In Winooski, Vermont, a small school district of about 800 students has taken a stand against federal immigration enforcement policies. Superintendent Wilmer Chavarria has refused to sign a document affirming compliance with the Trump administration's ban on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts, and the district was the first in Vermont to pass a sanctuary policy protecting immigrant students from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrests on school grounds.
The district, where nearly 60% of students are people of color and more than a third are English learners, has been directly affected by federal policies. Chavarria, a naturalized US citizen, was detained by immigration officials at a Houston airport last year. In November, a second-grade student was detained with his mother by federal agents. The district also faced racist messages after a video of a student raising the Somali flag went viral.
Despite the risk of losing federal funding, which accounts for 6% of the district's annual budget, Chavarria said he would not compromise his values. 'When somebody wants us to lose funding, we’re going to lose it anyways. The difference is, did we lose it while bending the knee, or did we lose it while standing up for our values?' he said.
Winooski has been a federal refugee resettlement community for over three decades, accepting hundreds of immigrants annually. The Trump administration recently cut the refugee admissions cap to 7,500 for 2026, the lowest since the program's inception. So far this year, about 50 refugees have relocated to Vermont.
The sanctuary policy restricts staff from sharing student data with immigration officials and limits agents' access to campus without a judicial warrant. In May, the Vermont legislature passed a law requiring all schools in the state to have similar protocols, following advocacy from Chavarria and others.
