Legal rights, advice if you're approached by immigration agents

The specter of raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents is stoking fears in immigrant communities in Minnesota and across the country.

ICE — a 20,000-person federal agency so sprawling it has its own airline — is tasked with policing immigration laws in the United States’ interior. Border Patrol covers lands within 100 miles from international borders.

President Trump has pushed ICE to arrest thousands of migrant families in recent raids, making people without documents fearful of agents targeting them in raids. Some people have even gone into hiding.

Minnesota has both Border Patrol and ICE agents, including an ICE field office in St. Paul. The agency was formed in 2003 when post-9/11 politics placed a stricter emphasis on national security, said longtime immigration reporter Debbie Sontag.

However, Trump wasn’t the first president to preside over sweeping ICE arrests, Sontag told MPR News. The Obama administration did “its fair share” of arrests and deportations, too, she said.

In Obama’s last few years in office, Sontag said, “the focus was on immigrants with serious criminal records. Those with seriously bad immigration histories — that is, they’ve been picked up and deported multiple, multiple times.”

But Trump’s frequent anti-immigrant rhetoric and national immigration roundups, the most recent of which failed, are a shift from past policy.

“After Trump took office, ICE was emboldened and empowered,” Sontag said. “Everybody was suddenly fair game.”

Below is a guide on legal rights when dealing with ICE representatives and experts’ advice for how to handle situations. Information from the American Civil Liberties Union and American Immigration Lawyers Association. The ACLU and AILA links have more information, as well as know-your-rights guides in non-English languages.

Your rights with ICE

• You don’t need to open the door for agents, or let them into your home without a warrant.

• You have the right to remain silent. If you want to use this right, tell the agent. You don’t have to answer any questions about your status or where you’re from, either.

• You don’t need to consent to searches, but officers may pat you down if they suspect you have a weapon.

• You have the right to talk to a lawyer if agents take you into custody, even if you don’t have one. Government-appointed lawyers are available if you need one.

• You don’t need to sign anything without first consulting a lawyer.

• Arrest warrants give officers the legal right to enter your home, but warrants of removal/deportation — known as Form I-205 — do not give them that right.

Experts’ advice

• If an agent comes to the door and says they have a warrant, make them slide it under a door and verify all information is correct before opening the door.

• Ask an officer for a list of free legal help if you don’t have a lawyer and would like one.

• If approached or stopped by an officer, keep calm and make sure your hands are were the officer can see them.

• Don’t provide false information or documents.

• If you’re 18 or older, keep your documents with you.

• If officers arrive at your home, ask if they are immigration officials and what they’re doing at your house. Seek identification from any officer; have them display it through a door peephole or a window.

• Advocates recommend you don’t resist or run from an officer, even if you believe they are violating your rights.

• Make an emergency plan ahead of time in case you or a family member are taken into custody — memorize crucial phone numbers and have necessary medication ready to go.

• Don’t discuss your legal status with anyone other than your lawyer.

• Track all details relating to any arrest — from officer badge numbers to their agency, as well as information for any witnesses. Take pictures if you are injured during an arrest.

• If you believe an officer has violated your rights, you may file a complaint with the agency’s internal affairs office.

• Print a Red Card to help assert your rights to an officer.

Use the audio player above to hear MPR News host Stephanie Curtis’ interview with Sontag on the audio player above.