https://www.vtfreedomfund.org/home daily 1.0 2026-03-13 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60a266ba8f75bd060bd4c8de/724d6a9a-0453-4241-9b0b-1992537984a8/NiNUU2Sb.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60a266ba8f75bd060bd4c8de/1625597649380-K9AVVON7TNP379GQ4P00/259.jpg Home - What’s happening in Vermont? VERMONT JAILS: Vermont Courts send people to jail for lack of bail money even though they haven’t been convicted of anything. These people have NOT been found guilty or sentenced. The person is stuck in jail indefinitely because courts set bail the person can’t pay. There are so many people in jail for lack of money that VFF has had to limit its efforts to just one of the jails in Vermont. Even though we posted bail in more than 110 cases in 2024, we could not begin to meet the need for bail at just one jail. 60% of the people we’ve bailed out were in jail because they missed a court date. Most of these court dates are proceedings where the accused person isn’t permitted to say anything or participate in any way. People miss court dates because the courts do not notify or remind them. They also miss court because they have no transportation, no phone, no mailing address. We have posted bail for people jailed for as long as 12 months without trial. IMMIGRATION JAIL: What’s happening on the border is horrifying—and it’s happening here in Vermont. ICE arrests and incarcerates our community members, especially Vermont farm workers. Vermont Freedom Fund raises money for immigration bonds to free people imprisoned by ICE. Bonds can range anywhere from $1,500 to more than $20,000 per person. VFF works with Migrant Justice and with families and other bond funds across the country to get our people out of ICE prisons. Together we will continue to free people from immigration prison, reunite families, and keep our communities together in the face of white supremacist and xenophobic state violence. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60a266ba8f75bd060bd4c8de/1625597785237-TVKVDQRS31D2EZAYOIOI/No+Title.jpg Home - Who is especially at risk of detention and imprisonment? Approximately 1000­-2000 immigrants from Mexico and Central America have been in Vermont since the mid­ 1990s, working at dairy farms and sustaining Vermont’s agricultural industries, all while risking deportation. Vermont’s agricultural economy depends on migrant farm workers. In 2020, Migrant Justice was awarded a $100,000 settlement after it was revealed that ICE was surveilling, harassing and detaining Migrant Justice activists in a targeted way. Vermonters are incarcerated without trial when they have been accused of unlawful behavior but have not had a chance to tell their side of the story. Many are incarcerated because they missed a court hearing, often because they don’t have a phone or a mailing address and didn’t know about the court date. They can be forced to stay in jail for months or even years without trial unless somebody posts their bail. If they have access to wealth, they get out right away. If they don’t have money for bail, Vermont Freedom Fund will post their bail if we can. In 2024, VFF is using its limited resources to post bail only for people incarcerated at Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility, and for those about to be transported to CRCF. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/60a266ba8f75bd060bd4c8de/1625597888431-LVGCQM0YI7W1O1VST637/IMG_2678.JPG Home - Why is this happening? ICE and CPB agents arrest people without judicial warrants (outside doctors’ offices, at supermarkets, at home, walking on farm roads), act abusively and terrorize them on farms, and separate families. These rogue agencies have been allowed to act with impunity for too long. https://www.vtfreedomfund.org/about daily 0.75 2025-05-16 https://www.vtfreedomfund.org/contact-us daily 0.75 2025-05-16 https://www.vtfreedomfund.org/take-action daily 0.75 2025-09-01 https://www.vtfreedomfund.org/resources daily 0.75 2024-10-18 https://www.vtfreedomfund.org/request-bail daily 0.75 2025-01-25