By Kolby R. LaMarche

Since January, Patrick Leahy Burlington International Airport has processed over 450 individuals detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), according to local activist groups. Transfers occur in the early morning, before regular airport hours and foot traffic, through a nonpublic side entrance into an unknown space.

Activists Julie Macuga and Leif Taranta recently confronted ICE and TSA officers at BTV airport when they suspected a detainee transfer early in the morning.

Macuga and Taranta saw non-uniformed federal agents ushering a detained individual from a white van into the airport, according to video taken at the scene. After being told to “stay back,” Macuga and Taranta went inside the airport, seeking a public response from the Burlington Police Department. Many detainees lack immediate access to legal representation during transfers, the activists said.

While in the airport, Macuga and Taranta were unable to meet with BPD officers but connected with one via phone. The officer stated he was aware of the federal agents’ presence and activities and could not interfere in their work.

Earlier this month, Airport Director Nic Longo told residents regarding ICE activity, “From an airport perspective, from a legal perspective, there’s very little we can do.”

He cited a decades-long agreement with federal agencies for grants and loans, including $30 million for 2025 and $180 million planned over the next few years.

Longo emphasized that ICE agents follow standard security procedures, like commercial passengers, to ensure fairness. Activists argue the airport’s cooperation with ICE raises ethical concerns for a public facility.

Activist groups across the state, like 50501VT, plan to rally at the Burlington Airport Commission meeting on August 6 at 4:00 p.m. in the Wright Room, second floor, to the left of the lobby stairs.

50501VT, in a statement, demands a public response on the airport’s role in ICE operations and policies prioritizing transparency and human rights.

High-profile cases have heightened scrutiny on the airport. In May, a Vermont judge declared the detention of Kseniia Petrova, a Harvard genetics researcher transferred through the airport, unlawful.

In April, ICE detained 10 construction workers near Newport Crossing, in Northern Vermont, at an affordable housing project. Five carried proof of immigration status and were scheduled for release, while the status of others remained unclear. Last month, seven women were transferred via United Airlines from Burlington to Chicago, then Washington, D.C., escorted by plainclothes agents.

Burlington Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak has affirmed the city’s commitment to protecting immigrants, stating the Burlington Police Department does not enforce civil immigration laws.

State senators proposed S.44 to limit local law enforcement’s cooperation with ICE if a northern border emergency is declared. A bill to ban Vermont prisons from housing ICE detainees stalled in the House.