The Deeper Dig is a weekly podcast from the VTDigger newsroom. Listen below, and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify or anywhere you listen to podcasts.
[A]s the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement policies continue to spark backlash around the U.S., Vermonters are examining how one of the country’s northernmost states can impact policies along the southwest border.
Last year, a federal law enforcement tipline based in Williston received an uptick in calls under the Trump administration — including citizen reports of suspected undocumented immigrants. Civil liberties advocates worry that programs like these turn neighbors into extensions of immigration enforcement agents.
Meanwhile, awareness of the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” border prosecution policy has expanded.
Public pressure led President Donald Trump to sign an executive order halting the practice of separating immigrant children from their parents. But protesters at nationwide rallies, including events in Montpelier and Burlington, have called for the administration to reunite separated families and cease its practice of indefinitely detaining immigrants.
Some politicians have gone farther, suggesting that the federal government abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, entirely. Rep. Peter Welch and Sen. Patrick Leahy have criticized the agency but hedged on calling for its dismantling. Sen. Bernie Sanders, however, has proposed that ICE be restructured alongside other federal immigration divisions.
On this week’s podcast, VTDigger’s Elizabeth Hewitt describes how ICE operates in Vermont and beyond, and what thousands of concerned Vermonters want to see the agency do differently.
Subscribe to The Deeper Dig on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify or anywhere you listen to podcasts. Music by Lee Rosevere and Blue Dot Sessions.
