As communities across Northeast Ohio wrestle with the Trump Administration's dramatic changes to immigration policy, immigration advocates and attorneys are reminding people of their constitutional rights.
Donald Trump has signed a flurry of executive orders that reshape the nation's immigration system and make good on campaign promises for mass deportations.
Immigrants' rights organizations have responded by issuing videos and other training materials reminding immigrants that all people in the U.S., including people here without the government's permission, have rights.
“They have the exact same constitutional rights that any American has,” said Jose Juarez Jr., an immigration attorney with Bartell Georgalas & Juarez in Cleveland.
Advocates for Basic Legal Equality, a nonprofit that provides legal services to immigrants and refugees in northwest and west central Ohio, has produced a series of videos to teach people about their rights in Arabic, English and Spanish. The Immigrant Legal Resource Center, a nonprofit that provides legal training on immigration law, and the Council on American-Islamic Relations, an American-Islamic advocacy organization, have also published guides and videos to help people better understand their immigration rights.
Juarez said there are three instances where people are likely to encounter law enforcement: at a traffic incident, at home or at work. Here is an explanation of one's rights during each.
Traffic Stop
In Ohio, a person is only required to provide a police officer with their full name, address and date of birth during a traffic stop, according to Juarez.
Juarez said people are not required to provide any information about immigration status and are not required to provide any immigration paperwork.
“You basically have the right to remain silent as well when they start asking you questions about your immigration status,” Juarez said. “They just have to be fulfilling the traffic stop for the sake of it. If it’s a speeding ticket, issue the speeding ticket. They don’t have to be getting into the immigration stuff.”
It’s standard procedure for an officer to ask for a driver’s license, car registration and proof of insurance, which Juarez said a person must provide if they have them. Police can ticket people for not having those things.
Juarez explained that while undocumented immigrants are not eligible to get driver’s licenses in Ohio, some people might have a driver’s license, for example, people whose work visas have expired.
“Stay calm. Put your hands on the wheel where the officer can see it. Don’t bring any alarm to the officer,” Juarez said.
Home
People have more protection at home under the constitution, Juarez said.
They don’t have to let ICE agents or other law enforcement into their homes unless they have a proper warrant — a judicial warrant that is signed by a federal judge or a federal magistrate or sometimes a state judge.
Law enforcement needs that judicial warrant to enter and search someone’s home and belongings.
Juarez said that if someone knocks on a door claiming they have a warrant, people should ensure that it is a judicial warrant with a proper signature from a judge.
He said law enforcement will sometimes provide a different document called an administrative warrant and ask to come in. An administrative warrant does not require people to open their doors. It is issued by administrative agencies like the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement or Customs and Border Patrol, according to the National Immigration Law Center.
Juarez said he recommends people ask law enforcement to slide the paperwork under the door or display it by a window so they can take a picture and inspect the document.
“You don’t even have to open the door for the individual," Juarez said. "We always tell people don’t let their children open the door either."
In any interaction with ICE officials, people have the right to remain silent, Juarez said. They do not need to provide personal information such as their name or any information about their immigration status. They can cooperate with ICE, but they can say they would like to speak with an attorney first.
There is no right to appointed counsel in immigration cases, even when a person is in detention, according to ABLE.
Work
ICE agents can enter common areas of a workplace and can arrest people in there, but ICE needs a properly signed judicial warrant to enter private or “employee only” areas. Although, an employer can give ICE permission to enter those areas.
Like at home, people have the right to remain silent and have the right to an attorney.
An employer cannot interfere with an ICE investigation. How much an employer wants to talk is up to the employer, Juarez said, but he recommends employers ask law enforcement about proper warrant documentation before answering other questions.
“Usually what I’m seeing is once they figure out, 'OK it’s immigration, they have the proper paperwork' they just let the immigration officer do what they need to do so they’re not obstructing any official business,” Juarez said.
What else?
If people on the street, or at a restaurant or grocery store and are approached by ICE, the right to an attorney and the right to remain silent apply.
Juarez said voluntarily providing personal information could be used against that person in court down the road.
“Are you from Mexico or Guatemala? Yes. Guess what, they just proved alienage right there. If you are here undocumented and they encounter you on the street, just remain silent,” he said.
He also recommends video recording interactions with ICE if possible. He said it could be helpful in court if there is a constitutional issue.
Juarez said it’s important that people are truthful with officers. People can remain silent, but he recommends against lying about identity and immigration status because it can hurt people's future court cases.
Additionally, Juarez said it’s important to remember that immigration is a federal matter. Local police handling criminal activity are not required to participate in immigration enforcement.
But the relationship between local law enforcement is complicated and can vary from area to area. Local law enforcement can inform ICE about undocumented people and, while they usually don’t, can make arrests on behalf of ICE with proper warrants, Juarez said.
Juarez recommends people collect documentation proving how long they’ve been living in the country, particularly people who have lived in the country longer than two years.
He said undocumented people who have been living in the country shorter than two years are more likely to be subjected to “expedited removal,” which he says gives ICE the right to detain and deport people without going in front of an immigration judge.
“If you do get encountered, you should at least have a packet ready to demonstrate that I am not subject to expedited removal,” he said.
Juarez also said people should contact an immigration attorney before they face detention or arrest. He said some firms provide free consultations and some organizations provide free legal assistance.
