Posted on 01/22/2018 2:16:57 PM PST by GreyHoundSailor
Immigration and Customs and Enforcement raided a Days Inn hotel in Colchester last Thursday in the first sweep of migrant workers in Vermont.
ICE detained 14 construction workers, according to Will Lambek of Migrant Justice, a group that supports undocumented workers.
The raid was conducted at 5 a.m. on Jan. 18. Lambek said other construction workers who were not included in the sweep notified Migrant Justice.
The migrants were working for a contracting firm in the area. Lambek did not release information about the company for fear of jeopardizing other workers.
Lambek said the raid “was out of scale” for Vermont and the timing puts the discussion about protecting immigrants who have had protected status under Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals in sharp relief.
VTDigger reached out to ICE for confirmation of the raid, but a message from a regional spokesperson said that the agency’s public affairs officers will not be working for the duration of the government shutdown.
Gov. Phil Scott said Monday morning he was not aware of the raid.
“Obviously I have great concern about the overreach of the federal government in some respects and the direction we’re moving,” he said. “And while we have to protect our citizens, our border and so forth, there’s got to be a path forward. We here in Vermont are desperate for workers. So I think that’s unfortunate, for those that are here safely and peacefully. I have concerns.”
Darcy Church, general manager of the Days Inn, said the workers staying at the motel but were not doing construction work there.
“We didn’t hire them, they were guests. They could have been guests anywhere,” she said.
Church was not there at the time of the raid.
“It wasn’t a big deal here from the motel’s perspective. They just came in and went up to the rooms where those people were staying and got them out,” she said.
Colchester Police Chief Jennifer Morrison said the department had “no knowledge” of the event until Monday. The department did not collaborate with ICE at all on the enforcement action, she said.
“We were not involved in it,” she said.
Immigration enforcement actions have expanded under the Trump administration. Earlier this month, ICE carried out sweeps in nearly 100 7-Eleven stores across the country.
The administration has also vowed to crack down on so-called “sanctuary” policies some cities and states have that restrict local police from working with the federal government to enforce immigration laws.
In November, Vermont was among 29 jurisdictions the U.S. Department of Justice threatened to cut funding to over policies limiting law enforcement contact with federal immigration authorities.
Jay Diaz, a lawyer for the Vermont ACLU, said “We’re pretty shocked that there would be raids like this in Vermont like there have been in other parts of the country. We’re still trying to gather information about why this happened, but it’s clear the Trump administration is taking a very draconian approach to immigration enforcement and in doing so focusing on people who are just out there try to make a living.”
Diaz said he hopes Vermonters speak out against this type of activity and hold public officials accountable.
“We should seek to end any assistance that we may be providing to immigration agencies becasue it’s clear that they are not good actors [ICE],” Diaz said. They are looking to disrupt and intimidate our residents and apparently our government officials.”
Diaz called on public officials to condemn the raids and other ICE activities, including immigration checkpoints on I-91 near White River Junction and the practice of boarding greyhound buses asking riders to provide passports and drivers licenses.
“We’ve heard several times about border patrol agents boarding buses going through White River Junction and asking for papers,” Diaz said. “That’s not the kind of country we are are.”
Yep.
Undocumented on the farm: Inside the life of a Vermont migrant dairy worker"
ACTION NOW----Call President Trump:
Comments: 202-456-1111 Switchboard: 202-456-1414
CONTACT CONGRESS: Capitol Switchboard 1-866-220-0044
Contact Jeff Sessions
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530-0001
Comment Line: 202-353-1555
Switchboard: 202-514-2000
TALKING POINTS: This border relocation gambit is cunningly structured
to target strategic electoral college states. (hat tip ednamode). Pass the word.
OPPORTUNITY
Socialists angry that their slave labor is being taken away?
Yes, and this end of slave labor is creating boundless opportunities for parents and their children.
Encourage your children to check out nearby farms. Contract out. Grab your own plot. Check out the new opportunuties.
New future business opportunities for your kids or you too.
End of slave labor creates real opportunity.
Most likely.
Memo
To: illegals
Stay in Vermont and get deported
We know where you are
Deputy Director of Communications
ICE
Thanks for posting. A very interesting (and disgusting) article. HOORAY Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Until the people hiring the illegals are punished in some way, It will never get better.
Since when is construction a job Americans won’t do?
Thanks for the Somali info,I was not aware of that. Very interesting.
.
If they are here illegally, they’re fair game! Break the law - face the consequences.
“Obviously I have great concern about the overreach of the federal government..”...........
“Overreach”? The feds were doing their job so “concern” that you ass.
“.......the workers staying at the motel but were not doing construction work there. “We didn’t hire them, they were guests.”......
If the Days Inn housed them and new they were illegals, GUILTY AS CHARGED!
More winning.
It’s the sort of country we are. I’m a third generation Border Patrol/Immigration family. This has been a standard Border Patrol procedure for decades, dating back to the 1930’s.
Vermont has been overwhelmed in the Legislature by the self-loathing liberals from NY, NJ, MA, CT. They’re constantly trying to turn us into a third world Schumerhole. Every single year we have to fight off the Bloomberg babies trying to change our gun laws, and this year is no exception.
It is the. “Do as we say,not as we do.” state.
An almost 100% white state.<<
Hence...it’s liberal...
Probably turned in by local contractors who were screwed out of the business by the contractor i
hiring the illegals.
Thanks for that reminder. Legals/liberals/socialist scum and their hidden-agenda advocates pouring over the border. Lunatic lineage.
I presume that everything here was done according to due process, and that no other guests were harassed as a result of this “raid”...
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