José Ignacio “Nacho” de La Cruz — a prominent leader of advocacy group Migrant Justice who was arrested last week on federal criminal charges — walked out of the federal courthouse in downtown Burlington on Thursday afternoon after a judge granted him bond.
De La Cruz, 30, was indicted earlier this year by a grand jury on nine charges, including smuggling migrants into the U.S. in exchange for payment and fraudulently procuring Vermont driver’s privilege cards for others, according to court documents.
He pleaded not guilty to all of the charges at an initial court appearance last week.
Magistrate Judge Kevin Doyle ruled on Thursday that De La Cruz’s substantial ties to Vermont, including his long-term partner and their 4-year-old son, made him an unlikely flight risk, despite the “serious charges” he faces.
If convicted of the smuggling charges, De La Cruz faces a mandatory minimum sentence of three years.
The judge imposed certain conditions on his release pending trial, including a $5,000 unsecured bond, electronic location monitoring and orders that he not leave Vermont without permission and that he forfeit his Mexican passport.
“We’re extremely pleased to be welcoming Nacho back to his community, back with his family where he belongs,” Will Lambek, a Migrant Justice spokesperson, told a crowd of about 15 people who had gathered outside the courthouse to await De La Cruz’s release.
Lambek referred questions about the criminal charges to De La Cruz’s legal team, but said Migrant Justice as an organization, “nor anybody acting on behalf of the organization,” has ever been involved in “improperly assisting anybody with obtaining Vermont driver’s privilege cards or facilitating unlawful entry into the country for profit.”
“Migrant Justice is a well-recognized human rights organization and we stand behind our history,” he said.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Joshua Banker had sought to keep De La Cruz in detention while his case plays out, arguing he has the “skills and resources” to flee the country. The prosecutor also said body-worn camera footage shows De La Cruz attempted to flee when U.S. Border Patrol agents, who had been following him in unmarked cars, arrested him last week as he arrived at New Frameworks, a cooperative construction company in Essex where he is an employee-owner.
Banker questioned the durability of De La Cruz’s community ties, saying it appeared they had “started to fray a little bit” since his arrest.
Turning to look at the courtroom gallery, which was filled with De La Cruz’s family members, coworkers and other supporters, assistant federal defender Barclay Johnson told the judge, “I can’t say his ties to the community have lessened.”
A former dairy worker, De La Cruz has been an outspoken advocate for immigrant rights since he became involved with Migrant Justice around 2018. He first entered the U.S. from Mexico around 2016, and he submitted an application for “withholding of removal” in immigration court last month.
According to the February 19 indictment, which was unsealed last week after De La Cruz was detained, he is charged with three counts related to helping migrants enter the U.S. illegally.
In two instances, he is charged with doing so for financial gain. The alleged offenses happened between October 2023 and June 2025.
De La Cruz is also charged with fraudulently procuring five Vermont driver’s privilege cards, which are available for Vermont drivers regardless of immigration status, between November 2022 and June 2025. The government alleges De La Cruz took online learner’s privilege tests on behalf of others and renewed Vermont driver’s privilege cards for people living outside Vermont, including one person in Georgia. De La Cruz allegedly received about $500 per card.
Migrant Justice was instrumental in advocating for 2014 legislation that created the cards so undocumented farmworkers could legally drive.
The charges appear to stem from an earlier detention last June, when U.S. Border Patrol agents pulled over De La Cruz while he was driving near Richford with his 18-year-old stepdaughter. Agents said they looked suspicious, but De La Cruz said they were delivering food to farmworkers near the border.
Their detentions sparked protests across the state, including outside the Statehouse and the federal court in downtown Burlington. Migrant Justice called the traffic stop a clear case of racial profiling.
The two were released from custody about a month later, but, after confiscating De La Cruz’s cellphone, agents discovered that his number matched one that had communicated via WhatsApp with a Mexican woman who was caught crossing the border from Canada last April.
The exchange included plans to pick her up once she reached the U.S. Soon after the June traffic stop, the government filed a search warrant for De La Cruz’s cellphone.
In court documents, the government cites evidence from a search of De La Cruz’s cellphone, as well as the cellphone of a person detained by agents while attempting to cross the border.
Two other people are also named in the indictment, and a second defendant was arrested on Wednesday.
Armando Paulino Estudillo, 35, of Mexico, is charged with two counts related to helping migrants enter the U.S. illegally and transporting them within the country. He was arraigned on Wednesday in Burlington’s federal court, where he pleaded not guilty. A judge ordered he remain in detention pending trial.
Paulino Estudillo has been previously deported from the U.S. three times, according to prosecutors, and has been convicted for entering the country illegally twice. Court records allege he paid De La Cruz $2,000 for the illegal entry of a migrant from Canada.
Paulino Estudillo does not have any ties to Vermont aside from his relationship with De La Cruz, according to court documents.
One other defendant is also facing charges in this case relating to the fraudulent drivers permit cards, but their name has not been unsealed.
