Demonstrations continued in Vermont on Friday to protest the arrest of three people earlier this week by federal immigration officials in South Burlington.
Protesters rallied at Burlington City Hall on Friday evening before marching through downtown streets to show solidarity with those detained and with the local migrant population. The immigrant rights group Migrant Justice organized the event.
People chanted and listened to firsthand accounts of Wednesday’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid and the violent clashes between law enforcement and activists that ensued.
“I would describe it as a peaceful protest that turned into a police riot,” Kevin Bloom, a Burlington musician who's running as a Democratic candidate for Sheriff of Chittenden County, told Vermont Public about the scene in South Burlington on Wednesday. They said they had been there, and decided to come out again on Friday to continue showing support for those arrested.
“It feels like my responsibility to be here,” they said.
ICE agents on Wednesday had been searching for a man they believed had fled to a South Burlington home. Protesters gathered outside throughout the day, due in part to encouragement from Migrant Justice advocates. Federal agents eventually entered the house with support from police and arrested three people — none of whom was the man named in their warrant — and clashed in the street with activists who were attempting to prevent them from driving away.
ICE agents instead apprehended 31-year-old Jisella Johana Patin Patin, 20-year-old Daysi Camila Patin Patin and 31-year-old Christian Humberto Jerez Andrade.
The Patin Patin sisters, both from Ecuador, had pending asylum claims at the time of their arrest, according to their attorneys. Jerez Andrade has lived in the U.S. for a decade or so and has a child who is an American citizen, his attorney, Nathan Virag, told Vermont Public.
Family members of the detained as well as activists who were at the scene Wednesday spoke at Friday evening's rally. They recounted harrowing details of the event and led chants, including “ICE out” and "Sí, se puede," a Spanish phrase that loosely translates to English as “Yes, we can.”
"It's essential that the people most impacted by these ICE actions have a voice, and that we amplify their voice,” said Brian Perkins, a resident of Burlington’s Old North End. "And so I was really glad that we could hear the fear, and the incompetence of the ICE agents.”
Protesters marched the length of Church Street, from City Hall to the federal courthouse on Elmwood Ave. The group spanned the width of Church Street Marketplace and covered more than the length of one city block as they walked.
Earlier in the day, roughly 30 students walked out of class at South Burlington High School to protest the ICE arrests as well.
The chain of events Wednesday morning began with ICE agents chasing a vehicle on Dorset Street, which crashed near the high school and middle school around the time that students were arriving for school. South Burlington Police Chief William Breault later criticized ICE for what he viewed as a lack of consideration for community safety in attempting the arrest.
One of the three people arrested, Jisella Johana Patin Patin, is also a parent with two children who attend South Burlington schools, according to court filings. Her attorney says she is being detained illegally.
Students waved signs Friday afternoon and received friendly honks from cars passing by.
Senior Jillian Monahan called what happened Wednesday an "atrocity" and said she felt it was her civic duty to protest.
"What happened on Wednesday is wrong. What happened, what's been happening throughout this country, is wrong. And I needed to be here today to say that,” she said.
A few school board members and parents came to protest alongside students. Matthew Nowland, who has two children in South Burlington schools, said he was dismayed to see federal officials participate in a car chase near a public school.
"Human lives and children's lives and things like that shouldn't even be a political discussion. It's pretty remarkable that ICE would do this right outside of a school during a school day with children present with a complete disregard for their safety,” he said.
Nowland also protested at the scene of the arrest on Wednesday and said as both a veteran and a physician, he found the actions of federal immigration officials disturbing.
