Martin Diaz, Pieciak Talk About Immigrant Rights
People jammed into the United Church Parish Hall on Wednesday to hear two leaders talk about the need for federal agencies to follow established law and constitutional protections.
For The Record
Jill Martin Diaz, executive director of the Vermont Asylum Assistance Project (VAAP) and Mike Pieciak, the Vermont State Treasurer, spoke to a packed room at the United Church Parish Hall on Wednesday evening, Jan. 29.
They shared their work with the Vermont Immigration Legal Defense Fund and their perspectives on the broader national landscape affecting Vermonters.
Martin Diaz gave an overview of the intersection of the civil, criminal and immigration judicial system and the importance of laws and how they are being ignored and abused by the federal Department of Homeland Security in order to deport immigrants. VAAP is providing legal services for Vermont’s non-citizens and those from other states being brought by ICE and detained in Vermont jails.
Pieciak emphasized the importance of immigrants to the Vermont economy. As the Vermont population ages and continues to decline, immigrants are an increasingly significant portion of the workforce population particularly in health care, construction and agriculture businesses.
The event was sponsored by Hinesburg Resists, a group of neighbors from the greater Hinesburg area focused on concerns about what’s happening in our country. Organization members stand in protest on Route 116 several afternoons a week.