Despite Federal Guidelines, Indiscriminate Immigration Arrests Still Occur In Vermont

Miguel Alcudia is back at work at a dairy in central Vermont after being picked up by immigration authorities for residing in the state on an expired visa. Photo credit: Ryan Caron King / NENC

In 2014, the Obama administration issued a federal memo aiming to put an end to random deportations of people living illegally in the U.S. who aren’t criminals. But a closer look finds that there are still cases in Vermont where immigration authorities are ignoring these policies.

Before we take a look at some arrests of dairy workers here in Vermont, a bit of background on how and why federal policy changed.

Two years ago, the Obama administration ended a widely unpopular program called “Secure Communities.”

The program resulted in the indiscriminate deportation of people in the U.S. illegally who were contributing, taxpaying members of their community but had had a minor run-in with the law — something as simple as running a stop sign.

Nationally, the program created such rampant distrust of police among community members that many mayors and a few governors announced they would not cooperate with the mandatory federal requirements.

Visit VPR for the full story. This report is part four of a four-part New England News Collaborative series called “Facing Change.”