BRATTLEBORO-If federal immigration agents ever try to stage an operation from the Brattleboro Police Department’s parking lot, they’ll be asked to leave, Police Chief Jeremy Evans told a crowded public forum Monday night.
“If they showed up at our facility, we would go out and find out who was there,” Evans said. “We’d say, ‘What are you doing?’ And they would say who they were, and we would ask them to leave.
“Because we would; we’re not going to be a part of that,” the chief said.
The Selectboard convened the forum at Brooks Memorial Library on Sept. 14 in response to what the board described as a wave of emails from residents concerned about the possibility of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) surge in town.
During the more than 1½-hour meeting, more than two dozen speakers, in person and on Zoom, pressed the board and police to spell out what would happen if federal immigration enforcement agents arrive, citing recent federal operations in South Burlington, Londonderry, and Keene, New Hampshire.
The board took no action. Selectboard Chair Oscar Heller said the forum was “just a small part of a larger conversation.”
Evans also said the department would not sign “any agreements with the federal government with regards to immigration and customs enforcement. That’s not something that this community will be doing, as far as I’m concerned.”
“We’re not planning it. We’re not interested in it,” the chief said. “We have plenty of work to do of our own, and don’t want to do anyone else’s.”
State law backdrop
Heller opened the meeting with an overview of recent Vermont legislation.
He said one law has expanded protected locations from courthouses to “places of worship, libraries, social service agencies like food shelves or domestic violence shelters, hospitals.”
Heller also noted that a bill that became law in April “essentially created a right for Vermont residents to sue federal agents for violations of their constitutional rights,” while another bill to bar federal agents from wearing masks in Vermont, did not pass.
He said that with the bill, cosponsored by Windham County Sen. Nader Hashim, lawmakers could not find “a path forward that accorded with the constitutional principles involved,” noting the bill was modeled on a New York law that a federal appeals court later found unconstitutional.
Five demands
Out of the gate, Janice Stockman of Brattleboro read a statement signed by 175 Brattleboro residents, 81 people from other towns, and representatives of 16 organizations, institutions, and businesses.
“Basically, we expect our town to have a plan so that the actions of federal agents don’t endanger our community,” Stockman said.
The statement asks the town to ensure that police:
• follow Vermont’s Fair and Impartial Policing (FIP) policy and consider adding language backed by the advocacy group Migrant Justice.
• refuse so-called “287(g)” partnership agreements with ICE or U.S. Customs and Border Patrol.
• honor state law that bars detentions at sensitive locations.
• consider an ordinance prohibiting federal immigration agents from using town property, including for staging.
• direct police to decline material support to federal agents, document encounters with body-worn cameras, and intervene if they see excessive force.
Signers wanted to raise their concerns “proactively, before we are thrust into the kinds of situations that happened in South Burlington, Londonderry, and Keene,” Stockman said.
Calls to restore 2021 policy
Several speakers urged the board to return to a stronger local policy the town adopted before the state required all departments to use a model FIP policy.
Robin Morgan of Brattleboro said residents organized from about 2018 to 2021 to strengthen the town policy, which was signed by then-Chief Norma Hardy and approved by the attorney general.
The later statewide model, she said, was “softened somewhat, including introducing some loopholes.”
Morgan said clearer rules would benefit officers as well.
“We want to make sure that there’s clear boundaries around how they should be participating and what their responsibilities are when there is any immigration enforcement that’s happening in our town,” she said.
Ellen Schwartz, of Brattleboro, who said she helped organize for the 2021 policy, asked the board to either reinstate it or adopt “the stronger language proposed by Migrant Justice that would essentially close loopholes in the current policy.”
“We had a policy approved by the attorney general’s office,” Schwartz said. “At the very least, we could go back to that policy.”
Ann Schroeder of Dummerston said she has followed the state policy since 2017 and listed the sections she believes were violated during a high-profile ICE operation in South Burlington in March.
Under the policy, she said, Vermont officers “do not have authority to support or assist in federal civil immigration law enforcement […] unless there is a formal agreement entered into by the governor.”
Was policy violated in South Burlington?
John Field of Putney asked board members and police directly whether Vermont State Police and officers from the Burlington and South Burlington police departments violated the policy during the March operation in South Burlington and whether the board would discipline Brattleboro officers who violate it.
“From all the public reporting, every indication was that they did,” Heller said, adding he was “not in a position to sit in judgment on the details.”
Discipline, he said, is handled within the police department, not by the Selectboard.
Heller acknowledged that “words on a page only mean so much.”
Building trust among board members, the police department, and community members, he said, is what “will actually lead to good outcomes, if something actually happens.”
Board member Nell Mayo pointed to the accountability section of the state model policy, which requires officers to report suspected violations and intervene when biased policing occurs.
“I also agree that those three agencies participated in violations,” she said.
Evans declined to reach a conclusion. He said he had watched clips and the film No Exit, which he called “a really well done documentary.” The film, by Vermont Public, was released in July and reviews the events of that day through 130 hours of police body camera footage.
“I saw things in [the film] that made me uncomfortable. I saw things in that said, ‘Wow, I’m glad we weren’t there,’” Evans said. “But I’m unwilling to just come out and say things were violated or things weren’t violated without spending a lot more time on it.”
The chief said he has met with administrators from departments in that area to learn about “mistakes, problems, issues, concerns” so that Brattleboro could avoid repeating them, and he said that his department has disciplined officers for policy violations, “up to and including termination.”
‘Duty to intervene’
Some speakers questioned whether the statement’s call for police to intervene against federal agents would be realistic.
Michael Bosworth of Brattleboro said he largely supported the statement but cautioned that “today’s rules are different than they were a few years ago” when it comes to expecting federal agents to follow the rule of law.
Raúl Gracia of Guilford pointed to a section of the state policy, stating it “shall not be construed to require members to interfere with federal officials,” and he asked what local officers would do if friends gathered to protect him and ICE agents drew weapons.
“I am concerned for my friends. I am not concerned for me,” Gracia said, adding he was speaking for people who could not attend.
“They are probably, at this point, milking cows, picking up eggs, and working very heavy hours, and they are afraid to come here.”
Evans said the department has a standalone “duty to intervene” policy that officers train on, including in scenario training at the Vermont Police Academy.
“Part of that policy is built around how to put yourself in the middle between an incident that’s happening and an officer who’s not handling it properly, and that’s not easy,” Evans said. That duty, he said, applies “within any law enforcement interactions that we’re party to.”
Ivan Hennessy of Brattleboro called the chief’s remarks “the most heartening news.”
“As he mentioned, it’s only words at this point, but it’s good to have something to hold the police to account on,” Hennessy said.
Evans said his department’s refusal to collaborate applies specifically to immigration enforcement and that it will keep working with federal agencies on cases, including child predators, fraud, and human trafficking.
He urged residents to call police if they learn ICE is in town.
“They don’t call us. There’s no collaboration there,” he said. “ICE doesn’t tell people, doesn’t tell law enforcement that they’re showing up.”
A dissenting voice
Hank Poitras, introducing himself as “Planet Hank,” offered what he called an opposing view, arguing the town should not “help activists interfere with law enforcement.”
“You don’t prevent chaos by putting the people threatening chaos in charge,” Poitras said.
“If they provoke a confrontation and somebody gets hurt, these activists will evaporate and disappear and move on, and Brattleboro will be left with tragedy, lawsuits, and the bill,” he added.
Students, voting, and sanctuary
Anne Beekman, a Putney resident who chairs the Windham Southeast Supervisory Union (WSESU), asked what police would do to protect students.
“Our children — all of our children, our immigrant children, our citizen children — [...] are very afraid,” she said.
Evans noted police have “a strong presence at the schools,” despite not having any school resource officer.
“We expect those to be safe places for our children throughout this community,” he said.
Assistant Police Chief Adam Petlock encouraged educators to contact police when unfamiliar officers appear at schools, noting that detectives or probation and parole officers are sometimes mistaken for federal agents.
Marco Tacuri, a teacher who described himself as an Ecuadorian immigrant with dual U.S. citizenship, said it is “a shame that we are having this conversation” in 2026.
He asked whether the board was coordinating with other towns pursuing similar policies, but that question was not answered during the meeting.
Others attending had more ideas, including that Brattleboro declare itself a sanctuary town, proposed by resident John Wilmerding.
Mary Gannon of Winchester, New Hampshire, third vice president of the Windham County NAACP branch, said the branch supports the immigrant community.
She shared lessons from Keene, where federal immigration enforcement officers detained at least three people in August.
“In Keene, many folks thought this would never happen. We were not prepared,” she said. “This forum needs to not be a one-time event.”
Judy Davidson of Brattleboro reminded attendees of yellow “ICE cards” distributed by local volunteers, which include a QR code that directs people to a trained rapid response team and displays Migrant Justice’s 24-hour emergency number.
Evans said that Davidson’s encouragement about the cards “might be the most important information we find all night.”
Next steps
Heller invited people who did not get to speak to contact board and town staff members or police.
Mayo said she would look into questions about school safety zones and again review Migrant Justice’s proposed policy changes.
Board member Isaac Evans-Frantz invited residents with policy recommendations to contact him.
Board member Peter Case said he hoped attendees took comfort “in the fact that ICE has no home here.”
Evans-Frantz closed with a message to residents who feel vulnerable, repeating it in Spanish.
“You might be scared, you might be vulnerable, but you will not be alone,” he said.
This News item by Virginia Ray was written for The Commons.