Two students from Nicaragua who attend Champlain Valley Union High School in Hinesburg must leave the U.S. by the end of April after the Trump administration revoked their legal protections.
The siblings, both seniors, won’t try to legally challenge the order and will voluntarily return to the Central American country in the coming weeks, according to Christina Daudelin, who works to support student and community engagement at the Champlain Valley School District. Before the teens go, though, the school will host a private graduation ceremony next week for them, their family members and some students and faculty.
One of the students has been at the high school since the beginning of this school year and another came to Vermont a year and a half ago. They have enough credits to graduate, so they will both be able to leave the country with a high school diploma, Daudelin said.
Former president Joe Biden instituted the program — which allowed up to 30,000 people from the four countries to come each month — to encourage legal immigration. Daudelin said her district hasn’t heard of any other students in the state that are impacted by the order. If the students hadn’t decided to leave voluntarily, they would have been deported.
CVSD superintendent Adam Bunting announced the news in an email to community members on Wednesday evening.
“These students, who have done nothing wrong, are suddenly being told they don’t belong,” Bunting wrote. “They came to the US legally and have followed the rules as expected. Still, they have been given days to leave the country or face deportation.
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Hundreds of community members responded to the email, many in anger and disbelief, according to Daudelin. Some have offered money or legal help. Dozens of cards for the students were dropped off at the high school on Thursday morning.
Elected officials, including state representatives, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-Vt.) office and State Treasurer Mike Pieciak, have also reached out offering support, Daudelin said.
“At a time when many are turning away from the news because it feels overwhelming, I’m heartened that the well-being of our kids is what brings us together and helps us find the resilience and resolve to act,” Bunting wrote in an email to Seven Days.
The school district, the largest in the state, is encouraging concerned Vermonters to contact their federal representatives to express their opposition to the Trump administration’s policy. It is also urging them to ask state legislators to establish a “state-level deportation fund” that would help pay immigrants’ legal fees. Other states, including California, have set up such funds, Daudelin said.
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“All of the adults who are involved are walking this very fine line right now between loving these kids and wanting to protect them and knowing we can’t,” Daudelin said.
One of the texts used in the class that resonated most with the student was a poem by Audre Lorde with the line, “Tomorrow belongs to those of us who conceive of it as belonging to everyone; who lend the best of ourselves to it, and with joy.”
“It’s really heartbreaking,” Langella said, that the “current administration is saying, ‘The future does not belong to you.'”