By Kolby LaMarche

Less than a week after federal immigration agents raided a Dorset Street home and detained three people – one of whom was released yesterday – in a botched operation that sparked daylong protests and clashes, the family at the center of the incident has launched a GoFundMe.

The campaign, titled “Support the Jerez Family after Violent ICE Raid,” was created over the weekend by 18-year-old José Jerez on behalf of himself, his detained uncle Christian Humberto Jerez-Andrade, and the uncle’s wife and children. As of Tuesday afternoon, it had collected $25,386 from donors toward a $30,000 goal. 

Over the weekend, the goal was originally $25k and has since been expanded. 

Many readers already know the broad outlines of what happened March 11 at 337 Dorset Street. ICE agents arrived with a warrant for a Mexican man who was not inside the home. Instead, they detained Jerez-Andrade, a 31-year-old Honduran, along with two Ecuadorian sisters. Protesters who gathered outside were met with tear gas and pepper spray as officers cleared the way for the agents. 

Mutual aid from Burlington and state police kept the scene from spiraling further, city and state officials later said, but the episode left residents shaken and prompted calls for investigations from the mayor, governor and Chittenden County State’s Attorney.

José Jerez, who was inside the house during the raid, offered a raw, first-person account in the GoFundMe description that has resonated with donors.

“I thought I was going to die,” he wrote. “They put a gun in my face. The door was open the whole time; I don’t know why they needed to use force to get into the house. They grabbed us and threw us on the floor. They handcuffed me. They slammed me against the wall… They forced their way into my pockets and took my phone. They took my ID, and they left with it.”

Left alone afterward with a broken door, no phone and no identification, Jerez said he had “no Uncle who has been my only family here in Vermont. Just a broken door, and silence, and a kind of fear that never leaves you even after the chaos does.”

The money, he explained, will go directly to immediate needs: legal fees for his uncle’s ongoing court hearings — attorneys have already filed petitions and secured emergency federal orders blocking transfer out of state — replacement of the stolen phone and ID, basic living expenses for Jerez himself, and emergency support for the entire family while they fight for Christian’s release.

“I am asking for your help because I cannot do this alone,” Jerez wrote. “The money raised here will go directly to me, and I will make sure it reaches where it is needed most… Every dollar tells us that this community has not forgotten us.”

The bilingual post — offered in both English and Spanish — also took a nod to the hundreds who stood in the rain outside the home that day. “If you were one of those people, or if you wish you had been, this is another way to stand with us,” it reads.

Supporters have also pointed donors toward the Vermont Immigration Legal Defense Fund, an initiative created to provide emergency legal representation to immigrants facing detention or deportation proceedings, people just like José Jerez. It is unclear why José Jerez set up his own fundraising campaign.

The defense fund coordinates pro bono lawyers, leverages national expertise and has helped ensure detained Vermonters receive representation shown to dramatically improve outcomes in removal cases. Its website states it exists precisely “to support and expand legal resources available to organizations that protect asylum seekers, immigrants, and marginalized people facing deportation or detention.” 

Earlier fundraising drives pushed the effort past $500,000 last year.

Christian Jerez-Andrade remains in custody in a Vermont state prison while his legal team presses for release. Federal judges have already blocked ICE from moving him or the other two detainees out of state, buying time for hearings. His nephew’s campaign notes the family is “still fighting.”

The GoFundMe has drawn donations ranging from small one-time gifts to larger contributions, with many commenters echoing the sentiment José expressed: that the raid targeted the wrong person yet upended an entire household that had come to Vermont seeking safety. 

Jerez himself arrived only five months ago after losing a close friend to gun violence in New Orleans, he said.

José Jerez closed his appeal with a quiet promise. “We are still here, too.”