On March 11, in South Burlington, three individuals were detained in a raid at 337 Dorset Street led by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
337 Dorset Street is a two-family home. The first includes 18-year-old US citizen José Estrada Jerez and his uncle Christian Humberto Jerez Andrade.
The second family consists of two sisters with pending asylum claims, Camila and Johana Patin Patin, alongside Johana’s two daughters, only one of whom was home during the time of the raid.
Andrade and sisters Johana and Camila Patin Patin were in custody for around a week and a half.
None of the individuals had warrants for their arrest and were not the targets of ICE’s operation that day, stated Nathan Virag, the attorney for Andrade and Camila Patin Patin, in an April 7 email to the Cynic.
“They’re not going to give us a chance to heal and feel better from what happened on March 11. They’re just going to keep doing what they do, terrorizing our communities and running our resources dry,” said Jill Martin Diaz, Executive Director of the Vermont Asylum Assistance Project.
Kristen Connors is the attorney for Johana Patin Patin and did not respond to requests for comment from the Cynic.
“The arrests were very traumatizing for everyone. After ICE made entry into the home, they immediately started pointing guns at everyone in the home, yelling at everyone,” Virag stated.
Inside the residence were Andrade and the sisters, along with Andrade’s nephew, Jose Jerez, a U.S. citizen, and Johana Patin Patin’s daughter, Virag stated.
The intended target of the operation was Deyvi Corona Sanchez, a Mexican citizen, whom the ICE agents believed to be inside the residence.
A federal search warrant was obtained for the property, according to a March 12 press release from the United States Attorney’s Office.
There was no relation between Sanchez and anyone inside the house, Virag stated.
“Apparently, ICE had a photo of Sanchez and thought my client looked like him. Clear racial profiling as they do not look anything alike. Eventually, ICE publicly admitted after this entire incident that they no longer believed that Sanchez was in the home,” Virag stated.
At some point before 8:00 a.m., ICE arrived at the residence. At 8:30 a.m., Migrant Justice sent out a text message alert notifying subscribed Burlington residents of the ICE raid on Dorset Street, according to a March 12 Migrant Justice press release.
In response to the alert, dozens of protestors gathered outside the home. As the day continued, the turnout increased, and hundreds were gathered by the late afternoon, according to the same press release.
The goal of the protest was to make sure the people inside 337 Dorset Street knew that they were not alone, the press release stated.
Throughout the year, Burlington residents have participated in a number of demonstrations condemning ICE and its actions in the Vermont area.
In a Burlington City Council meeting on March 23, protestors shared their personal testimonies from the raid on Dorset Street.
“Let us all remember how so many people in positions of power immediately attempted to cover up the police’s role in this blatantly racist, horrifying event,” said Elliot Hungerford, a Burlington resident who was present at the protest.
Burlington Police Chief Shawn Burke also testified at the City Council meeting on March 23. Burke explained the Burlington Police Department’s plans for responding to the incident on Dorset Street.
“A very frustrating element of this incident [is that neither] local law enforcement nor the government can stop the enforcement operations of ICE,” Burke said.
When ICE entered the home, Andrade and Jerez dropped to the floor with their hands in the air, and yelled that they were surrendering, Virag stated.
“The only reason they were ‘surrendering’ was because ICE came in, pointing guns at them,” Virag stated.
At the time of the raid, Virag did not know if his clients had secured legal representation, and at 5:00 p.m., he decided to go to the house. When he got there, law enforcement had already entered the home, he said.
Jose Jerez, who is a U.S. citizen, was not arrested. However, he was briefly detained inside the house, Virag stated.
“When ICE approached Jose, they picked him up off the ground and threw him back down. Jose was yelling that he was a U.S. citizen, to which ICE yelled that they did not care and then proceeded to go through Jose’s pockets,” Virag stated.
At around 7:00 p.m., Virag went up to the front door of the house and spoke with Jerez and another community member. Jerez was in visible shock and was physically and emotionally unwell, according to Virag.
“My representation of Jose is strictly exploring avenues of accountability of ICE and potentially other law enforcement for what happened to him inside the home. It is not immigration related since he’s a U.S. citizen,” Virag stated.
All three people detained in the raid have since been released, the last of whom was Johana Patin Patin on March 16.
