Burlington Passes Anti-ICE Town Meeting Resolution

ByJohn

The Burlington Town Meeting voted nearly unanimously to condemn violations of local zoning laws and the inhuman conditions of detention at the ICE district facility in Burlington. The resolution called for ICE to cease overnight and extended detentions at the Burlington facility and to comply fully with the conditions they agreed to when they first leased the building and promised the town.

The resolution also demanded that Federal, state, and local authorities investigate and take corrective action, including but not limited to, gaining access to the property, to ensure compliance with zoning laws and other regulations.

No one expects a lawless rogue agency like ICE to comply with a town meeting resolution. But it is an important victory, and came about due to hard work of publicizing, knocking on doors, and educating people about the issue.

We are in a political situation where a rogue federal authority is attacking the sovereignty of states and cities and towns controlled by political opponents of Trump. The first defense for fighting back is to use the sovereignty that we have, guaranteed in our American Constitution. This includes rights of state and local governments to manage their affairs and to pass their own laws and regulations. Asserting this sovereign power is the first step to broad resistance.

ICE is not just attacking and abducting individuals. They are attacking and violating the sovereignty of our state and our cities and towns. This is what the American revolution was fought over, and why limits were placed on federal authority, and why all rights not enumerated for the federal government were reserved to the states.

By taking this step, Burlington has gone on record defending its sovereignty. It will be a long battle, but nothing changes until we stand up and defend ourselves in every place we have the ability to do so. We congratulate the people of Burlington for taking this action.

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