Letter to the editor: Support the county’s migrant workers

Patty Lewis’s well-researched and forceful letter in the Independent of last week explains the grave dangers posed by a policy of wide-scale deportation. Many undocumented residents, without whom our dairy industry and other aspects of our local economy would be significantly weakened, are becoming terrified.

The migrant community in Vermont suffered from a heavy loss on July 10. Greisy Mejia, 29, and her nine-year-old daughter and infant son were deported to Honduras.

As to “playing a vital role in the health of the state’s agricultural industry” let’s put sympathy momentarily aside and have a cold, hard look at an underlying problem. 

For many of Addison County’s Latin American migrant farmworkers, the road to Vermont is a difficult one. The journey is expensive, dangerous and often means leaving behind your family and community without the guarantee that you will return. 

I am disappointed at the Addison Independent’s decision to publish the Jan. 12 article “Local migrant worker cited for helping Mexicans cross border without papers” by Mike Donoghue, which struck me as dehumanizing in its portrayal of migrant workers from … (read more)

An undocumented immigrant from Addison County has been indicted by a federal grand jury for helping eight other undocumented Mexicans after they crossed the international boundary into Franklin County, federal court records show.

Through a series of events this fall, New Haven residents have been making an effort to listen to and celebrate a part of the community that often goes unheard — migrant farm workers.

For the past several months the town of New Haven has embraced a program to connect with migrant farm workers in its community. It’s a model other Addison County communities might want to consider.

The summer I turned 13, a friend told me how she made a lot of money picking strawberries. It sounded like a relatively easy deal, so my sister and I decided to give it a try.Lunch sacks in hand, we ferried to a nearby island and were loaded in the back o … (read more)

MIDDLEBURY — Middlebury-based Open Door Clinic (ODC) has received a $14,594 grant through the Northeast Dental Foundation, money that Addison County’s free clinic will use in support of a University of Vermont study of the oral health of migrant workers. … (read more)

SHOREHAM — After closing down more than a week ago to manage an outbreak of COVID-19 among its staff, Champlain Orchards is open again for pick-your-own apples. “It’s been quite a week here at Champlain Orchards, but we’ve all persevered thanks to the lov … (read more)

I am heartened by my Addison County neighbors and faith communities that have extended hospitality to agricultural workers from other countries. It can’t be easy being a stranger in a strange land, working 12 hours a day, far from family. That’s got to ta … (read more)

ADDISON — An Addison man has been charged with a hate crime, stemming from allegations he deflated the tires of a vehicle belonging to an employee of the organization Migrant Justice and left a voicemail at that nonprofit asking its representatives to sta … (read more)