This week’s writer is Sen. Becca White, a Democrat from Windsor County. She serves as the Assistant Majority Leader and was personally present when Mohsen Mahdawi was removed by federal agents in Colchester, Vt.

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Senator Heffernan recently shared that he voted against Senate Resolution 13 because, in his words, it “did not go through proper Due Process.” I appreciate his engagement and willingness to explain his vote. But I believe we must ask ourselves a more fundamental question: what is due process for, if not to protect our fellow Vermonters?

The resolution he opposed was not a political stunt; it was a moral stand. It responded to the alarming arrest of Mohsen Mahdawi, a longtime Vermont resident, a green card holder, who was taken from his naturalization interview by masked men in an unmarked vehicle. He was shuttled to the airport to be flown to Louisiana, his name was called at the gate, he missed that flight by minutes. In another state he might have been disappeared into a federal detention system without access to a lawyer, to his family, or to his rights under habeas corpus.

Mohsen’s case only saw daylight because Vermonters intervened. They slowed down an attempted abduction, bought time for legal counsel, and brought the issue to light. Even at Mohsen’s federal hearing, Judge Crawford had to ask the U.S. government point blank: If I order this man released, will you honor that, or simply re-arrest him outside the courtroom? That’s how close we came to becoming a state where due process no longer means anything — unless we fight for it.

The idea that a resolution “deserves” more due process than a living, breathing Vermonter is backwards. Due process is not an abstract procedural box to check; it’s the foundation of our Constitution, meant to guard against unchecked government power.

We are still seeing federal authorities test the boundaries of what the American people will accept. In such moments, silence is complicity. S.R. 13 was not about scoring points — it was about standing up for principle. Vermonters deserve to know where their elected leaders stand: not just on process, but on justice.

24 out of 30 Senators in our chamber agreed with this. The tri-partisan passage of the resolution gave the reeling Upper Valley community, which I represent, hope during a traumatic time. It’s disappointing that Sen. Heffernan couldn’t see the forest for the trees, and that he chose with his vote to say Addison County didn’t stand in solidarity with us. I doubly appreciate Sen. Hardy’s yes vote and comments on the floor related to this matter.

If a Senator says they believe in due process, ask them: when a fellow Vermonter’s constitutional rights were on the line, where did you stand? Where will you stand next time?