Two advocates for migrant laborers in Vermont were released on bail Monday after being detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) earlier this month.
Outside the John F. Kennedy Federal Building, where the bond hearing was held Monday, hundreds of protesters marched and chanted. “Up, up with liberation! Down, down with deportation!”
They came out in support of Jose Enrique Balcazar Sanchez, 24, and Zully Palacios Rodriguez, 23. Earlier this month, the couple was intercepted by undercover ICE agents soon after leaving the offices of their group Migrant Justice in Burlington, Vermont. They were detained for being in the country illegally. Their attorney, Matt Cameron, claims ICE was targeting them for speaking up for migrant workers.
“There’s nothing, absolutely, about Enrique that would set him apart other than his outspoken advocacy for his community," Cameron said. "And I think that’s why we’re here today.”
“ICE officers conduct targeted arrests of criminal aliens and other immigration violators. ICE does not target individuals based on political beliefs or activism.
The reasons for the recent arrests in Vermont has already been addressed publicly. On March 15 ICE officers arrested a 23-year-old Mexican national who was charged locally with a DUI and self-admitted to federal authorities that he unlawfully entered the United States. Two days later ICE arrested a female foreign national who surpassed the duration of a lawful visit by nearly a year; and another individual who was with her in the vehicle at the time, and who also has an active immigration violation. These were lawful arrests and conducted completely within ICE’s legal authority under federal law.
ICE routinely targets criminal aliens and people who overstay visas by a significant period of time. If ICE officers encounter others during the course of their lawful duties, who also have immigration issues and regardless of their criminal history, those additional encounters can lead to an arrest at the time of the encounter. The Executive Orders and DHS’ memorandums on the matter are public record. They are the guides ICE is currently using with respect to immigration enforcement.”
