Stay Informed, Remain Calm, and Know Your Rights
In light of reports of large-scale deportation raids happening throughout the country, we urge you to take action to protect and support the immigrant families and communities who are at greatest risk. It is important to stay informed, remain calm, and know your rights.
Remember: Everyone in the U.S. has certain rights guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution, regardless of their immigration status.
If you and your loved ones find yourselves affected by a raid, you can protect yourselves. Here are four key steps to remember (from the Immigration Legal Resource Center’s Red Card):
- You do not have to open the door if an immigration agent is knocking on the door. If they have a judicial warrant to enter, they will not need your permission.
- You do not have to answer any questions from an immigration agent if they try to talk to you. You have the right to remain silent. If you do answer, do not lie.
- Do not sign anything without first speaking to a lawyer. You have the right to speak with a lawyer.
- If you are outside of your home, ask the agent if you are free to leave. If they say yes, leave calmly.
Please read the additional information below and share with your personal networks.
Know Your Rights & Ensure Others Know Theirs:
- These ACLU videos clearly break down how to prepare in case of an ICE arrival.
- From the Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC):
- Language-specific Know Your Rights handout to help families prepare for a possible interaction with ICE
- Printable red cards in eight languages to distribute to community members
- A family preparedness plan in English, Spanish, and Chinese
- A train-the-trainer toolkit on holding a Know-Your-Rights presentation in your community
- AILA provides Know Your Rights handouts in a number of different languages for several scenarios: ICE worksite raids (for employers), ICE home visits, and ICE public stops.
- Host community screenings of Know Your Rights tutorial videos from the National Lawyers’ Guild, both in English and in Spanish.
EOIR Case Status Information
- To check information related to you or your client’s immigration court case, call the EOIR electronic phone system at 1-800-898-7180, enter the A number and listen to see whether a removal order has been issued in the relevant case.
Be an Ally in Action:
- The National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (NNIRR) has gathered a list of national, state, and local deportation defense hotlines. These hotlines may offer services around reporting or verifying ICE raids or any other immigration activities in your area, reporting missing migrants, and seeking help if detained or at risk of being deported.
- Volunteer legal services with We The Action, a digital platform that makes it easy for lawyers to find and volunteer for critical, impactful, and urgent legal needs. Lawyers can sign up to access projects here and nonprofits who need lawyers can sign up here.
- Call on your Senators and Representatives to restrict funding to Border Patrol and ICE, which are responsible for family separation, deaths of children in custody, and terrorizing families and communities across the country with raids. You can find your members in the U.S. Congress here or you can dial 1-202-224-3121 to be connected now.
Support Organizations Doing Critical Work at the Border:
- Connect with and support your local and regional non-profit legal services providers across the country.
Rapid Response Hotlines:
- The National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (NNIRR) has gathered a list of national, state, and local deportation defense hotlines. These hotlines may offer services around reporting or verifying ICE raids or any other immigration activities in your area, reporting missing migrants, and seeking help if detained or at risk of being deported.
- For California, the California Immigrant Policy Center (CIPC) has an extensive list of local rapid response networks and Know Your Rights resources.
Taking Care of Your Mental Health:
- Our mental health affects how we relate to others and the world, make decisions, and handle stress. While there’s importance in staying informed, feeding our minds an uncontrolled amount of disheartening news can worsen our mental and emotional health. Instead, we invite you to add these wellness practices to your daily routine:
- Set time limits on how long you stay online.
- Continue a routine or hobby that helps you be present in the moment and connect with your creativity and mother nature.
- Journal to let your sacred rage out, thank yourself for moving through the day, or give yourself the space and permission to vent and cry.
- Join Immigrants Rising’s Wellness Support Group to stay grounded and connected to community.
- Find mental health support and therapist directories relevant to the undocumented community here.
- Fear is everywhere these days. But how we stop fear from paralyzing us? Journalist/writer Jorge Ramos talks about fear with our Entrepreneurship Fund Grantees. Watch video.
Thank you for standing up for immigrants and their families today.
