Emily Carris Duncan (they/she) represents the Windham-6 district (Wilmington, Whitingham, and Halifax) in the Vermont House of Representatives, where she serves on the Commerce and Economic Development Committee, the Joint Carbon Emissions Reduction Commission, and the County and Regional Governance Committee. Contact her via her website ecarrisduncan.com or Instagram (@ecarrisduncan).
WHITINGHAM-As we sit on the precipice of our 250th anniversary in this country, the American people’s social contract is faltering.
The federal government is withholding our critical funds for the health of the American people while our inalienable rights to privacy, due process, and equal protection are under attack in American streets.
Killing citizens like Alex Pretti and Renée Good in Minnesota. Deporting unaccompanied minors. Detaining and disappearing people to third countries. Letting people die while in custody.
The litany of offenses rises each and every day, highlighting the cruelty of this federal administration with their unrelenting desire to inflict maximum pain on the American people using American taxpayer dollars to do so. This is exactly what we had feared: indiscriminate abuse of power at the hands of a tyrannical government.
Our federal “partners” are making state functions more challenging with delays in providing accurate data and short application windows for funding opportunities for critical needs like housing, health care, and education. This puts continued strain on our already-strained state, local, and nonprofit sector workers who use these funds to better Vermont.
The federal government is using our state resources to play colonial war games with our southern neighbors and allies as it lays waste to long-held and — literally — hard-fought partnerships with our allies, all to avoid accountability for what’s in the Epstein Files.
President Trump deployed our Vermont National Guard to Venezuela, taking them away from their loved ones just before Christmas for an unconstitutional power grab with no clear objective than to personally line his own pockets.
His administration has reassigned Vermont-based U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) agents to Minnesota to help with ICE efforts in an expansion of duties far beyond the scope of their work.
He is threatening every country from Greenland to Iran and is now offering a $1 billion security membership program for countries to control Gaza.
He has gone mad for power bent on enriching himself while depriving the American people and harassing the world.
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The federal government’s attacks run counter to the work we need to do here in Vermont. We have a bright future to build together, and they are taking away our people and threatening our funding because we know our rights.
While the federal government has a lot of power, we will not be bullied — we’re fighting back. Both the House and Senate are introducing bills to limit ICE’s impact, safeguard your data, and prohibit tracking of your information.
We are working to unmask ICE, laying the basis for ensuring the right to due process. We will continue to work within our authority to ensure the safety of all Vermonters.
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If you feel inclined to jump in the fight, we need your help.
Run for office at any level or help someone run for office. Get involved with or donate to causes that matter to you. Talk to your family, friends, and neighbors.
The federal government’s actions are designed to fracture our collective power. Do not let it.
Let us learn from Minnesota’s example. Love, joy, and community are acts of resistance in this moment. Lean into your values, lean on each other.
We are America and we’ll get through this, together.
This Voices Legislative Update was submitted to The Commons.
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