Human Impact Project

Three people were detained during an ICE raid on a South Burlington home on March 11, 2026. The detainees were Daysi Camila Patin Patin, 20, from Ecuador; her sister Jisella Johana Patin Patin; and Cristian Humberto Jerez Andrade. None of the three were named in the warrant that authorized the raid. Following federal court hearings, all three were ordered released by a judge, with Daysi Camila Patin Patin's release ordered on March 20, 2026.

Two sisters with pending asylum claims, Camila and Johana Patin Patin, were detained by ICE on March 11 during a South Burlington raid targeting a different individual. They were released after approximately 10 days in custody, along with a Honduran man, despite not being targets of the operation and having no arrest warrants. A federal judge found the arrests violated Constitutional rights, and their attorney stated ICE appeared to rely on racial profiling in detaining them.

On March 11, ICE conducted an enforcement operation in South Burlington to detain a man who had re-entered the country. Burlington police provided mutual aid assistance with crowd management, resulting in clashes with protesters, use of chemical agents and flash bangs, and six arrests. Three protesters arrested by Vermont State Police will not face charges after review of body camera footage. On March 19, South Burlington Police Chief William Breault and other officials testified before a joint meeting of the Vermont House and Senate judiciary committees at the Statehouse, defending officers' conduct during the operation and attributing the clashes to "agitators."

The Burlington Police Department was cleared of policy violations by the city attorney on June 5, 2026, regarding its response to an ICE operation on March 11 in South Burlington. Over 100 citizen complaints were filed after three individuals were detained during the incident, though none matched the warrant's target. The Police Commission disputed the city attorney's findings, arguing the department's actions constituted support for an unlawful federal enforcement operation.

Jaime Eliceo Castro Guaman was arrested by ICE agents during a carpool to work on March 10, though agents stated they were looking for someone else. He held a pending asylum application, valid work permit, and no criminal history. Federal Judge William K. Sessions III ordered his immediate release on March 20, finding the detention may have violated his constitutional rights and stating the stop appeared pretextual. An immigration court bond hearing was scheduled to set conditions for his continued residence in the community.

Rey David Velasco Rodriguez was arrested by ICE agents in a Williston parking lot on December 26 after agents determined he matched a physical description of someone they were investigating. Fingerprint records showed he had been issued an expedited removal notice in September 2024 and was found unlawfully in the U.S. for a third time in over a year. Federal Magistrate Judge Kevin J. Doyle ordered his detention pending a probable cause hearing scheduled for January 12, 2026.

A second-grade student in Vermont was detained by ICE during the Thanksgiving holiday period. The incident involved the detention of a minor by immigration enforcement authorities.

Davona Williams, a 42-year-old Manchester resident originally from Jamaica, was detained by ICE on August 25, 2025, while bringing her child home to Torrey Knoll in Manchester Center. Williams, who worked as a health aide in Vermont, was held under a prior removal order from 2013. She was initially held at Chittenden County Regional Correctional Facility before being transferred to ICE's North Lake Processing Center in Baldwin, Michigan on September 1. Williams has no criminal record, three children ranging from 18 months to 15 years old, and had been living in Vermont for nearly two decades while pursuing legal status. On September 30, 2025, Detroit Immigration Court Judge Mark J. Jebson granted her a $7,500 bond, finding her neither a danger to the community nor a flight risk, citing her strong community ties. Her attorney, Christopher Worth, plans to file a motion to move the case to Chelmsford Immigration Court in Massachusetts and continue seeking legal relief. Community members, including the Rutland Area NAACP and local officials, organized support efforts; a GoFundMe campaign raised $25,265 to cover bond costs, transportation, and family expenses during her detention. A judge also approved a stay of deportation, and a motion to reopen her prior removal order is pending before the Boston Immigration Court.

A Nicaraguan-born superintendent of Winooski schools, a naturalized U.S. citizen since 2018, was detained for nearly five hours at Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport while returning from visiting family in Nicaragua with his U.S.-born husband. Agents questioned him about his citizenship, marriage and profession, and pressed him for passwords to his personal and district-issued devices; his husband was not told where he was being held or for how long. After the devices were searched, he was released, and his Global Entry membership was later revoked without explanation. Vermont leaders and advocacy groups are now calling for an investigation into the incident, which follows other recent detentions of immigrants in the state.