Photo-report from State House action demanding Housing Access for Immigrant Families
Posted Sat, 04/05/2025 - 12:48pm
Migrant Justice packed the Vermont State House this past week 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.
In response to the bill’s advances, the Vermont Landlord Association has sent out a call to action in opposition to Housing Access for Immigrant Families. The alert tells landlords that the bill “would require you to rent to” immigrants regardless of status and calls this protection against discrimination “problematic.” Elected officials are hearing from the opposition; now they need to hear from you!
On April 1st, immigrant families rallied in the halls of the State House before filling a committee room to testify in favor of H.169. As Migrant Justice leaders and organizational allies spoke on the need for protections against discrimination, supporters watched a livestream of the hearing in an overflow room, and legislative pages delivered phone messages to the committee chairman from those outside the State House calling in their support. The day’s events generated widespread press coverage, with stories appearing around the region in newspapers, online, on TV, and over the radio.
Check out the photos below to see more!
Migrant Justice leader Cristian Santos kicked off the State House rally laying out the need for the legislation: “It is urgent and necessary that Vermont take action to erase these impractical and unjust discriminatory barriers to housing access for the immigrant community. It is past time for Vermont to act to stop these practices which place us in vulnerable positions to abuse of our human rights.”
“The right to a home” The event brought together immigrant families from around the state. As new families move to Vermont, they are denied housing by landlords who require a Social Security number or otherwise discriminate. This pushes people into industries with employer-provided housing, putting them at greater risk of abuse.
Farmworker leader Olga Cruz addressed the crowd: “Let’s be honest with ourselves. Vermont is reliant on immigrant workers to continue growing as a state…. [But] not having a social security number is treated like a scarlet letter. Wherever we go, whenever we try to find housing, we’re denied.”
Wafic Faour, a landlord with multiple properties around the state, spoke in support of the measure. Pulling from his own background as a Palestinian refugee, Wafic spoke of the need for landlords to rent without discrimination: “There is a mistake from our leaders, state level and federal level. They think of the migrants as a problem we have to solve. As a matter of fact, the migrants are a solution for problems that have existed here. So for that, I hope that H.169 will pass.”
The rally concluded with Representative Leonora Dodge, H.169’s primary sponsor, calling for the bill’s passage: “When Migrant Justice says that we are in desperate need of a legislative change, this body needs to listen, both chambers and the Governor.”
Following the rally, supporters packed a committee room, where Representatives took testimony on the bill. Roughly fifty supporters filled an overflow room to watch the livestream of the hearing. Leading the testimony, José Ignacio shared his own family’s history facing housing discrimination. A construction worker, he noted for the committee: “Whenever I finish building a house, I take great pride knowing that because of my work, a family will now have a roof over their heads…. It is my sincere hope that one day, the homes that we are building will one day be accessible for our own community.”
“A Social Security number should not be a barrier” At the hearing’s end, community members gathered outside the committee room to speak with lawmakers and urge passage of Housing Access for Immigrant Families.