A week after she graduated from a Vermont high school, an 18-year-old woman was detained by US Border Patrol officers Saturday in what immigrant activists have called a “violent and unlawful arrest” just miles from the Canadian border.

The woman, Heidi Perez, was accompanied at the time by her stepfather, Jose Ignacio De La Cruz, a leader of the Vermont-based Migrant Justice advocacy group. Both are undocumented Mexican nationals and now face deportation proceedings, according to Ryan Brissette, a spokesperson for US Customs and Border Protection.

They were being held in separate Vermont prisons as of Monday morning. An attorney for De La Cruz and Perez filed emergency motions seeking their release and calling for the court to keep them in Vermont. Chief Judge Christina Reiss of the federal district court in Vermont granted the latter requests Monday, barring the government from removing either from the state for the time being.

Archived at https://archive.is/dg7y8

  • gravitas_deficiency@sh.itjust.works
    English
    374·
    2 days ago

    You’re getting downvoted, but I’m choosing to interpret your comment as a simple pragmatic statement given the current ruling regime, so have an upvote.

    It shouldn’t be a problem for a benign, non-violent, community-oriented undocumented immigrant to be an immigration advocate under normal circumstances, but these are not normal circumstances.

    • thethirdobject@lemmy.world
      252·
      2 days ago

      they’re getting downvoted because their tone is condescending (“just a thought”) and because this kind of comment shifts the blame from the oppressive side to the victim. if that at least was good advice, but it’s not even that since he’s stating something obvious, thus undermining their engagement and activism even more.

        • njm1314@lemmy.world
          133·
          2 days ago

          Any comment that starts with “Ummmm” is meant to be condescending and bitchy. Hopefully this comment has helped you to learn how to properly interpret tone.

          • jballs@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
            32·
            2 days ago

            I don’t interpret “umm” that way, but I also think I tend to also add more vocal sounds like “hmm” and “ahh” to my comments. Tone is really hard on the Internet.

            • njm1314@lemmy.world
              43·
              2 days ago

              When it’s written? You absolutely should. That’s the way it’s intended. Every single time.

          • reactionality@lemmy.sdf.orgEnglish
            35·
            2 days ago

            Any comment that contains “Hopefully this comment has helped you to learn how to properly interpret tone” is meant to be condescending and bitchy.

    • darvocet@infosec.pub
      92·
      2 days ago

      Ty. If you are part of a targeted class it seems foolish to put yourself out there as an advocate for that targeted class. It’s not a shock to me that ice shows up for you first. I’d be getting out or staying inside and not leaving.

      • gravitas_deficiency@sh.itjust.works
        English
        62·
        2 days ago

        Hell, I’m a straight white cis dude and I’m thinking of fucking off. One of the reasons I am considering that is because I have family members who are visibly mixed race, and I would potentially serve as a safe harbor for them, or any friends and family who no longer felt safe in the states. Also, I work in an industry that’s being affected by all of our regulatory agencies being disintegrated, so it’s probably going to be a reasonable career move too, in the long term.

      • pageflight@lemmy.worldEnglish
        3·
        2 days ago

        If you’re not part of a targeted class, it’s privilege to be able to choose not to put yourself out there, saving yourself the worry of individual visibility while also feeling no risk of ongoing class/race based oppression.

        Unless your country is devolving into a fascist dictatorship and everyone will be carted off to concentration camps sooner or later for political expression.

    • atticus88th@lemmy.world
      53·
      2 days ago

      Their comment and peoples reactions really shows a key issue in the U.S.

      People choose to attack or shun anyone that has a hint of possibly supporting “the other side” even if a simple reply is just pointing out the facts of the situation and really doesn’t show a bias in one direction or the other.

      There is probably a majority of people across the U.S. who are sick of politics and choose to ignore the news because of these extremist level hostilities from either direction.

      • Rob Bos@lemmy.caEnglish
        81·
        2 days ago

        Tldr be nice to Nazis so the proles don’t think you’re a dick

        • CmdrShepard49@sh.itjust.works
          43·
          2 days ago

          No it’s more like “look both ways before crossing the street.” Just because you have the crossing signal doesn’t mean a truck isn’t going to run the light and mow you down