A Vermont legal defense fund launched in response to President Donald Trump’s aggressive immigration crackdown has raised more than $500,000 since May — about halfway to its $1 million goal, according to an announcement on Monday.
The money, raised from more than 1,250 donors, will bolster Vermont’s small but growing network of immigration attorneys and immigrant support organizations, which has been stretched thin as federal authorities seek to detain and deport noncitizens in record numbers.
State Treasurer Mike Pieciak and Sen. Kesha Ram Hinsdale (D-Chittenden-Southeast) helped launch the fund in their personal capacities, in partnership with United Way of Northwest Vermont.
“We’ve seen new Americans being targeted by ICE, being targeted by the federal administration — often unfairly, without access to legal services, without their due process rights being upheld — and it’s affecting them and their families and their communities,” Pieciak said. “We started this fund to build out the legal infrastructure in Vermont that we think is necessary to provide adequate representation.”
The fund awarded its first grant of $100,000 to the Vermont Asylum Assistance Project in August. That money has already helped the organization — which just hired its first paid staff member early last year — grow from four to 11 people, allowing it to take on a higher caseload, train volunteer attorneys and organize regular visits to meet with immigration detainees in Vermont prisons.
Since August alone, the organization has represented 62 clients in removal proceedings and provided legal advice to 27 detainees.
Four new grants were announced this week, including a second grant of $100,000 to the asylum assistance project.
“This will allow us to sustain the hiring we’ve done,” said executive director Jill Martin Diaz. “As the Trump administration throws new problems at us, we need the technical expertise and resources to come up with new solutions.”
Three other local organizations will also be awarded money. The Vermont Afghan Alliance will receive $35,900, which will be put toward providing direct legal representation to Afghans facing deportation or detention as the Trump administration removes protections that once promised a path for them to live in the U.S. long-term.
The AALV is getting $82,875, which it plans to use to hire three legal interns and train new volunteers. The Family Room, which often partners with AALV, will get $12,000 to fund interpretation services.
AALV hasn’t focused on defending people who were facing deportation or detention, said Nathan Virag, the organization’s only immigration attorney.
“It’s something we wanted to get involved with, but we didn’t have the funding for,” Virag said. “But now, with the rampant uptick in detentions and people being put in removal proceedings, these funds will allow us to advocate for more people. It’s like a little blessing and we’re really happy for it.”
