Charges against 2 arrested at Burlington ICE facility dropped

LEOMINSTER — City resident Nastasia Lawton-Sticklor recently revealed that the trial she was going to be a co-defendant in is not happening because the charges against her were dropped.

The 43-year-old had filed a rule 17 motion along with fellow defendant Nathan Philips of Auburndale, which asks for the court to order U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to turn over evidence related to their Sept. 12, 2025, arrest by Burlington police after they and another woman allegedly refused to leave the front steps of the ICE field office in Burlington.

They said they were trying to deliver food to detainees being held at the 1000 District Ave. facility after hearing reports of the detainees not receiving adequate nutrition and were sleeping in poor conditions.

“The prosecution took one look at the witness list that we filed … and decided that they’d rather drop the charges than deal with case we have been working to bring to trial,” Lawton-Sticklor stated in a Aug. 20 email.

They had dubbed it the Granola Bar Trial, which was scheduled to begin the following week. The duo is relieved with the outcome and in her email Lawton-Sticklor thanked those who rallied around them throughout the court process that included multiple appearances and has now come to an end.

“Nathan and I are so grateful for the ways that so many of you have been showing up, rearranging your weekdays to be present at trial, and more,” she wrote. “Your presence and support not only lifts our spirits. but it shows what can be possible when we come together in solidarity.

“This is a victory with many to come in our long fight to stop ICE’s cruelty,” Lawton-Sticklor continued. “This trial was never just about me and Nathan. Our collective work as defendants, organizers, and supporters is about uplifting truth within a system that doesn’t want to hear it. The defense that we chose centers that truth by proving that what we did was necessary to alleviate the harm that’s happening in that building.”

The witnesses who had been scheduled for the trial included a person who was detained at the ICE field office in Burlington for 10 days this past July, “a psychiatrist with expert knowledge of the psychological harms that can be caused by the deprivation that detainees describe, an attorney with years of experience in the ways that ‘reasonable legal alternatives’ to prevent this harm are always tried and regularly fail, and a social scientist and two-time Nobel Peace Prize nominee with expertise on how nonviolent action builds social movements that transform systems in ways that laws and policies fail to do,” Lawton-Sticklor disclosed.

She said they will continue to show up and stand up for the marginalized community members who continue to be targeted by ICE and regularly take part in the bearing witness standouts held on Wednesdays from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Burlington ICE facility along with many others.

“The weekly standouts are still bringing together hundreds of people, community leaders, and mutual aid after more than a year,” Lawton-Sticklor recently said. “I went last week and was reminded of what an important space it is, blending dissent with community care.”

She said it’s important to her personally to continue doing this.

“I think sometimes the simplest things we can do are also the most important,” Lawton-Sticklor said. “Showing up to let people know we support them. Giving resources to people who need them. Things aren’t going to change with ICE unless they are no longer able to carry out their cruelty, either by laws changing, or people getting in the way, or both. I don’t think laws are going to change until enough people get in the way. Historically, that is always how change has worked. Laws follow the actions of people who decide enough is enough.”

During the Aug. 26 standout in Burlington that she attended — what would have been the first day of their trial — she shared her thoughts on the resolution of the case. She mentioned she would be there in her email, saying they “will be in community with the hundreds of people who have been standing up to this cruelty for over a year” in Burlington.

“Stay tuned because we are working to make sure that the preparation and your solidarity are not wasted,” she wrote in her message. “In the coming days, we will announce an event taking place on Zoom that gathers the defendants, our attorneys, and trial organizers to present the case — including an opportunity to hear from our expert witnesses.”

While she doesn’t have a date set yet for the virtual event, she is working with a local filmmaker to make a short film about the case “and the larger context of the treatment in ICE hold rooms.”

Lawton-Sticklor conveyed that she is feeling “relieved that the district attorney realized that we should not be prosecuted simply for trying to help.”

“Criminalizing an action that I still maintain was necessary to address the harm that was happening to our community members is just undemocratic,” she expressed, adding that “this looks like part of a larger pattern.”

“The Burlington police also withdrew their complaint against the group who tried to deliver aid in April,” she said.

Lawton-Sticklor reported that over the past year, 19 people have attempted to deliver aid to people detained inside the Burlington ICE field office. All of them were arrested and now all 19 cases have been dismissed, including hers.

“I think this is an important sign that we have the power to help,” she said. “We can stand up to the cruelty, and we can get each other through whatever happens next.”

When asked if this changes anything about her efforts to support immigrants, Lawton-Sticklor emphasized that her goal remains the same.

“Facilities like the ICE field office in Burlington need to stop holding people,” she said. “The district attorney’s choice to drop our charges came less than 24 hours after we submitted our witness list, which included someone who was held in this facility for 10 days under truly horrifying conditions. Her experience was just weeks ago, so we know conditions haven’t improved. And it has been clear for over a year that ICE is violating their own policy as well as the local zoning laws.

“At the same time, it’s basically impossible for local and state authorities to hold the federal government accountable. We filed two motions trying to get evidence from ICE and the court denied them, saying that they couldn’t enforce an order on the federal government. The same court also denied a petition from the town of Burlington to order an inspection for the same reason. If the law isn’t going to remedy this issue, then action from ordinary people who care is our only option.”

She ended her email with a note of gratitude for the people who stood by her and Philips.

“On behalf of our whole team, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for living the better world we know is possible through your support and solidarity,” Lawton-Sticklor wrote. “I am continually inspired to be in this work with this community.”