VERMONT — Vermont left-wing activists have engineered a mock-tour attraction of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) facilities in the form of rented minibuses and the deployment of performative tactics.
The event, branded as ICE Tours VT is organized by Blaine Paxton, 56, a Burlington resident decking out federal voyeurs in oversized inflatable eyeballs and custom merch drew nearly two dozen thrill seekers. Guided by a group of actors through Chittenden County which read aloud the harms of federal law enforcement, the latest Vermont attraction has over 100 guests on the waitlist for future outings, per The Boston Globe.
Participants engage in scripted dialogue under adopted identities with name tags on minibuses adorned with a fake company logo depicting ICE agents in a negative connotation for fun.
Shannon McDermott, 58, of Burlington played the role of “Barb” the tour guide, welcoming the group aboard.
As they toured sites in the Burlington area, organizers dubbed a business park as a “mystery site” as they obtained evidence that lunch deliveries are prohibited at the office. Throughout the tour, elderly citizens proceeded to pose for photographs outside of facilities with gag novelties and banners with ICE tip lines to surveil federal agents. The primary emphasis appeared to be inflatable oversized glasses to satirically portray “federal surveillance”.
The group’s website, icetoursvt.com, promotes the tours and suggests that the Department of Homeland Security is the county’s fifth-largest employer — encouraging newcomers to tour the facilities as a “new attraction”.
The mock tours come just a week after a Mar. 12, 2026 ICE operation in South Burlington turned violent after federal agents, with the assistance of state and local police, executed a warrant at a residence. Protestors in the area disrupted law enforcement’s efforts in the operation, resulting in the deployment of pepper spray and flashbangs. Three undocumented individuals were detained and removed, however, the original target was not apprehended due to protest interference.
The latest mockery of law and order in Vermont comes in line with the blue-state alliance forming in the northeast that continues to oppose anything and everything President Trump may even suggest. As federal immigration enforcement operations continue throughout the United States, Vermont’s latest move to publicly harass law enforcement builds upon pre-existing regional tension.
