Facing a second Trump administration, Migrant Justice has ramped up its organizing. It is no overstatement to say that Migrant Justice is the leading force in building solidarity against the Trump regime.
No Human Being is Illegal!
An Interview with Migrant Justice Organizer Enrique Balcázar
May 16, 2025
Translation by Migrant Justice’s Rachel Elliott and Spectre’s Maga Miranda
THE NEW TRUMP ADMINISTRATION came into power promising massive attacks on immigrants and refugees, threatening at various points to deport as many as twelve million people. While its rhetoric has been extreme, its actual practice has been one of continuity with previous Democratic Party administrations. As Spectre went to print, Trump was on pace to deport fewer people than the preceding Biden administration.
Nonetheless, Trump’s rhetoric and threat of larger attacks has spread fear in migrant communities. At the same time, he has spurred increased organization and resistance from Know Your Rights training to the formation of rapid response networks, mass marches like the one in Los Angeles that took over freeways and Chicago’s Day Without Immigrants this past February.
Spectre’s Ashley Smith sat down to interview Enrique Balcázar, an organizer with Migrant Justice in Vermont. Enrique is no stranger to resisting the Trump administration. During Trump’s first term, Enrique along with Zully Palacios, Victor Diaz, and many more was arrested and detained by ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) and threatened with deportation for their activism in defense of immigrants in the state. But Migrant Justice resisted, winning the detainees’ freedom and right to stay in Vermont. And the organization eventually scored an enormous victory, winning a legal settlement with ICE, which agreed to respect their first amendment rights to speech, assembly, and protest.
Now facing a second Trump administration, Migrant Justice has ramped up its organizing. It is preparing Vermont’s immigrant community to resist not only Trump’s threatened attacks, but also to defend the state’s Fair and Impartial Policing Policy that bars collaboration between police and immigration authorities and to support the new fair housing bill in the state legislature that guarantees migrants’ right to rent and the Milk with Dignity program that improves migrant farmworkers’ conditions. It is no overstatement to say that Migrant Justice is the leading force in building solidarity against the Trump regime.
We are in the midst of Trump’s escalation of attacks on migrants. But this has been a bipartisan project carried out by the last several administrations. Biden deported more people than Trump did in his first term. And Obama still holds the record for most deportations. What’s behind this bipartisan attack on migrants? Why do politicians do it? Why do the big corporations support it?
Any answer to this question must start with the reality that the United States was formed on the basis of slavery. Through slavery it was able to build this huge empire seizing lands across the west and into the southwest, conquering much of Mexico. The agricultural system it built has always relied on the exploitation of a racialized underclass of workers, first of enslaved people from Africa and, after the abolition of slavery, immigrants mainly from Latin America.
The big corporations in agriculture have exploited migrant labor as a cheap, racialized labor force, which is denied basic human rights. Because we face such discrimination, we are forced to stay in the shadows and accept abuses in the workplace that we would normally speak out against, but don’t because of the fear of deportation. So, if we’re not organized and standing up for ourselves, we remain silent and exploited.
Obama has the record for most deportations. And Biden deported more than the first Trump administration.
Both of this country’s major parties, Democrats and Republicans, have enforced this system. Remember, Obama still has the record for most deportations. And the Biden administration deported more than the first Trump administration. Both parties deny us basic rights, separate our families, and oversee mass deportation.
So, it doesn’t matter who’s in power. The only thing that Trump does differently is to turn all this into a public spectacle, publicizing raids, recording ICE agents going to someone’s house, and sharing all this with the mainstream media. He wants to show his followers that he is implementing his promises to terrorize our community.
Of course, that makes the situation far more threatening. Under Biden we had a false sense of security. But throughout his entire term, people were being deported.
Trump is now threatening to carry out the largest attack yet on migrants, going so far as to promise the deportation of all undocumented workers. What are the attacks he has launched?
Well, he’s threatening to escalate the ongoing attacks on immigrants and reverse many of the victories we’ve won here in Vermont and across the country. His threat to deport everyone is pushing people back into the shadows where we were ten years ago when I first arrived in this country.
Here in Vermont, people have stopped living their normal lives out of fear of ICE and CBP [Customs and Border Patrol]. They aren’t exercising the rights that we’ve fought so hard to win. For example, we won the right for people to get driver’s licenses so that we can go grocery shopping, visit family and friends, or go play soccer. Now people are afraid to drive.
So, Trump’s publicized attack is having a big impact. But, in reality, we have always lived under such threats. The worrisome thing is that his spectacle is spreading fear. People hear rumors, which are often not true, spread them, and fuel a climate of panic. We are doing our best to determine what is true and what is not, provide accurate information to the community, dissuade people from spreading unverified information, and train people in how to respond when faced with real attacks.
The recent killing of a Border Patrol agent, a real tragedy that had nothing to do with Vermont’s migrant workers, set the rumor mill in motion. There was a significant mobilization of CBP and ICE in response. Suddenly, people saw their heightened presence. This is not new, though; it is one of the consequences of the city being only ninety miles from the US’s highly militarized border with Canada.
But fear set in, and people started sharing unsubstantiated rumors of raids and checkpoints. We try to dispel those. At this point, in Vermont, there have been no workplace raids. There have been a couple of arrests of specific people, but this is the ordinary harassment we live under, not anything new or special. But the fear is spreading. It breaks my heart to see my community going back into the shadows and hiding.
Trump recently threatened both Canada and Mexico with tariffs to get them to militarize the border and stop the smuggling of fentanyl into the country. Have people been talking about the impact of the closure of the southern border to migrants and refugees and the militarization of both borders?
The impact has been terrible both on the southern and northern borders. Trump’s order to stop migrants from applying for asylum and other statuses has left untold numbers of people stranded in Mexico with nowhere to go. The impact on the northern border has been less extreme because far fewer migrants come across it.
Trump used the threat of tariffs against Canada and Mexico like a pawn in his antimigrant strategy. Canada and Mexico did put up some resistance, but then both struck a deal with him on border militarization to postpone the tariffs. Mexico came to an agreement to deploy ten thousand National Guard soldiers to its border with the US. Canada has agreed to deploy similar numbers to its border and police it with drones, helicopters, and surveillance towers.
But, in reality, both of these were pre-existing agreements for the militarization of the border. So, a lot of this is a game for Trump to capture headlines. My community has been living under militarization at the border and inside the country for a long time. We are experienced in dealing with this and we will organize and resist.
Let’s turn to that resistance, which seems to have started. Migrants took over the highway in LA, La Raza Unida organized protests in the southwest, and the community organized a Day Without Immigrants in Chicago and elsewhere. Have those actions inspired people here and given them more confidence to resist?
Every time our community comes under attack, we resist. And often that is not started by any one organization, but by members of the community deciding to stand up for our rights. For example, the Day Without Immigrants was spontaneous in many cities and workplaces. There was no big organization behind it.
Resistance bubbles up organically. People put out a call, community members share it on social media, and then people decide to take part. We’ve been seeing such organic resistance across the country and here in Vermont.
For me, it’s inspiring to see the way that my community takes the streets, stands in resistance, and says, “we’re here, we’re part of this community, we’re part of this country.” And our resistance has an impact on politicians and policymakers. For example, under pressure, the mayor of Chicago has taken steps to defend the community and pledge that he will bar police from collaborating with ICE and CBP.
Here in Vermont, we have scored similar victories over the last several years. In a precedent for the rest of the country, ten years ago we passed the Fair and Impartial Policing Policy, which we call No Más Polimigra, that restricts collaboration between immigration authorities and the police. That had given the community protection. But it was weakened under the first Trump administration.
Through organizing and solidarity, we were able to get that policy restrengthened just last year. That’s the kind of solidarity that connects different communities that are here and keeps us all safe.
Talk a little more about your key initiatives like the emergency response network, defending the Fair and Impartial Policing Policy, and Milk with Dignity. What are you doing to advance those projects under Trump?
In Vermont, we transformed our community from an invisible one fifteen years ago into a thriving, confident community. We have traveled a beautiful path to integrate more into daily life and feel safe. We have won basic rights like the one to get a driver’s license and protection from police–immigration collaboration through No Más Polimigra. Those have given us freedom of movement in the state without fear.
Victories like that and the fight for human rights that we’ve been in for the last fifteen years has made a huge impact on the daily life of immigrants in this state. The Milk with Dignity program is another example of a victory that we’ve won in Vermont. Under this program, big corporations like Ben & Jerry’s, which joined in 2017, agree to pay farmers more money for their milk and the farmers agree to guarantee workers better wages, benefits, and living conditions on the farms.
Once agreed to, this is a legally binding agreement. The big corporations take responsibility for the state of their supply chain. Workers are empowered with a stronger voice in the workplace and become frontline protectors of their own rights. That’s been a huge victory for human rights in the state.
Now we are focused on doing everything we can to protect those victories from the Trump administration while we continue our organizing. We refuse to go back into the shadows. So, now, faced with increased threats from ICE and CBP, we have set up a rapid response network to their enforcement activities. We’re setting up workshops throughout the state to train our allies how to do this.
We educate them in how to investigate threats, get accurate and verifiable information, and share it with Migrant Justice so we can either dispel rumors to prevent fear from invading our community or warn people in the event of real threats. That safety net of solidarity and support will be vital in the coming months and years.
At the same time, we must continue our organizing in the workplace and society to expand our rights. These are going to be more important now to defend our community and prevent it from becoming more vulnerable and easier to exploit. We’re working to advance a fair housing bill in the state legislature.
This bill does two things. The first is to add immigration status—whether actual or perceived—as a protected class under Vermont’s existing fair housing laws. That would mean a landlord is barred from denying housing to a potential tenant because of their immigration status. The second part of that bill would prevent landlords from asking for a social security number on housing applications, which is standard practice now.
There are a lot of other ways for landlords to verify identity and run a credit check that don’t require a social security number. They can ask for other forms of government ID like a driver’s license. The goal of this bill is to eliminate an administrative barrier that keeps my community out of the rental market and often trapped in substandard housing provided by an employer.
Even under Trump, we believe that we can win. Sí se puede!
We’re also campaigning to expand Milk with Dignity into new supply chains. Right now, we are focused on Hannaford Supermarkets, which is the main grocery store in many parts of New England and upstate New York. They source a lot of their milk from Vermont farms. So, if we can pressure them into joining, we will dramatically increase the number of farms that ensure fair wages, working conditions, and housing for migrant workers.
We refuse to be intimidated and go back into the shadows. We will keep organizing and protesting in spite of Trump’s attacks on us and our rights. Now more than ever, we will fight for our human and labor rights. And even under Trump, we believe that we can win. Sí se puede!
You just scored a major victory for migrant construction workers. Explain the new agreement that Vermont Construction Company signed with the Building Dignity and Respect Standards Council. What is the significance of this agreement for expanding your work into fighting for migrant rights in construction?
This is a triumph in these dark times. It’s magnificent and a huge source of inspiration that proves we can win victories today. We’ve just started to organize migrant workers in the construction industry. So, for us, this is something totally new. Vermont Construction Company approached us to implement the worker-driven social responsibility model among its subcontractors, implementing a program similar to Milk with Dignity.
We connected them with Centro de Traba- jadores Unidos en la Lucha, which is a migrant worker organization in the Twin Cities in Minnesota. Vermont Construction then agreed to sign a contract with the Building Dignity and Respect Standards Council. Like Milk with Dignity, it is a legally binding agreement, which workers can use to protect their rights and ensure fair wages and safe working conditions. This sets a precedent for us to push other companies to join and expand the rights of migrant workers in the state’s construction industry.
I was recently at your strategy retreat, where Migrant Justice organizers and members talked about how to respond to Trump’s attacks. While you are coordinating with lawyers to help with legal defense, what particularly struck me was your emphasis on collective organizing and resistance. This is different from NGOs, which tend to be service providers and not groups that organize workers’ power. Can you talk a little bit about your organizing strategy as migrant justice.
Of course, we rely on lawyers, and we do advocate in the State House. We would be foolish not to use these pathways for change. For example, we partner with the Vermont Asylum Assistance Project. They are a group of lawyers who support asylum seekers in submitting asylum claims without charging them. These cases last on average four years and would usually cost community members around $12,000.
This is essential for community self-defense. They are supporting hundreds of community members right now, and they really need financial support and volunteers to translate. So, we encourage our allies to help with this important component of the struggle. And we have no choice but to work to get bills passed in the legislature to secure our rights to things like driver’s licenses and housing.
But our strategy is to organize our community to assert our power. Our organized power is what enables us to score legal victories and pass bills in the State House. What makes Migrant Justice distinct is that we empower our community. We know that directly impacted communities are best able to identify the problems, come up with collective solutions, and provide the energy to advance campaigns. The community knows what it needs and what it wants—dignity and respect.
We aim for a community that can defend itself. A community that’s organized won’t be deported.
Migrant Justice has always based itself on the community organizing itself, figuring out what it wants to do, and deciding democratically its strategies and tactics. Our role as the staff is to put the community’s plans into effect. But the goals, strategy, and programs always come from the community.
We know that community empowerment is the key. Individuals who depend on service providers cannot protect themselves. They are at the mercy of others. We aim for a community that can defend itself. A community that’s organized won’t be deported.
Recently teachers in Winooski initiated a campaign to get their school system to become a sanctuary school, pledging noncooperation with ICE in arresting students and their parents. How are you working with this and other such initiatives? What other solidarity projects do you advocate being adopted to resist Trump?
The key for us is to create more solidarity between groups. Right now, everyone is under attack, not only Latinos or immigrants, but also Palestinians, LGBTQ people, Black people, women, and workers in general. Faced with this assault, we have to strengthen the bonds of solidarity, right between all of us.
That’s the way to stop Trump from advancing his agenda. We have tremendous power collectively if we unite on the basis of solidarity, of mutual support. I don’t want people to look at my community or other communities on the front lines with pity. I want people to stand in solidarity and take action. That’s how we can build mutual respect and keep us all safe.
There are a lot of people already standing in solidarity. As you said, the teachers in Winooski are demanding their schools become sanctuary schools that do not cooperate with ICE. We’ve been in conversation with the Vermont Medical Center, the largest hospital in the state, about their policies to keep patients safe. And people all over the state are joining our rapid response network.
We’ve seen an incredible and sometimes overwhelming show of solidarity and this huge desire to take direct action. And people are listening to what we say and then take autonomous initiatives like the one in Winooski.
People are also just organizing themselves to respond to our call for solidarity, setting up their own rapid response networks with their friends, fellow students, and coworkers. All of this empowers not only migrants and our struggle to defend our rights, but all the people who are self-organizing. That is the way they can help us and also defend themselves, because we may be first in line, but everyone else is next.
What kind of solidarity have you received from other social movements and labor unions? What must be done to cultivate this in opposition to Trump’s attack and the broader bipartisan antimigrant consensus? What should the migrant movement and the broader labor movement be fighting for?
We are working with faith groups, churches, labor unions, organizations like the Pride Center, and groups like the Vermont Coalition for Palestinian Liberation. There’s been this huge upwelling of organized support. A lot of people have been in the fight for human rights for a long time, and while they continue with their amazing work they’ve already been doing, they are also rallying to support us and build solidarity.
I feel like we are starting to build a new movement in opposition to Trump. We have no choice but to do this. No one is coming to save us. We have to organize and resist and fight for our demands.
To the immigrant community, I would say that we have to remember that these attacks are not new, they have been happening under previous Democratic administrations, and they will continue to happen until we win our full human rights. So, we have to organize to keep ourselves safe, know our rights, and assert them when threatened by ICE and when we’re arrested.
We also must remember that we have tremendous social power within the community. If we don’t go to work, houses aren’t built, roofs aren’t shingled, crops aren’t harvested, and cows aren’t milked. We saw that on the recent Day Without Immigrants in Chicago. Workers here in Vermont joined it.
In one example, migrant workers protested conditions at a local lumberyard where they were denied raises and denied privacy in their employer-provided housing. So, they walked off the job. Their boss fired them and threatened to evict them, but they returned to protest and won the right to stay in their housing pending the legal process and are still fighting for their jobs.
We’re fighting to thrive and live full lives. We are fighting for freedom in a world that is not free.
One day, when the immigrant community is organized enough and decides to call for a national strike, that’s the day when people will fully understand how vital my community is to the economy and the daily life of every single person in this country. We need to recognize the power that we have if we are organized and united.
We are central to the economic functioning of this capitalist system. It exploits us, makes us less free but also gives us tremendous power. I encourage every member of my community in every workplace, on farms, on the construction site, or wherever it may be, to recognize the power that we have.
But I don’t want us to be recognized just for our economic power. We are human beings and our lives matter. We have families, we have children, we play soccer, we enjoy life. We’re fighting to thrive and live full lives. We are fighting for freedom in a world that is not free. ×
Enrique Balcázar is an organizer with Migrant Justice in Vermont.