By Katherine Parker
BERKSHIRE, Vt. — Eight farmworkers, ranging in age from 22 to 41, were detained and arrested Monday by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents in Franklin County, Vermont, according to a spokesperson for Migrant Justice, NBC5 reported.
The workers were employed at Pleasant Valley Farms, owned by Amanda and Mark St. Pierre and their sons, Bradley and Jamie, according to NBC5.
A CBP spokesperson told NBC5 that agents were responding to a report of two individuals carrying backpacks who had exited a wooded area into private farmland less than three miles from the U.S.-Canada border. Agents arrested one individual and continued pursuing the second. During the search, agents discovered additional people believed to be in the country without legal status, the agency said.
Amanda St. Pierre issued a statement to NBC5 following the arrests: “On April 21, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents detained several of our employees. We do not know the details or reasons at this time. We have cooperated fully with their instructions.”
St. Pierre added, “Our employees were hired following federal and state employment requirements. We remain supportive of our employees and appreciative of the valuable role they play in our community, performing essential work on our farm. We hope this matter is resolved quickly. Any other questions will need to be directed to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.”
Migrant Justice identified the detained individuals as Jesus Mendez Hernandez (25), Juan Javier Rodriguez-Gomez (41), Luis Enrique Gomez-Aguilar (28), Urillas Sargento (32), Diblaim Maximo Sargento-Morales (30), Adrian Zunun-Joachin (22), Jose Edilberto Molina-Aguilar (37), and Dani Alvarez-Perez (22), according to NBC5.
Mike Lambek of Migrant Justice criticized the arrests, saying the criminalization and deportation of immigrants is not new, “People have set down roots in Vermont. They have made this state their home. They know how important their community is and how much they contribute. They aren’t willing to go back into the shadows. Workers have fought hard to maintain their human rights, and they’re not going anywhere,” NBC5 reported.
Governor Phil Scott issued a statement saying he was looking into the circumstances of the incident. He urged Congress and President Donald Trump to pursue comprehensive immigration reform that would provide pathways to citizenship for immigrant workers.
“I have long been clear: migrant workers are an essential part of our communities. They are our neighbors and friends, have kids in our schools, shop at our businesses, and play an important role in our economy and workforce,” Scott said, as quoted by NBC5.
The workers are currently being held at the Northwest Correctional Facility in Swanton, according to Migrant Justice. Officials said one of the individuals is in the process of seeking asylum, and many are active members of the Migrant Justice organization, NBC5 reported.
The organization called the arrests an injustice and a violation of human rights, demanding the immediate release of the workers. A rally is scheduled for Thursday at 6 p.m. in front of Burlington City Hall.
Senator Bernie Sanders also condemned the arrests, stating, “Trump wants to deport migrant agricultural workers. This will only disrupt families, raise food prices, and put more pressure on struggling family farms. It is exactly the wrong approach. The time is long overdue for real immigration reform and a path to citizenship for migrant workers,” NBC5 reported.
Congresswoman Becca Balint echoed concerns, saying her office is closely monitoring the situation.
“Vermonters know these family farms are the lifeblood of our communities. When farm workers are living in fear that they will be snatched up, it doesn’t make us safer,” Balint said.
“It leaves us without food on our tables and real families without parents or siblings at home. The Trump administration is yet again intent on not only ripping apart families but taking our agriculture industry down with it,” NBC5 reported.
This type of situation encourages illegal immigration, and we all know it. Cheap produce is not a justification to support it.
The excuse put forward is that no citizen would be willing to do this type of work, so why would these workers continue to do so if they became citizens?
Or is the “plan” that employers would take advantage of them “for a a few years” before they become citizens? And then bring in a “new crop” of workers who aren’t citizens, to repeat the process?
I don’t think you have a good grasp of these issues and I don’t think it would be fruitful to break it down for you, so I’ll disengage
So you engaged just long enough to say that I don’t have a good grasp of these issues, without stating your reason for that conclusion.
O.K. – that was “helpful”.
This is the key sentence: [The governor] “urged Congress and President Donald Trump to pursue comprehensive immigration reform that would provide pathways to citizenship for immigrant workers.”
Bipartisan immigration bills have been negotiated twice. Both would have addressed situations like this: providing a path to citizenship while implementing border control policies, among other provisions. Both failed to get through Congress because the Republican leadership (2013) and then Trump (2024) blocked them.
That would be exactly the situation I described, if implemented.
That is, employers (including farmers) “take advantage of” cheap labor for a few years (before the workers become citizens), and then get a “new batch” of them – and repeat the process indefinitely.
Sort of like prison labor.