WEST LEBANON — In South Burlington last week, 150 protesters gathered outside a home on Dorset Street in an effort to prevent U.S. Immigration Customs Enforcement officers from apprehending a man who had fled from them. In the process of this standoff, there were pepper grenades, a human chain formed around the house and multiple detainments by ICE.
On the morning of the standoff, Migrant Justice, a Burlington-based nonprofit that supports migrant farmworkers, received word of an ICE sighting through its emergency line. Migrant Justice then activated its Rapid Response Network, which seeks to verify reports, mobilize allies and alert the community of ICE’s presence.
Dozens of people arrived to protest the detainment of a Mexican citizen who police believed to be inside the home.
In the end, ICE officers detained three people, according to VTDigger, though not the individual they were seeking originally.
In the event of a similar situation in the Upper Valley, organizations such as Migrant Justice and the Manchester-based nonprofit Granite State Organizing Project have put a similar system in place for how to safely provide assistance during ICE activity and keep residents informed.
Residents in the Upper Valley can sign up for ICE notifications by texting “NOTIFY” to 603-919-9847, a number managed by volunteers in the Upper Valley. ICE sightings will come in as yellow alerts and ICE action, such as a checkpoint or raid, come in as red alerts.
The phone number has been shared through flyer postings and cards handed out in spaces such as libraries and churches. Details about the hotline are also available on the website of SHARe, a Norwich-based nonprofit that provides support to asylum seekers and refugees in the Upper Valley.
So far, over 700 people have signed up to receive ICE notifications for the Upper Valley, said Martha Tecca, of Lyme, SHARe’s board chairwoman.
People who text the number receive instructions to report an ICE presence by alerting Granite State Organizing Project, or GSOP, in New Hampshire, or Migrant Justice in Vermont, the organizations that manage reports to the Upper Valley Rapid Response hotline.
As in the South Burlington example, the Upper Valley Rapid Response network connects volunteers throughout the region. When GSOP receives a tip about a suspected ICE presence, local volunteers go to the scene and assess the situation, said Angela Pape, a community organizer for GSOP.
GSOP is a nonprofit with five local chapters, including one in the Upper Valley that Pape works with directly. About 10 people volunteer regularly with GSOP in the Upper Valley.
Responding volunteers have participated in rapid response training, often in collaboration with other organizations or individuals, which prepares them with the tools to help deescalate a situation with ICE, said Pape.
Helping people on the scene could mean informing them of their rights, recording what’s happening, getting their information to track them in the ICE system and finding contact information for family members, said Pape.
GSOP also notifies people in the area who signed up for alerts once a tip is substantiated, though sometimes volunteers cannot make it to the scene in time to document what has occurred.
“ICE often comes in and out in five minutes,” said Pape.
In those cases, volunteers can provide resources to family members in the immediate aftermath and speak with witnesses. While GSOP provides an array of services, there has been an increase in direct immigrant support and advocacy since the beginning of the first Trump Administration in 2017, said Pape.
Interested volunteers can attend a local chapter meeting by emailing the contact listed on the GSOP calendar, or by signing up to volunteer.
‘Fear and behavior change’
The UV Rapid Response hotline has been activated multiple times, said Pape, “in the aftermath of a detention, to engage community support and accompaniment efforts; and to help with regional calls for support,” she said Tuesday by email.
Some services are in response to a fear immigrants with a legal status — such as those who are seeking asylum, have a green card or were adopted — are not protected in the way they were in prior administrations, said Pape.
Beyond GSOP, the Upper Valley has a system of organizations and individual activists committed to the same cause, said Pape.
“There’s a network of people who are working to provide infrastructure and support that aren’t concrete organizations,” Pape said Tuesday by phone.
In Vermont, Migrant Justice focuses on human rights advocacy and does legislative work on the state level to improve conditions for migrants and ensure their rights are protected.
The Vermont Asylum Assistance Project, also based out of Burlington, is a legal services and technical assistance organization that represents non-citizens statewide.
In the Upper Valley more specifically, various organizations offer support for immigrants through educational programming, resource navigation and emergency preparedness.
SHARe works directly with refugees and asylum seekers in the Upper Valley to ensure access to resources through navigation to other local organizations. SHARe has a network of volunteers who participate in local training and build relationships with those seeking assistance.
One of SHARe’s priorities is to ensure everyone understands their rights, said Tecca. ICE can have a local presence without being publicly visible, she added.
“They’re not marching down the streets in ways that are visible to a lot of folks on either side of the river in the Upper Valley, (but) their actions very nearby cause a level of alarm and fear and behavior change,” Tecca said last week by phone.
As a result of detainments like those in South Burlington last week, those concerned they are at risk may not feel comfortable going out. The local impact is very real, said Tecca.
Of the 60 people with whom SHARe works directly, some of them have had ICE interactions, but not beyond ongoing to check-ins and regular interactions with the immigration system.
The work of SHARe has always been welcoming immigrants who have been displaced and cannot return home, said Tecca. Even those complying with all legal requirements to be in the U.S. may be feeling a sense of unease these days. The concern spans across new and longtime residents, and even those who aren’t immigrants but may appear that way to some, said Tecca.
“In the last year, we’re having to pay attention in a different way to protection,” said Tecca.
Since SHARe was founded in 2020, some day-to-day needs of the immigrant community haven’t changed. Language assistance remains essential in situations such as seeing a doctor or communicating with law enforcement.
What has changed is access to legal services has become more essential now than it was five years ago, said Tecca. Those who wouldn’t normally need an attorney feel inclined to prepare for any legal challenges, including detention.
People in contact with SHARe are most frequently seeking legal services, and secondly health services. Housing and job opportunities are other common needs.
To help meet these needs, SHARe is planning to hire one or two staff members in the coming months after years of operating as a volunteer-only organization. There are currently about 40 regular volunteers, though 400 people in the community have contributed to the cause in some way this year.
For those who want to help, the best thing they can do is be thoughtful about expressing concern and support. It’s best to ask people in your community how they are doing, said Tecca.
“It’s hard to imagine how destabilizing it is for people who are suddenly finding themselves at a credible risk for no legal reason,” said Tecca.