Migrant Justice = Climate Justice

350Vermonters are showing up to protect their communities as immigration enforcement wields the tools of a rising dictatorship. Many in our network are getting trained in rapid response; going to ICE check-ins, court hearings, and testimonies; showing up to protest the system; and putting their bodies on the line to protect others. 

And on Friday, May 1, 350VT picketed with Migrant Justice in support of the Milk With Dignity campaign. As part of a nationwide day of collective action for democracy and labor rights, Migrant Justice held an all-day picket at the Hannaford in Williston, demanding that the largest supermarket chain in northern New England sign on to the Milk with Dignity Program to ensure that farmworkers have safe and fair working conditions.

We do this because we care about each other, we understand we are witnessing steps toward fascism, and we recognize that our safety is bound together. We cannot achieve climate justice without labor rights and climate solutions for everyone, migrant workers included.

Here are five reasons why migrant justice is part of 350VT’s climate justice work:

1. Authoritarianism blocks progress. We will not get the sweeping changes we need to address the climate crisis under the current fascist administration. Deploying immigration enforcement is a key tactic the Trump administration is using to scapegoat migrants while fossil fuel billionaires, private prison companies, and politicians profit from the heartbreak of our communities. This is a tool of rising authoritarianism to sow chaos, divide us, and distract us from the very few who hold wealth and power. But it’s not working, because we keep resisting, keep protecting one another, and keep imagining a different world. If we want that world, including a stable climate and just transition, we need to continue powerful organizing against the rising fascist regime. Right now, this means standing with our immigrant neighbors.

2. We want to invest in a livable planet, not ICE. The “Big Beautiful Bill” passed last fall allocated $170 billion to anti-immigrant enforcement, detention, and deportation (National Immigration Law Center). This year alone, taxpayers will pay $77.31 billion for mass deportations and detentions. But imagine: Instead of funding separations of kids from their parents, raids, kidnappings, murder, and terrorizing our communities, that $77.31 billion could power 145.91 million households with solar electricity for a year (National Priorities Project). That’s more than all of the households in the US (based on 2020 census data). 

3. Climate change drives displacement; adaptation is a  solution. A Climate Justice framework understands that those who have contributed least to the climate crisis are often the ones to be most impacted. One impact of climate events is global displacement. People should be able to stay in their homes and have the resources to adapt and thrive where they are. But sometimes migration is a necessary adaptation, one humans have been employing for thousands of years. We say yes to both reparations so people can stay in their homes and yes to welcoming migrants looking to find new ones. 

4. Our struggles share roots. Climate Justice seeks to address the root cause of climate change and all the injustices that come from its impacts. The root causes of climate change—extraction, oppression, and colonialism—are also at the root of other injustices where people are divided and deemed “less than” so that a very few can hold power and wealth.

5. Building a bigger “we” is how we win. Our struggles share the same roots, and they also share the same possibility of transformation. 350Vermont and many other climate justice organizations link their struggles with those of migrants, both because it reflects the values of climate justice and because it is one of the most strategic things we can do to meaningfully transition to a just and thriving world. None of us can win on our own, but when we see movements for social change connected, we create a powerful force for collective liberation and a livable planet.

Migrant justice and a livable climate are part of the same vision of a thriving future for all. This is how we build a movement that goes beyond fighting just one branch of injustice at a time. This is how we address our problems at the root and create profound transformation.

Additional Tools & Actions

• Report & Observe: Review Migrant Justice’s short flyer on reporting ICE/border patrol sightings and sign up to receive emergency alerts and information about future trainings here—make sure to select “rapid response.” 

• Form Local Mutual Aid & Rapid Response Groups to Be Ready to Take Care of One Another: Here are some resources for getting started from States at the Core. Check out Activist Checklist for good digital security checklists which are important when doing this kind of work.

• Build Your Skills: Check out ICE Out VT Alliance, which is hosting a number of NVDA trainings in advance of an action on May 8th and States at the Core (just to name a few resources!)

• Volunteer with Organizations Working Directly with Those Most Impacted: Association of Africans Living in Vermont (Greater Burlington Area), Central Vermont Refugee Action Network (Montpelier Area/Central VT), U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrant, (Rutland/Greater Burlington Area) and Vermont Afghan Alliance (Greater Burlington Area).