ACLU statement on ICE enforcement activity in South Burlington

Yesterday, an ICE enforcement action in South Burlington resulted in multiple vehicle collisions and a protracted standoff involving Vermont State Police, local law enforcement, federal agents, and hundreds of people who gathered in protest.

Bystander footage shows dozens of masked state and federal agents wearing tactical gear and using physical force on protesters. Law enforcement officials appear to have deployed chemical agents to disperse protesters over the course of the afternoon and evening, though VSP officially downplayed its role and denied deploying any chemical agents.

James Lyall, Executive Director, ACLU of Vermont: “Yesterday’s events in South Burlington show us once again that ICE makes our communities less safe, as a majority of Americans now recognize. Extensive footage demonstrates that federal agents, aided by Vermont’s own law enforcement agencies, turned a peaceful residential area into a war zone. Our thoughts are with our neighbors who have been directly impacted by yet another example of reckless state violence in our communities.

“The fact that masked state and local police were involved in this operation is deeply concerning – that fact and contradictory statements by law enforcement leaders warrant close scrutiny by state policymakers. Vermont’s legislature is considering multiple bills that would address these kinds of dangerous attacks on our communities and bring more accountability to lawless federal agencies, and we urge the Governor, the Attorney General, and the legislature to support their swift passage this year.

“Additionally, we continue to call on Congress to rein in ICE and Border Patrol by discontinuing the obscene levels of funding we have witnessed for many years and putting an end to the culture of abuse and impunity that has been tolerated for too long.”

Bills under consideration by the legislature that would address many of the concerning actions seen last night and the harms being caused by the federal campaign of mass deportation include:

• H.849 – the Constitutional Accountability Act to allow for lawsuits against government officials, including federal agents, for constitutional violations

• H.742 – an act to require access to legal counsel for people detained for civil immigration offenses

• S.208 – an act to require proper identification of law enforcement officers

• S.209 – an act to limit enforcement of civil immigration offenses in sensitive locations

• S.227 – an act to improve protections and protocols related to immigration enforcement in schools

S.208 and S.209 have passed the Senate; H.849 and S.227 are up on the House and Senate floors for votes today, and H.742 has not received a hearing ahead of the crossover deadline this Friday.