HARDWICK – Seven of the nine construction workers detained by U.S. Immigration and Customers Enforcement (ICE) at a convenience store and along Vt. Route 15 in Hardwick, on Friday, Sept. 26, have been transported to Louisiana, according to WCAX and confirmed by a spokesperson for Migrant Justice.
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The Migrant Justice spokesperson said at one time they had all worked on the same construction crew, though whether that is still the case is unknown. They confirmed that the seven now being detained in a Louisiana facility are all in the process of being deported and have legal representation.
One of those detained was released before being jailed on September 26, and the other remained in Vermont, though WCAX has since reported that person had been moved to Massachusetts.
Their names, their employers’ names and their addresses are unknown. Information about the residence of some of the detainees led to a worker at the address saying four of them had lived there, though the property owner, who said he was Puerto Rican, and still automatically entitled to U.S. citizenship, as far as he knew, denied any had lived there, and offered another location, which could not be verified.
Maggie Zuccardi posted on social media to say, “These were my friends. Hardworking, caring lovely people.”
Migrant Justice said the detainees are Nicaraguan, Colombian and Ecuadorian. No criminal charges have been filed and all are facing removal proceedings. “They’ve all been part of the same construction crew, I’m not sure if on the day of the detention they were all on the same contract or not.”
“The people that were arrested last week are decent people. I’ve worked with every single one of them. Five of them I trained myself,” said an area resident. “I don’t want my name mentioned and want to be anonymous. I have a migrant worker that works for me who is legal but I want to protect him.”
He said, “five of them worked for a contractor out of Hardwick. The other four worked for a company out of Wolcott. These people were not criminals at all, they were just looking for a better life and home.”
In talking about the detentions, he said, “The Nicaraguans were my friends. I hope they are OK.”
Another person in the construction business said, the companies are builders and remodeling contractors. “These workers did a lot of work fixing up old buildings/houses in town and making them look nice again.”
“We personally know three of them and they were hard working and amazing folks. I get they were not legal but I think the way this is handled is unnecessary,” Margo Shawn Baker wrote in a Facebook reply, “We have sex offenders, drug dealers, thieves, etc that are treated better and given 100 chances, yet hardworking people who’ve made a name for themselves and are building a life are not even given the grace of ‘90 days to leave’ or whatever. . . why not give them time to get their affairs in order? Give them respect!”
Among many other rumors, it was said that those detained were known to Hardwick Police, who had notified ICE of their whereabouts. Hardwick Police Chief Michael Henry said that’s not the business of his department or officers. Department police expressly forbids sharing information with ICE, he said.
The targeted stops of people who ICE suspected of being non-citizens, while they were headed to work in the morning, points to it being likely ICE personnel had advance knowledge of the people and their activities.
Though it may be unrelated, at least some sentiments in the area seem to indicate a certain disdain for foreign workers. Reliable sources said they had heard from contractors who said they bid on jobs, which they then lost to people they referred to as Mexicans, with mixed reports on the quality of work done by the foreign workers.
Paul Fixx is editor of The Hardwick Gazette and lives in Hardwick.
