To the editor: Scott speaks against ICE, but has nominated ‘ICE enabler’ for Supreme Court
The Chester Telegraph | Jan 28, 2026 | Comments 5
While Gov. Phil Scott recently stated that Trump’s immigration crackdown may be “a deliberate federal intimidation and incitement of American citizens, ” he has nominated an ICE-enabler to a lifetime appointment to Vermont’s highest court, the Vermont Supreme Court.
As we mourn the murders of Renee Good, Alex Pretti, and the thousands of victims of ICE violence, we are urging all Vermonters to take a moment to email every Vermont state senator urging them to vote AGAINST confirming Michael Drescher to the Vermont Supreme Court. You can find your senator and contact information by clicking here.
Recently, five federal prosecutors in Minneapolis and six more in Washington, D.C., resigned, in protest of ICE’s lawless violence. Unlike them, Vermont’s federal prosecutor, Michael Drescher, fell right in lockstep with Trump’s reign of terror in his prosecution of two law-abiding graduate students, Rumeysa Ozturk and Mohsen Mahdawi, for exercising their First Amendment rights to free speech.
When asked last week by Sen. Robert Norris, R-Franklin, during the Judiciary Committee’s consideration of Drescher, if he would have done anything differently, he replied, “I don’t think so. I don’t think so.” Sen. Becca White, D-Windsor District, said she didn’t know which was worse, “The idea that Drescher understood the cruelty of what he was defending and continued” or that he was “in total alignment” with the Trump administration.
Vermonters are paying close attention to how each state senator votes and will not forget come election time. Senators should not buy Drescher’s pathetic defense that he “was just doing his job.”
According to VT Digger, Drescher made the decision last September to fly to Florida in order to pose next to Trump’s Attorney General Pam Bondi where he congratulated her on her leadership of the Department of Homeland Security, which works in tandem with ICE and Customs and Border Protection in their lawless campaign of terror.
While I ask everyone to email Vermont state senators to vote against Drescher’s lifetime appointment to the court, it is just as important to demand that our governor withdraw this incredibly dangerous nomination.
John Field
Putney
Filed Under: Commentary • Letters to the Editor
ICE had 7,000 field officers a year ago. Since last January 12,000 new field officers have been hired. Training for new recruits has been reduced from three months to 47 days. Vetting of recruits is minimal, meaning that the quality of these recruits is suspect, at best.
At least two peaceful observers have been executed in the street this month and the administration has told the agents that they cannot be prosecuted for any violations of civil rights, let alone murder.
Lastly, it’s not just democrats who have a problem with all of this. Anyone who’s paying attention and has even a smidge of compassion in their heart is calling it out, regardless of past party affiliation.
Thank you for this article. It is crucial that Vermont’s courts not see the same degradations as others in the U.S. Normalizing allegiance of Justices to party, ideology, or favor has gotten us to the edge of the ethical cliff we find ourselves on. Confirmation of any nominees unwilling to apply the law equally to the farmer, County Sheriff, or highest elected official, would be irresponsible. Anyone who seeks approval of those that routinely violate State and U.S. Constitutions, has no place in our courts. (Barring a great deal of secrecy or time travel, Mr. Stern’s allegations of President Clinton’s use of an agency not yet formed, seem to be unfounded.)
Mr. Stern, ICE has become a terrorist organization. Deportations are down under Trump, way down, because they are too busy with the theater of terror. Bands of masked men are kidnapping people off the street, breaking down doors and illegally entering homes and businesses, gassing, maiming, beating, and killing citizens for exercising their right to protest, destroying livelihoods and lives, while blatantly lying to the public about their activities. I pray for the day they all stand trial.
It is astounding the deceit of those who would omit the fact that prior to Trump, ICE followed the law, according due process to detainees without the fascist Rambo cosplay and political assassinations of US citizens protesting ICE’s violations of the US Constitution.
It’s astounding how the democrats have completely fooled so many people into believing that ICE which Clinton, Obama, and Biden used for removing illegals as law requires suddenly within a year has turned into a terrorist organization with most of the same people in leadership positions just easily swayed to be such.