{"id":4479,"date":"2026-03-12T15:26:20","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T15:26:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/live-awp-vermont.pantheonsite.io\/?post_type=press_release&p=4479"},"modified":"2026-03-12T17:02:23","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T17:02:23","slug":"aclu-statement-on-ice-enforcement-activity-in-south-burlington","status":"publish","type":"press_release","link":"https:\/\/www.acluvt.org\/press-releases\/aclu-statement-on-ice-enforcement-activity-in-south-burlington\/","title":{"rendered":"ACLU statement on ICE enforcement activity in South Burlington"},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":""},"class_list":["post-4479","press_release","type-press_release","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":{"subheading":"An ICE enforcement action in South Burlington resulted in vehicle collisions and a protracted standoff involving federal and state law enforcement and hundreds of protesters.","date_and_time":"2026-03-12 23:30:00","featured_image":null,"components":[{"acf_fc_layout":"text","text":{"text":"Yesterday, an ICE enforcement action in South Burlington resulted in multiple vehicle collisions and a protracted standoff involving Vermont State Police, local law enforcement, federal agents, and hundreds of people who gathered in protest.\r\n\r\nBystander footage shows dozens of masked state and federal agents wearing tactical gear and using physical force on protesters. Law enforcement officials appear to have deployed chemical agents to disperse protesters over the course of the afternoon and evening, though VSP officially downplayed its role and denied deploying any chemical agents.\r\n\r\nJames Lyall, Executive Director, ACLU of Vermont:<\/b> \u201cYesterday\u2019s events in South Burlington show us once again that ICE makes our communities less safe, as a majority of Americans now recognize. Extensive footage demonstrates that federal agents, aided by Vermont\u2019s own law enforcement agencies, turned a peaceful residential area into a war zone. Our thoughts are with our neighbors who have been directly impacted by yet another example of reckless state violence in our communities.\r\n\r\n\u201cThe fact that masked state and local police were involved in this operation is deeply concerning \u2013 that fact and contradictory statements by law enforcement leaders warrant close scrutiny by state policymakers. Vermont\u2019s legislature is considering multiple bills that would address these kinds of dangerous attacks on our communities and bring more accountability to lawless federal agencies, and we urge the Governor, the Attorney General, and the legislature to support their swift passage this year.\r\n\r\n\u201cAdditionally, we continue to call on Congress to rein in ICE and Border Patrol by discontinuing the obscene levels of funding we have witnessed for many years and putting an end to the culture of abuse and impunity that has been tolerated for too long.\u201d\r\n\r\nBills under consideration by the legislature that would address many of the concerning actions seen last night and the harms being caused by the federal campaign of mass deportation include:\r\n