The arrest of eight Vermont dairy farmers in April sent shock waves throughout New England’s agriculture industry, and fears haven’t abated since then.
After six 12-hour shifts milking cows, José Molina-Aguilar’s lone day off was hardly relaxing.
On April 21, he and seven co-workers were arrested on a Vermont dairy farm in what advocates say was one of the state’s largest-ever immigration raids.
“I saw through the window of the house that immigration were already there, inside the farm, and that’s when they detained us,” he said in a recent interview. “I was in the process of asylum, and even with that, they didn’t respect the document that I was still holding in my hands.”
Four of the workers were swiftly deported to Mexico. Molina-Aguilar, released after a month in a Texas detention center with his asylum case still pending, is now working at a different farm and speaking out.
“We must fight as a community so that we can all have, and keep fighting for, the rights that we have in this country,” he said.Members of Migrant Justice, a community group advocating for migrant farmworkers’ rights, hold a rally outside the Vermont Statehouse in Montpelier, Vt., on Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Amanda Swinhart)
The owner of the targeted farm declined to comment. But Brett Stokes, a lawyer representing the detained workers, said the raid sent shock waves through the entire Northeast agriculture industry.
