Living ‘in the shadows’: Some pro-ICE Vermonters support pathways to citizenship

WILLISTON — One ICE supporter showed up to a demonstration Saturday with an American flag and a strong belief in the work that immigration agents do every day.

But that supporter, who introduced himself as Adam Manley, also believes in the American Dream — for undocumented immigrants and U.S. citizens alike.

“By inviting people to come here undocumented and not sending them through the proper channels with documentation, it’s like stabbing them in the back because all these people, they have to live in the shadows,” Manley said.

The planned gathering in support of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement was promoted on social media by a group calling itself Mass ICE Patriots. The event outside the agency’s Law Enforcement Support Center turned into an amalgamation of Vermonters on both sides of the immigration issue. Counterprotesters and observers showed up as the ICE supporters waved flags in the rain.

Some conversations got heated. But some members of both sides said there should be better pathways to citizenship.

For Manley, a resident of Essex Junction, supporting ICE is a matter of preserving law and order in society.

“The laws apply equally to everybody,” Manley said. “And, you know, once you start attacking those, you open up the door to, you know, all kinds of, you know, basically anti-American way of life.”

John Ames, of Winooski, was the first person to turn up on the rainy morning. He carried a sign with a simple message of his own: “ICE Thug Goons Out.”

“They do terrible things, you know, at the behest of Stephen Miller,” Ames said, referring to President Donald Trump’s newly appointed chief of staff. “You know, they want them to do, what, 3,000 arrests a day? So they do these horrible things to people.”

While his views differed strongly from the pro-ICE demonstrators, Ames said he found common ground with one person who agreed that ICE’s enforcement tactics were too harsh.

Manley said he worries about the negative sentiment against ICE officers. But he also worries about the status of undocumented immigrants in the U.S., who are excluded from many rights that citizens are granted.

“There needs to be a one-time program where anybody that isn’t documented can step forward,” Manley said, adding that, in his view, Biden-era policies led to the current situation. “We can vet them and get them on a pathway to either citizenship or at least legal working standards.”

Saturday’s situation was not without conflict. Manley got into a passionate debate about law and order with CJ, a resident of St. Albans, who declined to provide a last name. CJ argued that to solve the immigration issue, America needs to look toward communities like Fairfax County, Virginia. 

Fairfax County decided not to abide by federal immigration policies, instead adopting policies that allow undocumented immigrants to live in the community without fear of discovery.

CJ argued that the policy there has contributed to a thriving education system and a growing tech sector.

“When people are willing to say, ‘Oh, OK, new people are coming in. How can we welcome them so that they can join the community, can follow the laws here,’” CJ said, “we are better for it.”

Hank Poitras, a provocative online presence also known as Planet Hank, turned up to condemn both sides of the demonstration and the media attention it garnered. He directed most of his comments toward the journalists present, arguing that the news was “obsessed” with the immigration debate.

Poitras went on to argue that there were more counterprotesters than ICE supporters present.

“That’s the whole point, man,” Ames called back.

VTDigger counted about 10 pro-ICE protesters and roughly six counterprotesters and observers at the height of the demonstration.

CJ said Poitras was an example of the people who drive immigration debates — people who gain attention by using inflammatory rhetoric. Their voices drown out people on the pro-ICE side who may be trying to express themselves in a reasonable manner, she said.

“These discussions are unavoidably piloted by people like that who ultimately know you, you can make a career, you can find success and public support if you’re loud and hateful,” CJ said.

Manley said he knows many undocumented immigrants in his community and would like them to have a chance at the rights and benefits that citizens enjoy, such as voting.

Reforming the laws is the first step to changing their situations, he said.

“I hope, you know, that they can do well and participate in society right next to the rest of us and, and not have to live in the shadows,” Manley said. 

“But you know, until we change the laws, you can’t just wish it away.”

Read the story on VTDigger here: Living ‘in the shadows’: Some pro-ICE Vermonters support pathways to citizenship.