Two Champlain Valley Union High School students from Nicaragua are preparing to leave the United States after the Department of Homeland Security terminated the immigration program that had allowed them to reside in Vermont legally, according to school officials.
Last month, the for more than a half-million people from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela.
Adam Bunting, superintendent of the Champlain Valley School District, said the order affects two students whose families received government correspondences directing them to leave the country within 30 days.
In a letter sent to the CVSD community Thursday, Bunting called the news 鈥渉eartbreaking.鈥�
鈥淭hese students are not political operatives. They are not criminals. They are not threats. They are young people who have found safety and meaning in our community,鈥� Bunting wrote. "And now, because of a shift in federal policy, their lives are being upended 鈥� again.鈥�
These federal policies are affecting our kids. And I think people need to be aware of that, because they don鈥檛 know.Adam Bunting, Champlain Valley School District
Bunting told Vermont Public on Thursday that teachers and school administrators have been working with the students鈥� families to keep them in Vermont since DHS issued the order on March 25. When those efforts failed, he said, they felt it was important to inform the broader community about what was happening.
鈥淭hese federal policies are affecting our kids,鈥� Bunting said. 鈥淎nd I think people need to be aware of that, because they don鈥檛 know.鈥�
Statewide education officials contacted Thursday were unaware of other Vermont students affected by the shift in federal immigration policy. A spokesperson for the Vermont Agency of Education said Education Secretary Zoie Saunders met with Bunting Thursday. They said the agency, in coordination with the Vermont Refugee Office, plans to share additional information and resources with superintendents across the state.
Jill Martin Diaz, executive director of the Vermont Asylum Assistance Project, said that, based on anecdotal information their office has received, 鈥渁bout 100鈥� Vermonters have seen their temporary parole status revoked by the Department of Homeland Security.
Many, Martin Diaz said, have received letters 鈥渨ith some pretty strong and deceiving language.鈥�
鈥淭he language in the termination letters is very strong. And I think that鈥檚 by design 鈥� to instill fear in folks and prompt them to self-deport,鈥� they said. 鈥淏ut, in fact, the letters themselves do not indicate that someone has been deported.鈥�
Martin Diaz said people whose parole has been revoked can still legally seek asylum or apply for other legal immigration status. .
The termination of parole status 鈥� it allows people temporarily to enter the United States while they seek pathways to more permanent legal status 鈥� does, however, lead to the loss of work authorization. Martin Diaz said it also exposes people to detention by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and means they begin accruing 鈥渦nlawful presence鈥� days under immigration law, which could affect future immigration applications.
The language in the termination letters is very strong. And I think that鈥檚 by design 鈥� to instill fear in folks and prompt them to self-deport.Jill Martin Diaz, Vermont Asylum Assistance Project
Bunting said his district, as well as the students鈥� families, were aware of the legal nuances. He said their decision to leave now is based in part on the students鈥� desire to one day attend college in the United States. He said one student has been at CVU for months, the other for more than a year.
鈥淭he fear is, 'If I want to go to college in this country someday, what would it mean for me to be living here illegally? And what would be the consequences of that?'鈥� Bunting said.
The two students are well-loved members of the school community, Bunting said, and their imminent departure has hit students and teachers hard.
鈥淲hat I鈥檓 hearing is some shock, some outrage, and then sadness about losing 鈥� maybe 鈥榣osing鈥� is the wrong word 鈥� but having a relationship with a peer change pretty dramatically,鈥� he said.
Bunting said he sees a connection between the involuntary departure of the students and a Department of Education order last week that that they don鈥檛 engage in any practices that advance diversity, equity or inclusion.
鈥淚鈥檝e been thinking a lot about what the far left and the far right has done with the letters of DEI, and the fact that it鈥檚 become so politicized that those letters don鈥檛 really have meaning anymore,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut at the heart of it, at the core of the work we want to be doing, it鈥檚 about human compassion, about our values of wanting to take care of one another. And somehow that鈥檚 been lost in all these politics.鈥�
Bunting said he hopes that the news out of CVU will help Vermonters understand the ways in which federal policy affects real people.
鈥淲hen they start realizing that our political rhetoric is affecting the well-being of young humans, they become motivated,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 hope to see that apathy turning into some productive conversation and work.鈥�
