By Michael Donoghue
Vermont News First

A Migrant Justice leader from Milton, who was found illegally in the country by the U.S. Border Patrol in Richford last month, will remain in custody as a federal judge considers her fate.

Migrant Justice has claimed Heidi “Fabi” Perez Alfaro, 18, a recent Milton High graduate, and her stepfather, Jose Ignacio “Nacho” De La Cruz, 29, had been delivering meals to farm workers in Richford when they were stopped about noon Saturday June 14 by a U.S. Border Patrol Agent.

Their lawyers had filed claims they were targeted due to their First Amendment rights fighting for migrant workers, but Chief Federal Judge Christina Reiss said during a hearing Monday afternoon she saw no evidence that the Border Patrol Agent knew their identities or their advocacy for farm workers during the stop.

Reiss gave attorneys Brett Stokes of Vermont Law School and Dawn Seibert of the Vermont Prisoners’ Rights Office in Montpelier one week to provide a supplemental filing to support their fight.

The judge told Acting U.S. Attorney Michael P. Drescher that he will have two days to file his written response.

De La Cruz was due for a similar bail hearing Tuesday afternoon in U. S. District Court, but Stokes asked for a delay hours before it was convened.

Perez Alfaro, who frequently has been a public speaker for Migrant Justice on legislative and social issues, will remain jailed at the Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility in South Burlington.

She said in a court affidavit that she has been well treated, receives three meals a day and the prison is clean.  She spends her time going for walks, doing puzzles, talking with family and friends on the phone.

Reiss said she will continue an injunction blocking federal officials from moving Perez Alfaro out of state.

Her lawyers have admitted that Perez Alfaro entered the United States illegally in early 2023 by failing to cross at a proper Port of Entry.

Perez Alfaro wrote she graduated with two honors – for grades and good conduct — from Milton High in June and hopes to attend Vermont State University in the fall.

A couple of dozen protestors outside the federal courthouse were unhappy with the decision on Monday.  They had gathered to try to offer support for the Milton woman.

Perez Alfaro sat quietly during the nearly two-hour court hearing.  A Spanish interpreter translated for her what the lawyers and Judge Reiss were saying.

De La Cruz may have a more uphill battle getting release.  The U.S. Border Patrol in Richford said in court papers they have evidence that he is linked to an ongoing criminal investigation into smuggling of illegal immigrants into Northern Vermont.

Perez Alfaro has no known link to that case, Drescher told the court, but the investigation is continuing.

The Border Patrol netted six arrests in Richford during an April incident, court records note.  The phone number for De la Cruz was included in the cellphone from one of the Mexican woman detained, the Border Patrol said as part of an 18-page court affidavit.

Six illegal immigrants — two from Mexico, two from Venezuela and two from Ecuador — were apprehended during the April incident.  At least four were held for three days before pleading guilty in criminal court.  The four were sentenced to time served and eventually deported.  A fifth is due for sentencing next month and it is unclear what happened to the sixth.

The affidavit also notes De La Cruz was removed from the United States in 2022 at a Border Patrol checkpoint in Del Rio, Texas.  The specific details of the removal are limited due to COVID procedures when the Border Patrol was told to “catch-and-release” with as little human interaction as possible.

De La Cruz had re-entered the United States within a month of his removal, court records said.

The Border Patrol Agent that stopped the van carrying Perez Alfaro and her stepfather, “Nacho” De La Cruz was the lone witness called during the hearing.

The Border Patrol Agent testified there were several suspicious factors that attracted his attention to the large passenger van and to ultimately ordered it to stop.  In his report, the agent explained he has been trained to spot illegal trafficking trends.

In his report Stokes tried to argue that the Perez Alfaro and De La Cruz were within their rights not to provide their identity to the Border Patrol.

“I think they have a right to not answer,” Stokes said.

Reiss said, unfortunately for them, that was not true.

The judge also noted they never told the Border Patrol they were in the area delivering meals to farm workers.  They failed to cooperate with the agent, De La Cruz failed to roll down his window and failed to follow lawful commands.

Drescher noted that there have been three other recent illegal immigrant smuggling cases on the same dead-end road.

The agent also noted other suspicious items that drew his attention, including rolling through an intersection with a stop sign.

De La Cruz and Perez Alfaro, who are both Mexicans, have no legal status in the United States and been active with Migrant Justice, records show.  Migrant Justice, a non-profit advocacy group, has argued they were detained for no known reason.

The civil lawsuit was filed against Theresa Messier, the superintendent at the South Burlington prison where she is detained, President Donald Trump, Kristi Noem, Secretary of the U.S. Homeland Security, Todd Lyons, the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Peter Flores, acting commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protections, David Johnston, Vermont office of ICE and Patricia Hyde, acting director of the Boston office of ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations and Pamela Bondi, the U.S. Attorney General.