On Wednesday afternoon, passengers heading toward the security line at Patrick Leahy Burlington International Airport went by some odd signs. We See Something was written on a big yellow banner that hung from the second story. We make a statement.
In protest of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, and its use of the airport to transfer detainees out of state, over 100 members of the public attended the Burlington Airport Commission meeting on Wednesday, including the individuals holding the banner.
Dozens of speakers urged the commission and aviation director Nic Longo to prevent ICE from using the airport during over three hours of moving testimony. They expressed worries about human trafficking, federal overreach, and the removal of inmates from the public view without following the proper procedures.
Attendee Jana Porter urged airport officials, “It’s time for you to stand up and say, No, ICE is not going to be sneaking human beings in the back door in the dark of the night.”
Airport officials stated that they are working to resolve these concerns, at least to the extent that they are permitted by law, and that it was vital for them to hear from so many members of the public.
Local activists and news organizations have revealed that federal immigration officials are utilizing the facility to move detainees out of state, which has sparked the backlash. Several recordings that activists have posted purport to show ICE agents escorting inmates into the airport through a side door that is closed to the public before sunrise.
Activists request that the TSA and the Burlington Police Department decide if the detentions are lawful in the recordings, but neither agency agrees.
Since January, activists estimate that over 500 detainees have been moved out of state. Based on information from the state’s inmate finder, they have created a public database that they are cross-referencing with news reports, press releases from the Department of Justice, federal court documents, and firsthand observations. These figures have not been independently verified by Vermont Public.
In the last month, activists have followed three sets of ICE detainees as they were moved from the Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility and through the airport, Burlington resident Julie Macuga informed commissioners. According to Macuga, they were only able to locate court documents for a few, therefore they concluded that the others had been flown away without following the proper procedures.
Only over 43% of the 852 pending immigration cases for individuals with a Vermont address had legal representation as of June 2025, according to data from the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, or TRAC.
Brett Stokes, director of the Center for Justice Reform at Vermont Law and Graduate School, told Vermont Public that the Trump administration is transferring detainees far more swiftly and abruptly than it did during his ten years of experience practicing immigration defense law. And that makes connecting with clients much more difficult for attorneys like him.
In an interview this week, Stokes stated, “I think they’re being moved on purpose to places that don’t have legal services.”
He continued by saying that lessens the likelihood that those clients will check to see if their detention by immigration officials was lawful.
Additionally, advocates like Macuga cite recent instances of individuals held in Vermont who did have legal counsel and whose attorneys prevailed in a federal court case to get their ICE detainees released.
Among them was Ksennia Petrova, a Harvard Medical School scientist of Russian descent who was arrested in February at Boston’s Logan Airport for neglecting to declare frog embryos. Chief Judge Christina Reiss of the District of Vermont ruled in May that immigration officials had violated the law and ordered Petrova to be released from ICE detention.
Mohsen Mahdawi, a resident of White River Junction who was arrested, was also ordered to be released by another federal judge in Vermont in April. Mahdawi claimed that the Trump administration should deport him because his pro-Palestinian activities endangered the foreign policy objectives of the federal government. Mahdawi’s attorneys contended that this was a violation of his constitutionally protected expression.
On Wednesday, demonstrators accused Burlington airport officials of complicity in the removal of more individuals from their homes, families, and jobs without due process by allowing ICE to operate there without any restrictions.
Wafic Faour, a resident of Richmond, stated, “This is under your witness.” You are observing this. You have the power to permit them or to prevent them.
A request for comment from ICE was not answered.
At the commission hearing, airport director Nic Longo stated that he is collaborating with Burlington Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak to resolve the public’s concerns over ICE at the airport. He said they are investigating activists’ proposal to create a specific post to check inmates’ ability to exercise their legal rights.
According to Longo, the city and I, as the airport director, are dedicated to looking for a way to assist those who are represented when they go through this airport.
However, he emphasized that the facility’s limited authority and legal commitments to federal agencies put it in a problematic situation.
A Washington, D.C. law firm detailed those legal responsibilities in a memo provided Wednesday in response to Longo’s request. The document states that ICE has extensive legal power to conduct operations through airport public areas and that airport interference may result in criminal penalties.
According to Longo, there are interagency coordinations going on that I am either unaware of or lack the authority to oversee. There has never been any coordination, involvement, or connection between airport employees and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The email does, however, note that the airport may enact regulations that restrict access to parking lots and non-public airport areas, which may have an impact on ICE activities.
Furthermore, according to Longo, the non-public side door that is depicted in the activist films should not be used in any way.
He said, “We do need to control those doors.” He also mentioned that the airport has the authority to take away badge access and is responsible for issuing the security credentials that enable access doors.
The document also mentions that the Federal Aviation Administration and the Department of Transportation are temporarily barred from withholding grant cash due to non-cooperation with ICE by a recent federal court ruling.
Airport staff were advised by members of the public to attempt to challenge federal immigration officers in any manner they could and then observe the outcome.
Activist Julie Macuga stated, “I think we have to be the first airport to do this because we don’t know what other airports are doing.” We must have courage.
