Operation Take Back America gets started; Border and immigration to get increased focus

VERMONT — Since President Donald Trump took office, his administration has rolled out a host of new changes across the executive branch.

In Vermont, the impact is starting to be seen at the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

This past March, the Justice Department rolled out a new initiative called “Operation Take Back America” to refocus the legal resources that had been devoted to safe neighborhoods and drug enforcement and use them to “implement core policy objectives established by President Trump and the Attorney General.”

So far in Vermont, the reality has been an increasing number of new charges against foreign nationals crossing the northern border, with a recent ramp-up in June.

End of the era

This June, the information released by the Vermont’s U.S. Attorney’s Office — led by acting U.S. Attorney Michale P. Drescher — began to feature more immigration charges. Linked at the bottom of every press release, the effort gave credit to “Operation Take Back America.” 

A memo sent to Justice Department employees on March 6 lays out the program.

“‘Operation Take Back America’ requires that (The Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force) surge existing resources to address the Justice Department’s core enforcement priorities: stopping illegal immigration, eliminating cartels and TCOSs (transnational criminal organizations) and ending illegal trafficking of dangerous drugs and human beings.”

The remaining document lays out those objectives in more detail, referencing a number of executive orders rolled out by Trump in the first days of his presidency as the program’s legal basis.

How the program will actually function, however, is still unclear. For example, under the document’s stated rules, each U.S. Attorney’s district office is being asked to regularly coordinate with local and state law enforcement agencies through the program and track their hours spent towards Operation Take Back America.

Both St. Albans City and Franklin County Sheriff’s Office officials, however, said they haven’t been contacted despite Franklin County’s proximity to the border. 

VSP spokesperson Adam Silverman said the Vermont State Police are not involved in enforcing federal immigration law, nor are they aware of monthly coordination with the feds.

“We are not aware of any monthly meetings regarding immigration enforcement matters,” Silverman said in an emailed statement.

Instead, law enforcement officials referred to the state’s policy around working with federal immigration authorities, as laid out by the state’s Fair and Impartial Policing Policy.

Under the regulations, Vermont’s law enforcement agencies don’t have to talk to immigration authorities, but they can’t exactly prevent them from doing anything either. Further policy guidelines and stipulations lay out in more detail how local authorities are allowed to engage with immigration officials.

With that said, the U.S. Attorney’s Office under Trump has charged four times as many people with immigration crimes in the last five months as it had in the previous five months under Biden. Some of the difference is likely explained due to seasonal differences, but June’s batch of new press releases had a definite theme — more people were being charged with illegally entering the country.

Refocusing resources

Former U.S. Attorney for the District of Vermont Nikolas Kerest, who was given the job under President Joe Biden, submitted his resignation when Trump’s term began.

“Public service is a gift,” Kerest said in a press release at the time. “And I will forever be grateful to have had the chance to work towards a better Vermont — one that is safer for its residents, one in which civil rights are upheld, and one in which the rule of law is respected.”

During Kerest’s time as Vermont’s top federal prosecutor, most of the district’s announcements highlighted The Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force, established in 1982, and Project Safe Neighborhoods, formed in 2001, as the main programs beefed up under Biden.

In practice, a review of the office’s work shows how federal prosecutors put additional resources toward illegal gun possessions, while also working closely with law enforcement partners to take down major drug networks throughout both Bennington and Rutland counties. Some of the longest jail sentences were given to those running dangerous drug networks. 

A few cases reviewed under Kerest, however, did feature illegal immigration as its main focus. Notable prosecutions include a Chinese woman trying to smuggle box turtles near Canaan, or a group of nine Irish nationals being trafficked into Franklin County near Richford.

In comparison, Trump’s justice department has been more keen to charge people with illegally entering the country, which aligns with the administrations’ focus, as laid out by Operation Take Back America. 

This June, a Canadian, a British man, an Irish man, a Chilean and two Mexicans were all picked up and charged. The locations varied, although they were concentrated near Derby Line. A few groups were also picked up this past winter, with some households trying to make the trek across the border together. Notably, one group involved at the time included a family of Ukrainians.

U.S. Customs and Border Patrol reported 19,000 apprehensions of people crossing in 2024 in its Swanton sector, which includes 300 miles of border from New York to New Hampshire, including Vermont. By definition, Franklin County would have received a fraction of that total, although sightings were widely reported throughout Highgate and Richford.