Cancel the contract.
It’s time to end Vermont’s cooperation with ICE.
Enforcing immigration laws and securing our borders is a valid and important government function. But now the Trump administration is weaponizing ICE to chill political speech, and punish people the Administration does not like. ICE is using Vermont’s public infrastructure, funded by Vermont taxpayers, to detain lawful residents in Vermont. The Administration is imprisoning and deporting legal U.S. residents without due process. It is unconscionable, un-american, and against Vermont values.
We can choose whether we help Trump carry out his deportation agenda — and we have a moral obligation to choose action over apathy. With overcrowding in Vermont prisons and a correctional officer staffing crisis, we cannot afford to be complicit.
Sign the petition today and tell Vermont Governor Scott to end Vermont’s cooperation with ICE.
sign the petition
Tell the Governor to cancel Vermont’s contract with ICE and to stand up for the rule of law.
FAQs
Why does this matter?
Vermont tax dollars are being used to detain people for political speech
On March 25th, 2025 , a Tufts University student, Rümeysa Öztürk, was surrounded by masked officers on the street, and put into an unmarked van as she screamed for help. The student was legally in the United States on a student visa. The reason for her imprisonment? She wrote an op-ed criticizing Tufts University response to the war in Gaza. Ms. Ozturk was then taken to Vermont.
Ozturk was held overnight before being flown to a prison in Louisiana from the Burlington International Airport. Her legal team believes she was moved to Vermont to prevent a Massachusetts federal judge from reviewing her case.
In February of this year, the Vermont Department of Corrections held a Harvard scientist detained by ICE for a week in the South Burlington women’s prison. The scientist was in the United States on a scholar visa. She was vocal in opposing the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
In recent days, the Trump Administration admits that it disappeared a makeup artist with no criminal history, no known gang relations, and no evidence of a crime, and sent him to a prison in El Salvador, known for human rights violations. His legal future is now uncertain.
Vermont has cooperated with the federal government for years in the effort to secure the border. Holding people in our correctional facilities who are being punished for political speech goes far beyond our MOU with the federal government and should be grounds for termination of the contract.
The state loses money on this contract
The Vermont Department of Corrections reports their facilities are at 135% capacity and overcrowded. DOC sends Vermont inmates to Mississippi because there is no space. We do not have the space or the infrastructure to hold ICE detainees for indefinite periods of time.
The Vermont State Employees who staff these facilities are already under immense pressure because the facilities are understaffed.
The cost to house these detainees far exceeds the money the State General Fund receives to cover their cost. There is no economic benefit, but significant costs to the Vermont taxpayer.
how does cancelling the contract end ice cooperation?
The contract the State of Vermont has with ICE can be canceled by the Governor at any time. This is a voluntary relationship. The State has cooperated with ICE for many years. This is not about ending immigration enforcement or open borders. This is about Vermonters refusing to collaborate and be complicit in President’s Trump unconstitutional deportation scheme. It is time to act according to Vermont values.