Elizabeth Nikazmerad
Elizabeth Nikazmerad, above, and Haley Renwick, below, were arrested while protesting at the port of entry in Highgate. Courtesy photo
[T]wo women were arrested during a protest at a U.S. border crossing Sunday.

The Vermont State Police were called to a U.S. Customs and Border Protection building in Highgate to monitor a protest, according to a news release.

Two protesters who were inside the port of entry building refused to leave after they were asked to go multiple times by both Customs and Border Protection employees and state police, according to the release.

Haley Renwick
Courtesy photo
Police arrested Haley Renwick, 22, and Elizabeth Nikazmerad, 31, both of Burlington.

They are facing charges of unlawful trespass and are due in criminal court in Franklin County next month.

Reached via social media for comment, Renwick referred to a statement she said was from a “collection of people” from Vermont.

“The future we are working toward is a future without ICE, Border Patrol, and all militarized occupation,” the statement read.

Dana Woodruff, of Plainfield, said she attended the rally and counted 55 people there at its peak.

The rally was organized to protest the treatment of Canadian citizens who were turned away at the border, Woodruff said.

One of them was a Muslim woman who said border agents first questioned her about her religion.

Woodruff had recently returned from volunteering near the border in the Southwest when she learned on Facebook about the planned protest at the Highgate crossing.

Twitter: @emhew. Elizabeth Hewitt is the Sunday editor for VTDigger. She grew up in central Vermont and holds a graduate degree in magazine journalism from New York University.