What to Do at an ICE Checkpoint

Border Patrol can verify citizenship within 100 miles of a border.

Many people think that border-related policies only impact people living in border towns like El Paso or San Diego. The reality is that Border Patrol’s interior enforcement operations encroach deep into and across the United States, affecting the majority of Americans.

Dare to Create a More Perfect Union

• Border patrol can only ask brief questions about citizenship, and they cannot hold you for an extended time without cause.
• You always have the right to remain silent. You do not need to answer their questions.
• If you are a citizen born in the United States, speak up.

The most important acts of resistance are the small ones. Make it difficult and uncomfortable for ICE agents to do their jobs. They are counting on citizens to turn a blind eye and allow them to deport undocumented citizens without challenge. Disabuse of that notion.

If you are on a train, bus, or anything else and ICE or CBP boards, you need to stand up and loudly let everyone know that they have the right to remain silent or only answer questions in the presence of an attorney, no matter their citizenship or immigration status. There have been numerous reports that confronting the agents in this way has caused them to leave without verifying citizenship. This can save lives.

If you see anyone being held up by immigration, loudly ask if they are being detained and if they are free to go.

Immigration officers cannot detain anyone without reasonable suspicion, an agent must have specific facts about you that make it reasonable to believe you are committing or committed, a violation of immigration law or federal law. If an agent detains you, you can ask for their basis for reasonable suspicion, and they should tell you.

Always say no to a search and let everyone know that they can and should refuse consent to a search.

They cannot search or arrest anyone without facts about that make it probable that they are committing, or committed, a violation of immigration law or federal law.

Silence alone meets neither of these standards. Nor does race or ethnicity alone suffice for either probable cause or reasonable suspicion.

White citizens, you have a level of privilege which protects you from retaliation from ICE, which makes it your duty to speak up and make sure people without the same privilege know their rights. Get loud. Yell. Yell in Spanish if you know it. Make ICE uncomfortable.

It is perfectly legal to record immigration agents as long as you are not on government property or at a port of entry. If your train/bus gets boarded, pull your phone out and start videotaping immediately.

If you are detained or see someone getting detained, get the agent’s name, number, and any other identifying information. Get it on video if possible.

Contact the ACLU (www.aclu.org) or any local Immigrant/Migrant support organizations if you see someone’s rights being violated. More than 30 organizations in North Carolina offer free or low-cost legal help for immigrants, with services in Spanish. View the list and find other resources at enlacelatinonc.org.

Compañeros Inmigrantes de las Montañas en Acción has a community hotline to report checkpoints, ICE raids, or any suspicious police activity. Call 1-888-839-2839.