As President Donald Trump was sworn in Monday in Washington, D.C., about 200 people gathered in City Hall Park in Burlington to march through downtown in protest of his policies.
A host of local organizations endorsed the rally or spoke, including farmworker advocacy group Migrant Justice, several college chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine, Mad Freedom Advocates and the Vermont Workers Center.
Jose Ignacio spoke at Monday's rally on behalf of Migrant Justice, where he's an organizer.
"I feel really sad to think about how just a few short years ago we were being called essential workers, and now we're persona non grata for this government," he said via fellow Migrant Justice organizer Will Lambek, who served as a translator. "So I feel let down and defrauded."
Ignacio said President Trump's calls for widespread deportations of people who are in the United States without legal status leave little to look forward to in the coming years.
"But I'm inspired every day by my family, my three-year-old son. My whole family is here united and we'll stay united," he said.
Paul Dame, chair of the Republican Party in Vermont, attended the inauguration in Washington, D.C. Speaking by phone, he called the mood "energetic."
"The Vermont Republicans have not always been on the same page as national Republicans," he said. "But I do think there is going to be some overlap with what Vermonters are looking for."
He said President Trump's focus on affordability and on lower energy costs in particular resonate with local Republicans, as do his policies about border security.
In a statement issued Monday morning, Gov. Phil Scott congratulated Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance and wished them the best in taking "the reins of a fractured country facing serious challenges."
Scott said he hoped the new Administration and Congress would use the peaceful transfer of power to "start fresh" and work together on behalf of all Americans.
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