VAAP Talks Defense Fund with VT Digger

Vermont Immigration Legal Defense Fund raises $250K, fueling expansion of key organization

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“The Vermont Asylum Assistance Project, an immigration law organization helping noncitizens fight detention and removal in Vermont, received the fund’s first grant.”

by Ethan Weinstein, August 18, 2025, 5:28 pm": “Mere months ago, the Vermont Asylum Assistance Project was furloughing staff, reeling from federal funding cuts that slashed about half of the group’s budget. 

“Now, the key immigration law organization helping noncitizens fight detention and removal in Vermont is expanding rapidly, according to Executive Director Jill Martin Diaz. That’s thanks to both private donations — some in the six figures — as well as a $100,000 grant from the Vermont Immigration Legal Defense Fund. 

“‘For better or worse, this year has taught me how to run a business,’ Martin Diaz said. 

“The asylum assistance project is the first recipient of money from the legal defense fund. A group of well-connected leaders and elected officials announced the fund in May, quickly raising more than $30,000 in donations online after that rollout, according to Natalie Silver, a consultant for the fundraising operation.

“More than three months in, the fund, created to expand legal resources for Vermonters facing immigration proceedings, has raised $250,000, a quarter of the way to its $1 million goal. 

“As President Donald Trump’s administration ramps up immigration enforcement nationwide, the effects have hit Vermont, with noncitizens detained, incarcerated in the state’s prisons and moved by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement around the country. Few attorneys in Vermont have immigration law expertise, a niche that the legal defense fund and asylum assistance project have looked to fill. 

'“‘This is something Vermonters really care about,’ Silver said. ‘What we have learned is that people are fired up about the fact that there are people in our communities who are being pushed through this system without ever speaking to an attorney.’

“Silver said the fund has received money from more than 700 individual donors, and has benefited from partnerships, like one with Vermont Green Football Club, which raised $25,000.

‘“There is an urgent need. The need is only increasing,’ she said. 

“Martin Diaz agreed. The asylum assistance project is looking to increase its partnerships by having staff work alongside other community organizations, growing the clinic’s regional reach. The organization is also increasing its work in Vermont’s prisons, where legal staff can meet people in need of representation. 

“‘This is a system that’s overdue for Vermont, and we want to sustain it going forward,” they said. 

“In the next few months, the project will bring on two new legal fellows, as well as an intake specialist and a director of operations, among other positions, according to Martin Diaz. On the back of strong fundraising, the Vermont Asylum Assistance Project plans to more than double its spending, from $383,000 last fiscal year to more than $1.05 million this year. 

“Martin Diaz described this whirlwind period as bittersweet. On the one hand, the Vermont Asylum Assistance Project has taken off. But that’s due to the surge in immigration enforcement since Trump took office, and meanwhile, other organizations engaged in similar work have suffered from federal funding cuts. 

“‘To think that in just a few months we pivoted so dramatically, it’s stunning,’ they said.”