WILLISTON, Vermont — Around 40 protesters arrived by foot and truck at sunrise on Tuesday and built planter boxes in the middle of a public road in Williston, reinforcing them with cinder blocks and soil and topping them with flowers, The Boston Globe reported. They used heavy-duty construction adhesive to affix the boxes to the road beside barriers officers had placed across Harvest Lane.

Source: The Boston Globe, Oct. 2026

The resulting 'Harvest Lane Community Garden' was designed to block traffic to a key U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building and beautify the area, the Globe reported. 'It's called Harvest Lane, so we've decided to make it actually a harvest lane,' protest organizer Leif Taranta, 28, of Burlington, told the Globe.

The buildings blocked included a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services facility on one side of the road and ICE's Law Enforcement Support Center on the other, which ICE documents say partners with police agencies around the world to identify noncitizens suspected, arrested or convicted of criminal activity, the Globe reported. NPR's October 24 immigration briefing likewise described protests igniting outside an ICE call center in Vermont that tracks tips on people protesters say are in the country illegally.

Source: NPR via WAMC, Oct. 24, 2026

Activists have staged regular sit-ins at a nearby ICE surveillance center for nearly a year, often resulting in arrests, and this week invited protesters from around the country for a week of action including a mock funeral procession, rallies, trainings, concerts and potlucks, the Globe reported. According to organizers, a couple of hundred people attended the events so far, including some from France and Germany. It was not clear how much Tuesday's protest disrupted operations; the parking lots of both buildings were largely empty, and organizers said tenants in another complex housing an ICE office were instructed to work from home this week.

ICE did not respond to the Globe's questions about such preparations but issued a statement attributed to an unnamed Department of Homeland Security spokesperson saying it would not tolerate 'rioting, assault, and destruction,' and reminding the public that obstructing law enforcement is a federal crime and assaulting law enforcement is a felony.

The protest came as authorities take a harder line against earlier actions. Last week the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Vermont announced it would charge five people with obstructing access to a federal facility during protests in February, May and July, and a week before that Vermont Attorney General Charity Clark charged a dozen people with trespassing at the July protest, after a local prosecutor had declined to bring charges, the Globe reported. Activists said the timing suggested officials were trying to scare off protesters ahead of the week of action. By 2 p.m. on Tuesday the protesters had dispersed, and a few hours later Williston Public Works crews with a bucket loader and two dump trucks destroyed the planter boxes, the Globe reported.