Despite the fear and chaos created across the U.S. as immigration raids detain and deport more and more people, those living in the U.S. still have constitutional and legal protections, such as against illegal searches and warrantless home entries. That was a key takeaway from the media briefing “ICE Is Knocking. What Are Your Rights?” conducted by Ethnic Media Services.
Just in the past few weeks, more than 200,000 people have been arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and at least 8,000 have been deported, said journalist Sunita Sohrabji, a health editor, who hosted the event. Most of the people arrested have been of South and Central American origin, although some were of Chinese, Russian, and Indian origin. Several media outlets have reported that a deportation flight to India had detainees handcuffed for 40-hours straight and the Trump administration is setting up a detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. With ICE instructed to arrest 1200-1500 people daily, there is rising alarm about how the agency will try to meet their new “quota.”
Speaking from her experience with La Resistencia, an organization focused on combating the subpar conditions detainees face in detention centers, Maru Mora-Villalpando talked about the hunger strikes she has seen as detained immigrants try to appeal to the public. Although a grievance system is technically in place, Mora-Villalpando argued that ICE often returns no effective response, if they give one at all. Access to the grievance system is also restricted to those who know how to operate tablet technology and understand English; for those who fail to meet these criteria, there is virtually no channel for them to communicate their grievances to the authorities, she said during the briefing. With the detainees unable to make themselves heard, they often resort to hunger strikes in order to draw attention and potential change. In the last year alone, Maru notes, La Resistencia counted 14 hunger strikes, with the high likelihood of more.
In most cases, the detainees demand better food, clean clothing and adequate medical attention. Hygiene, in particular, has become a pressing issue, she said of the raids.
The talk also featured Viridiana Carrizales, founder of ImmSchools; Amanda Alvarado-Ford, deputy directing Actor of the Immigration Institute of the Bay Area; and Oscar Sarabia Roman, staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union’s Immigrants’ Rights Project.
Several of the experts offered practical advice. If ICE agents knock at your door, said Amanda Alvarado-Ford, an immigration attorney, first do not panic and remember your rights. Even undocumented immigrants in the U.S. are entitled to protections under the U.S. Constitution, such as the right to remain silent and to be free from unlawful searches and seizures. In particular, Alvarado-Ford warned about the practice of expedited removal, in which Customs and Border Protections rapidly deport individuals in a time span that can be as short as a day. But if an undocumented immigrant has been in the U.S. for more than two years, they have the right to a hearing before a judge. In addition, if an undocumented individual has submitted applications for asylum or a visa, it can be beneficial to have photo evidence at hand, such as in a phone, to demonstrate to ICE agents that a process is pending.
Of particular importance, she noted, is to remember that individuals have the right to insist upon a judicial warrant before opening the door to ICE agents. Often, ICE agents will show a warrant signed by an immigration official; this is not valid, she said. Only a judicial warrant signed by a U.S. District Court judge gives ICE agents the authority to enter. If the ICE agent doesn’t have a judicial warrant, one can assert the right to speak to an attorney (even if they don’t have one now) and ask the agents to leave the premises. A similar process applies in workplace locations; ICE agents can enter public spaces, but need a judicial warrant to enter private spaces meant only for employees.
But children face a particular risk, Viridiana Carrizales explained. She spoke of her personal experience as an undocumented immigrant as a child with undocumented parents. She personally experienced how U.S. schools were not the safe havens for undocumented children that they should be, and her organization, ImmSchools, aims to change that to make sure that schools and parents across the country understand how to protect kids better. In particular, the 1982 Supreme Court decision Plyler v. Doe and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act state that every child in the U.S., regardless of their immigration status, has the right to be in school until they complete hight school. Schools don’t have the authority to ask students or their parents about their immigration status, and the only way a student’s records can be accessed by an immigration official is if they have a judicial warrant—which they often don’t.
Approximately 5.5 million children in the school system are undocumented or live with an undocumented parent, Viridiana revealed. Thus, it is of paramount importance that undocumented children stay in school. Otherwise, if parents take their children out of school for fear of their safety—as many have already started doing—the education and future of these children will be harmed.
Oscar Sarabia Roman ended the briefing by discussing how the ACLU is pushing back against the Trump administration. The organization has filed lawsuits against three of President Trump’s executive orders that attack birthright citizenship, prevent seeking asylum at the border, and advocate for expedited removal.
Birthright citizenship—which states that every individual born on U.S. soil becomes a U.S. citizen—is enshrined in the 14th Amendment of the Constitution. With Trump’s executive order against it, many couples who are expecting are in fear that their children will be denied citizenship and consequently basic rights such as healthcare and the ability to work legally.
The second executive order, which stops individuals from seeking asylum at U.S. borders, are putting thousands at risk, Oscar maintained. By turning these individuals away, the U.S. is forcing them to return to countries where they have very credible fears of persecution. Trump’s order also overreaches his presidential authority; no president has the ability to unilaterally go against protections Congress has passed and that U.S. courts have sustained, he said.
Finally, Oscar argued that Trump’s executive order for expedited removal is fueling mass deportation and ripping American communities apart. Due process gives immigrants the right to a hearing, which expedited removal—by deporting immigrants as fast as within a single day—denies. Many, including Oscar, see this as an attack on the Constitution and on fundamental American values.
