One of President-elect Donald Trump’s key campaign promises could have serious ramifications for Vermonters living in the country without legal authorization, and advocates want state and local officials to protect migrant farmworkers and other immigrants from any mass deportation efforts undertaken by the federal government.
Trump has repeatedly vowed to deport all of the estimated 11 million people living in the United States illegally. That population includes approximately 1,500 immigrants living and working on Vermont’s dairy farms, many of whom have resided in the state for more than a decade.
A woman Vermont Public is referring to only as Rosie, because of her immigration status, said through an interpreter that the migrant community is “scared” and “fearful.”
“They also understand that this is not the first time this has happened,” said Rosie, a member of an organization, called Migrant Justice, that works to improve protections and working conditions for farmworkers. “Many community members that have been here for years working on dairy farms, they know what’s coming, and we’re prepared for it.”
Those preparations include efforts by organizations such as Migrant Justice and the ACLU of Vermont to erect safeguards at the state level for people whose immigration status puts them at risk of deportation. Vermont Public's Peter Hirschfeld reports.
