Know Your Rights

If you or someone you know is detained by ICE, or to report a suspected ICE sighting, call Organized Communities Against Deportation and the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights’ emergency hotline at: 855-435-7693

Upcoming Know Your Rights Workshop

Saturday, March 15 at 11:00 am at Coppin Community Center (5627 S Michigan Ave)

Learn how to protect yourself and your loved ones, get updates on changes to immigration policy and make a plan for what to do in case you encounter an immigration officer.

Prepare yourself

  • Create a plan in advance with your family and friends. Assign who will be in charge of your case and who will support you in different capacities, whether it’s communicating with your employer or picking up your children from school if you are detained.

  • Make sure your photos and videos are being synced to the cloud (e.g. iCloud or Google photos) in case you record an interaction with ICE so that other people can access it. If you record an ICE agent violating your constitutional rights, that may help you defend yourself in immigration court.

  • Join a local pro immigrant rights group.

  • Don’t carry a passport. A passport is a travel document, and if you have it on you while detained, it can help ICE deport you faster.

  • Don’t provide immigration agents with a foreign ID. This includes your consulate card, foreign driver’s license, foreign voting card, etc. A foreign ID reveals to the ICE agent that you were born in another country that is not the U.S.

  • Make sure your front door and the fences you have in your home are closed. This means that they have to be locked at all times.

  • Paste a ‘Know Your Rights’ card or flyer and a reminder to record any interaction with ICE inside your door.

Know Your Rights Cards

If an immigration agent comes to your home or approaches you in public, DO NOT open the door or speak with them. Give them one of these cards to indicate that you are exercising your right to remain silent and that you do not give them permission to enter your home or search your belongings. Print Know Your Rights cards (available in multiple languages).

Administrative vs. Judicial Warrants

If an immigration agent comes to your home, DO NOT open the door. Ask them to show you a warrant by slipping it under the door. Most immigration agents carry administrative warrants signed by an immigration officer, which DO NOT give them the right to enter your home. To enter your home, they must have a judicial warrant signed by a judge. If they only have an administrative warrant, tell the agent that you do not give them the right to enter your home. Know the difference between an administrative warrant (left) and a judicial warrant (right):

  • Defend Yourself

    • Keep Calm

    • Do not open the door

    • If immigration agents enter your home without your permission, verbally express that you do not give them permission to enter your home or search your belongings. Ask for a search and arrest warrant.

    • Do not answer any questions. Exercise your right to remain silent. If you do choose to answer questions, remember not to lie.

    • Do not sign any documents.

    • Ask to speak with your lawyer or a loved one.

    • If you feel safe, record the event with your cell phone either through video or audio only.

    • ICE Lies: Do not agree to what ICE asks. For example, do not follow them to their office, to immigration offices like USCIS, or to meet them for coffee.

  • Defend Yourself

    • Remain silent – if you choose to speak, remember to not lie.

    • Show your valid documentation or copy of your pending process.

    • Ask for a warrant and check to see if your name is on it and spelled correctly.

    • Do not sign anything.

    • Do not consent to being searched – verbally say, “I do not consent to being searched”.

  • Defend Yourself

    • Ask them to identify themselves.

    • Provide your name only.

    • Remain silent – if you choose to speak, remember to not lie.

    • Ask for a warrant and check to see if your name is on it and spelled correctly.

    • If you feel safe, record the interaction with your cell phone and report the incident.

    • Stay calm and don’t run.

    • Don’t share your personal or loved one’s information (name, address, etc).

    • Don’t take ICE to your house to pick up your ID.

    • Do not sign anything. Do not consent to being searched.

Know Your Rights Videos

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) created a series of informative videos based on true stories to provide guidance on what to do when ICE is outside our doors, is in our homes, stops us in our communities, and/or arrests us.