This content is intended to serve as general information; it is not legal advice nor intended as legal advice.
Regardless of your immigration status, you have guaranteed rights under the Constitution. You have the right to remain silent and do not have to answer questions about where you were born or your immigration status: You must say “I wish to remain silent.” You have the right to be free from searches or detention without just cause. And you have the right to hold law enforcement accountable.
Learn more here about what your rights are, and how to express them while at work.
If ICE is at the door of your workplace:
- Stay calm and do not run away.
- Don’t open the door. Ask if the officers have a warrant signed by a judge. If they say yes, ask to see the judge’s signature. (An “administrative warrant of removal” or ICE warrant does not give ICE the legal authority to go inside.)
- If ICE doesn’t have a warrant signed by a judge, tell them “I do not give you permission to enter this building.”
- If ICE enters by force, do not interfere or resist.
- If it is safe to do so, take notes about officers’ names and badge numbers and what they take or who they arrest. Also, you have the right to take out your phone and record the officers as long as you do not interfere with what they’re doing.
If ICE approaches you while you are working:
- Stay calm and do not run.
- Ask officers if you are free to leave or to go back to work. If yes, tell officers you will not speak with them and resume working, or calmly leave.
- You have the right to remain silent and do not have to answer any questions by officers, such as whether you are a citizen or undocumented or where you were born.
- If you have valid immigration papers, you should show them if an immigration agent requests them. Never lie about your status or provide fake papers.
- If officers tell you to line up with others based on your immigration status, you have the right to stay where you are, or can move to a safe place that isn’t part of any line. You can tell officers that you are invoking your right to remain silent. If you are forced to move, don’t resist.
- If officers ask to search you, your property like your cell phone, or your workspace, you have the right to say “No, I do not consent to a search.” Do not resist if they attempt to search your belongings without your consent.
If you are arrested while at work:
- If you are arrested, you have the right to remain silent and to contact a lawyer.
- If you do not have a lawyer, ask officers for a list of free or low-cost legal services providers. You may also find these providers here.
- Do not answer any questions or sign any documents without first speaking to a lawyer.
- Ask for copies of all of your immigration documents.
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