Advocates decry Border Patrol action at dairy; urge support for migrant farmworkers

Caroline Schirm Gordon, legislative director of Google Vermont, told the House Committee on Agriculture at Small Farm Action Day that she wanted to use her opening minutes to "raise awareness about the breaking news from yesterday." She said U.S. Border Patrol had detained workers and made arrests at what she identified as Vermont’s largest dairy in Berkshire, and that the action had employers and advocates "concerned" about labor supply.

Gordon said news reports and industry testimony have consistently emphasized how critical farmworkers are to Vermont dairy and broader food production. "There might be waves of this sort happening and, that might be, a workforce that might be in the future years afraid to come back to Vermont and and be employed on farms in Vermont," she said, adding that advocates are urging engagement with migrant-justice groups "to be supportive and, in solidarity with the migrant farmworker community."

Rural Vermont (testimony referred to the organization’s statement) was described in the session as expressing solidarity with migrant farmworkers. The committee heard that advocates view the recent enforcement action as an unprecedented stress on an already scarce farm labor pool.

Why it matters: Several speakers at Small Farm Action Day warned that enforcement actions that remove or deter farmworkers could harm Vermont farms’ ability to operate and threaten the state’s food supply chain. The testimony framed the issue as both a labor and food-security concern.

Details and context: Gordon pointed committee members to news coverage and urged lawmakers to consider policy and outreach measures to reassure and support farm laborers and their employers. No specific statutory remedy or formal committee action was proposed during the remarks; speakers asked lawmakers to engage with migrant-justice groups and to consider how legislative language or outreach could address fear among workers.

The committee did not take a formal vote on the subject during the session. The discussion ended with an appeal for continued attention to labor issues and solidarity statements from agriculture advocates.