When you watch the news footage from March 16, a glaring anomaly stands out.
The broadcast merges two different segments from the same day, telling two completely contradictory stories about the exact same ice operation. In one breath, the reporting covers the unconditional release of Johana Patin Patin. In the next, it pivots to the continued detention of Christian Jerez Andrade. Both were pulled from the same home under the exact same circumstances, yet the federal system applied entirely different rules to each of them.
Holes in the Official Story
To understand how this contradictory legal fallout happened, we have to look at the raid itself and the massive holes in the official narrative.
The incident started when ice agents attempted to stop a vehicle in South Burlington during the morning school commute. The agency claims their target, Deyvi Daniel Corona Sanchez, “weaponized” his car by ramming federal vehicles before fleeing on foot. ice stated he came to their attention after a local DUI stop earlier this year, highlighting a dangerous pipeline between routine local law enforcement encounters and federal immigration targets.
However, local witnesses and advocates describe a very different scene. They report that unmarked federal vehicles aggressively boxed the car in, effectively causing the collision themselves. More importantly, advocates contend that the actual target was not the driver and was not even present at the scene that day.
Peaceful Singing Met With Police Brutality and Complicity
Despite the target supposedly fleeing, agents surrounded a former insurance office on Dorset Street where Johana lived with her family and roommates. What followed was an eight hour siege that exposed the brutal reality of federal overreach and local police complicity.
As the standoff dragged on, hundreds of community members and advocates from Migrant Justice gathered at the property. They formed a human chain, linking arms and singing peacefully to protect their neighbors inside.
Federal ICE agents response was completely disproportionate. Vermont has strict “Fair and Impartial Policing” policies designed to prevent local police from acting as an arm of federal immigration enforcement.
Yet, state and local authorities were fully complicit in the violence that followed. The Vermont State Police deployed a Critical Action Team outfitted in full riot gear to back up the federal agents
Instead of deescalating, ice and local police unleashed military style tactics on the singing crowd. Agents deployed tear gas, fired pepper balls, and threw flashbang grenades directly into the peaceful human chain, leading to the forceful arrest of several demonstrators.
The environment became so toxic and terrifying that Johana had to pass her crying 4 year old daughter through a window to the local elementary school principal just to get the child away from the chemical weapons and the impending raid.
The Court Anomaly: Selective Justice
When the riot squad finally breached the home, they did not find their target. Instead, they detained three bystanders who were never named on the arrest warrant: Johana, her 20 year old sister Camila Patin Patin, and Christian.
This brings us to the contradictory court hearings. Johana, a mother with a pending asylum case, was released by a federal judge who ruled her detention was illegal from the very start.
But Christian, who sought asylum a decade ago, did not get the same justice. Instead of being released from an admittedly unlawful raid, the government used administrative excuses and an unverified rumor of a 2022 warrant to push his hearing back. He remains locked in federal custody. The system is selectively deciding who gets constitutional protections and who remains a hostage to bureaucracy.
The Fallout: They Still Need Our Help
The local news might frame Johana’s release as a tidy conclusion, but the fight did not end when she walked out of the courthouse.
Johana and Camila Patin Patin: Johana is free, but she lost income and is navigating a traumatized household. Her sister Camila was swept up in the same violence and is still caught in the system.
Christian Jerez Andrade and José Jerez: Christian remains locked in a cell, separated from his young son. His 18 year old nephew José, who was inside the house during the terrifying breach, is now fighting to get his uncle legal representation and bring him home.
The community has organized GoFundMe campaigns to support these individuals. They urgently need financial backing to secure legal defense, to get Christian out of detention, and to cover the basic survival needs of families targeted by this extreme police brutality.
Fundraiser for Johana and Camila: Emergency Support for Johana and Camila’s Family
Fundraiser for Christian and José: Support the Jerez Family after Violent ice Raid
The families still need help.
