José Edilberto Molina-Aguilar still flinches when a car backfires outside the two-story farmhouse he shares with five other men on Pleasant Valley Farms Pleasant Valley Farms. Last April, an ICE raid turned his life upside down. Officers in olive-green uniforms stormed the property near the Canadian border, claiming they’d pursued a worker onto the farm. Molina-Aguilar, a 37-year-old from Chiapas, Mexico, was in his bedroom when a co-worker burst in shouting. He peeked out the window and saw the uniforms. ‘I knew right then we were in trouble,’ he said. A farm manager told him and the other workers to come outside, where officers questioned them for hours. No one was detained that day, but the message was clear: they weren’t safe anywhere on the farm, let alone off it.

Vermont’s dairy industry depends on undocumented workers

Vermont’s dairy industry pumps $5.4 billion into the state’s economy annually, and nearly half the state’s dairy workers are undocumented. Without them, many farms would collapse. The industry relies on long hours, six or seven days a week, in grueling conditions. Workers milk cows at 3 a.m., feed them at dawn, and repair equipment until dusk. But their legal vulnerability makes every task risky. ‘If we leave, we might not come back,’ said Molina-Aguilar. ‘And if we get caught, who will milk the cows?’

The surge in raids isn’t just fearmongering. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Immigration and Customs Enforcement detentions in Vermont jumped tenfold from 2022 to 2023. Federal data shows 280 detentions in 2023 compared to just 28 the year before. ICE says it’s targeting criminals, but workers and advocates say the raids disproportionately affect those with no criminal record — just a paycheck to lose. ‘They’re not out here to catch gang members,’ said Enrique Balcázar, an organizer with Migrant Justice Migrant Justice, a Vermont-based group fighting for farmworker rights. ‘They’re here to intimidate people who won’t speak up.’

Farms feel the squeeze as workers vanish into the shadows

Farmers are caught in the middle. Some have lost workers overnight after raids, leaving them scrambling to fill shifts. Others report a quiet exodus: workers who quit without notice or refuse to come out of fear. ‘We’ve had guys just disappear,’ said John Roberts, who runs a 200-cow dairy in Addison County. ‘Last month, two of our best hands didn’t show up. We found out later they fled Vermont entirely.’ The shortage hits hardest during calving season, when every hour counts. Some farms have raised wages or offered bonuses, but the base problem remains: workers don’t trust the system.

The fear isn’t just personal. It’s economic. A single deportation can shut down a small dairy’s operation for days. Milk must be collected twice daily, no exceptions. If workers don’t show, cows go unmilked, and the entire supply chain backs up. ‘We’re one detention away from losing a week’s production,’ said Roberts. ‘And that’s money we can’t get back.’

Workers fight back with protests and policy demands

Molina-Aguilar and others have started speaking up despite the risks. In May, about 100 undocumented dairy workers marched through Burlington, Vermont’s largest city, demanding protections. They held signs in Spanish and English: ‘We feed Vermont. We deserve rights.’ The protest followed a string of smaller actions where workers walked off farms to demand better conditions. Their demands are simple: driver’s licenses for undocumented residents, legal protections at work, and an end to workplace raids. ‘We’re not asking for the moon,’ said Balcázar. ‘We’re asking not to be treated like criminals for doing a job nobody else wants to do.’

State lawmakers have taken notice. Vermont’s legislature is considering a bill that would bar state and local police from assisting federal immigration enforcement. If passed, it would make Vermont one of the most immigrant-friendly states in New England. But the fight isn’t over. The bill faces stiff opposition from groups that argue it encourages illegal immigration. Meanwhile, ICE continues its operations, and workers remain trapped in a cycle of fear.

The bigger picture is clear: Vermont’s dairy industry can’t function without undocumented labor, but the current system treats those workers as disposable. Until that changes, farms will keep losing hands, and workers like Molina-Aguilar will keep looking over their shoulders — even in their own bedrooms.

What You Need to Know

  • Source: The Guardian
  • Published: April 16, 2026 at 11:00 UTC
  • Category: Environment
  • Topics: #guardian · #climate · #environment · #vermont · #they · #last

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Curated by GlobalBR News · April 16, 2026

🇧🇷 Resumo em Português

O medo invadiu os trabalhadores rurais sem documentos nos laticínios de Vermont, nos Estados Unidos, após uma onda de prisões que multiplicou por dez as operações de imigração no setor. Com a indústria leiteira local movendo impressionantes US$ 5,4 bilhões anualmente, esses trabalhadores agora evitam ao máximo sair das fazendas, temendo abordagens agressivas e deportações, enquanto lutam por direitos trabalhistas básicos.

No Brasil, onde a pauta migratória e os direitos trabalhistas também enfrentam desafios, a situação dos imigrantes nos EUA serve como alerta sobre os riscos de políticas repressivas em setores essenciais da economia. Com a crescente demanda por mão de obra em cadeias produtivas globais, o caso de Vermont evidencia como a falta de proteção legal pode perpetuar a exploração, mesmo em países com legislações avançadas.

A história desses trabalhadores reforça a necessidade de debates urgentes sobre imigração e direitos laborais, tanto nos EUA quanto no Brasil, onde milhares de migrantes também sustenta setores estratégicos da economia.