Pretty obvious move today. We made a donation to the brand-new Vermont Immigration Legal Defense Fund, launched on Thursday by a group of prominent political figures. Mostly Democrats, but Thom Lauzon, the mayor of Barre and longtime Friend of Phil, is on the “Team,” as is former Republican lawmaker turned lobbyist Patti Komline.

Oh, heck, here’s the whole list, in the order they appear on the VILDF website.

• Democratic State Treasurer Mike Pieciak, occupying first place and no, it’s not alphabetical. Brings to mind that image of Donald Trump elbowing aside the President of Montenegro so he could grab center stage at a 2017 NATO summit. The press release announcing VILDF’s launch arrived in my inbox from none other than Pieciak’s political operative Natalie Silver.
• Democratic State Sen. Kesha Ram Hinsdale, unequaled in obvious ambition for higher office. I know I shouldn’t be cynical about this, and I’m sure Trump’s war on immigrants touches her personally, but she has been conspicuously out front on the issue in a way seemingly designed to freshen up her progressive credentials.
• Former state representative and 2016 Democratic gubernatorial candidate Sue Minter.
• Former House speaker Shap Smith. These two have been out of the game for quite a while, but are still young enough to dive back in.
• And now we get to the Republicans. Lauzon first, then Komline.
• Bringing up the rear, the only non-politician in the bunch, Brian Lowe. He was a top official in Burlington’s city government during the mayoralty of Miro Weinberger, and then helmed the Vermont Council on Rural Development for a couple of years. He is now chief cook and bottle washer at Assembly Theory, LLC, a consultancy specializing in “Early-stage AI integration work,” which sounds a tiny bit Matrixy to my ear.

And in a final indication that this is a mainstream effort, donations to VILDF are channeled through the United Way of Vermont.

Apologies for the cynicism, but I gotta be me. Really, all are worthy individuals who have devoted years to public service. In a very real way, it’s a testament to Vermont’s values that these quintessentially Establishment figures would come together in defense of immigrants and in defiance of America’s Oldest Toddler.

Progressive-minded readers might be more inclined to cut a check to the Vermont ACLU or Migrant Justice, both of which we have supported, but this new organization brings to bear an impressive array of mainstream firepower that can only help focus attention — and resources — on the issue. Its launch seemed an opportune time to help them toward their financial goal.