reducing the risk of detention through extensive know-your-rights education, by providing accompaniment and support during court hearings and immigration appointments, and by creating a statewide rapid response network. This past year, we held dozens of trainings around the state, building a network of over 1,300 allies ready to mobilize to the site of immigration detentions.

When community members are detained, Migrant Justice is on the front lines fighting for their release. Through public campaigns and collaborations with legal partners, we have won freedom for immigrants in detention – farmworkers Max and José, father and son Guadaulpe and Emanuel, community leaders Nacho and Heidi, and many more – bringing them back home to their family and community. 

Following his triumphant release after weeks in detention, Nacho addressed supporters:

“Because you fought for our freedom with your whole hearts, I am back with you and in my community. Together we grow stronger every day. Join with Migrant Justice and fight for our rights. Sí se puede!”

Migrant Justice is not just fighting back; we are pressing forward. Remarkably, in this time of unprecedented attacks, we have won new protections for immigrant rights in Vermont. This legislative session, Migrant Justice crafted a proposal to combat discrimination and create more housing opportunities, built a statewide coalition to support the bill, and provided powerful testimony to lawmakers. 

Despite fierce resistance from landlords, banks, and anti-immigrant legislators, we won. In June, the Housing Access for Immigrant Families proposal was signed into law. 

These groundbreaking protections took effect on the same day as Vermont’s Education Equity Act, won through a Migrant Justice campaign the year before. Through this law, immigrant students at Vermont colleges and universities now have access to the same tuition rates and financial aid as their classmates, putting higher education within reach.

Heidi Perez, detained alongside her stepfather Nacho just one week after graduating from high school, had been one of the principal leaders behind the bill’s passage. From prison, she penned an op-ed in newspapers across the state about the law and her dreams for higher education. Now freed from detention after a mass community campaign, Heidi is accomplishing her dreams – and taking advantage of the hard-fought rights guaranteed by the law she helped pass – as a freshman in college.

Meanwhile, the Milk with Dignity Program – created by farmworkers to improve labor and housing conditions – continues to transform the dairy industry. Milk with Dignity is set to expand through an agreement with organic brand Vermont Way Foods to launch a new dairy line. And we are poised to extend the groundbreaking successes of Milk with Dignity into the construction industry through the Building Dignity and Respect Program, creating labor protections for hundreds of construction workers. 

These victories have not been easy, and they would not have happened without the support of thousands of donors like you. We know that the attacks will continue to escalate in the coming years, but with your support, Migrant Justice will remain a beacon of hope in dark times. 

We invite you to join us in preparing for the struggles ahead by making a donation to Migrant Justice today.

p.s. sustainable foodservice packaging company World Centric has generously offered to match all Giving Tuesday contributions, up to $15,000. Donate now to double your impact! 

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