By Angelo Lynn
Editor’s note: Angelo Lynn is the publisher of the Addison Independent, a sister publication of the Mountain Times.
When federal agents from Trump’s “big-brother” government descended on the Pleasant Valley Farms dairy in Franklin County this past Monday, they arrested eight migrant workers in their homes and placed them immediately into the Northwest State Correctional Facility in Swanton, where they are currently held.
According to the group Migrant Justice, the arrests constituted the largest single immigration enforcement action against farmworkers in recent Vermont history.
The farm, which is Vermont’s largest with 3,000-plus cows on 10,000 acres, is owned by Mark and Amanda St. Pierre. Their son Jamie is part of the management team, along with his wife, the Olympic runner Elle St. Pierre.
In a story reported by Seven Days, Amanda St. Pierre said they had not been told why their employees were being detained, and said the employees “were hired following the federal and state employment requirements. We remain supportive of our employees and appreciative of the valuable role they play in our community preforming essential work on our farm.”
The arrests should send shock waves through Vermont’s farm community, which employs about 850 year-round migrant farmworkers — all crucial to the state’s dairy industry.
Thomas D. Holman, Trump’s “border czar” and a North Country native, stressed that the raid on the farm “wasn’t a raid,” but rather the outcome of a pursuit of two other people who had crossed the border by foot and walked onto the farm. Holman said the migrant workers were arrested during a search of a house on the farm in pursuit of the two walkers. One of the two suspected walkers was also arrested. Holman has previously pledged to support dairy farms and their employment of migrant workers.
The Migrant Justice community isn’t accepting excuses, and neither should Vermonters. “What happened… was an injustice,” said Cristian Santos, a member of the group’s Farmworker Coordinating Committee.
Gov. Phil Scott added his voice saying “migrant workers are an essential part of our communities,” and called on Congress and Trump to pass immigration reform that would make it easier for migrant workers to work here without being “forced to live in the shadows.”
He’s right, of course, but it’s unlikely to happen with this Republican Congress and with this president — not until massive waves of people stand up against them.
Dairy farmers should join other farmers upset by federal cuts to nutrition programs — and others upset with cuts to a host of programs and services that harm Vermonters — and let this Republican Congress know they’ll be losing their votes if they don’t restrain the rogue at the head of their party and speak out against his destructive policies.
