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A4 U.S. NEWS
Thursday 29 OcTOber 2020
ICE settles lawsuit filed by immigrant activists in Vermont

By LISA RATHKE Afterward, Thelma Go-
Associated Press mez, of Migrant Justice,
BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) — said what happened was
The federal government a clear example of what
has agreed not to deport happens when the peo-
three immigrant activists ple rise up to defend their
in Vermont who sued two rights. "Not everybody's
years after they were ar- going to like it, but we can't
rested, saying they were be scared and we can't re-
targeted in retaliation for treat," she said through an
their activism, accord- interpreter.
ing to the settlement filed Burlington police arrived a
Wednesday in U.S. District short time later, and an of-
Court in Vermont. ficer talked with an activist.
As part of the settlement Police said later that no-
in the lawsuit against U.S. body was willing to make a
Immigration and Customs statement about what they
Enforcement and the De- observed.
partment of Homeland One of the three plaintiffs,
Security, ICE will also pay Zully Palacios Rodriguez,
$100,000 to be split among said when the lawsuit was
the three plaintiffs. filed that she and a fellow
"ICE tried to terrorize us by Migrant Justice member
going after our leaders," were arrested by armed
said plaintiff Victor Diaz, Enrique Balcazar, left, Zully Palacios Rodriguez, center, and Victor Diaz, right, of the group Migrant undercover agents as they
Justice, poses outside the federal courthouse on Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2020, in Burlington, Vt.
a member of Migrant Jus- Associated Press were leaving the group's
tice, an advocacy group office in Burlington in 2017.
representing immigrant going after our organiza- An email was sent to ICE way, pulled out a machete Before the arrest, she said,
farmworkers in Vermont, at tion. They tried to silence us, seeking comment. and from the driver's seat ICE tried to enter her email
a rally outside the federal but with this settlement we During the rally, a driver who banged it on hood of his account and used a confi-
courthouse on Wednes- are saying that we will not wanted to drive through vehicle. Leaders urged ac- dential informant to spy on
day. He spoke in Spanish as be silenced," he to cheers the street blocked by ac- tivists to get out of the way the group's members and
a translator interpreted. among the crowd blocking tivists holding signs yelled and let the vehicle pass as gather information about
"They tried to divide us by part of a downtown street. at them to get out of the he zoomed through. them.q

Road, logging restrictions to end in largest national forest

rent Republican Gov. Mike it concluded that a policy "The decision to roll back
Dunleavy. Members of change for Tongass "can the roadless rule on the
Alaska's congressional del- be made without major Tongass was made in spite
egation also have pushed adverse impacts to the rec- of, not in support of, south-
for the exemption. reation, tourism, and fishing east Alaskans and our com-
About 9.4 million of Ton- industries, while providing munities," said Meredith
gass' 16.7 million acres are benefits to the timber and Trainor, executive director
considered roadless areas, mining industries, increas- of the Southeast Alaska
according to the Forest Ser- ing opportunities for com- Conservation Council. "In
vice, which falls under the munity infrastructure, and making this decision, the
USDA. That number differs eliminating unnecessary Trump administration and
slightly from the 9.2 million regulations." the sham rulemaking pro-
acres the agency cited in In a separate statement, cess they undertook in our
its draft environmental re- the USDA said the exemp- region ignored economic
In this July 31, 2013, file photo, tourists visiting the Mendenhall view last fall. The majority of tion itself doesn't authorize realities, environmental im-
Glacier in the Tongass National Forest are reflected in a pool of Tongass is in a natural con- any specific work and that peratives, and worst of all,
water as they make their way to Nugget Falls in Juneau, Alaska. dition, and the forest is one proposed projects still must the will of the people who
Associated Press of the largest, relatively in- comply with the forest's actually live here."
By BECKY BOHRER largest national forest, from tact temperate rainforests management plan and Randi Spivak, public lands
Associated Press the so-called roadless rule, in the world, the agency are subject to federal envi- director at the Center for
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The protections that ban road said. ronmental review. Biological Diversity, referred
federal government an- construction and timber Many of the roadless areas U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, an to the forest's old-growth
nounced plans Wednesday harvests with limited excep- are wildlife habitats, eco- Alaska Republican, said on trees as giants.
to lift restrictions on logging tions. It applies to nearly systems and natural areas social media that a full ex- "As sure as the sun rises in
and building roads in a pris- one-quarter of all U.S. For- like old-growth temperate emption from the roadless the east, with our allies, we
tine rainforest in Alaska that est Service lands. rainforests, ice fields and rule is about access "to rec- will sue to keep these mag-
provides habitat for wolves, The rule, dating to 2001, has glaciers, and islands facing reation, renewable energy nificent giants standing for
bears and salmon. Con- long been a focus of litiga- the open Pacific Ocean and more while ensuring centuries to come," Spivak
servation groups vowed to tion. "that exist nowhere else in good stewardship of our said.
fight the decision. Alaska in 2018, under then- the National Forest system," lands and waters." An official notice of the
The U.S. Department of Ag- Gov. Bill Walker, asked the according to the Forest Ser- Conservation groups criti- change at Tongass is ex-
riculture said it has decided federal government to vice. cized the decision as short- pected to be published
to exempt the Tongass Na- consider the exemption, a The USDA, in a notice re- sighted and driven by poli- in the Federal Register on
tional Forest, the country's decision supported by cur- leased Wednesday, said tics. Thursday.q