Face of Nation : Immigration advocates and lawyers have ramped up efforts to combat widespread raids threatened by the Trump administrationby sharing information with immigrant communities about their rights.
The raids by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement scheduled to begin Sunday are set to target about 2,000 undocumented families in major cities across the United States, officials told NBC News. The raids were originally planned to take place three weeks ago but were postponed.
Many advocacy groups and some Democratic lawmakers have responded by sharing information, both in person and on social media, to immigrants in multiple languages, informing them of their rights and what to expect should the raids be carried about.
“People should understand that they have rights regardless of their immigration status,” Lee Gelernt, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union, said.
The material includes videos and social media toolkits covering what to do if an ICE agent shows up at their homes.
“They do not need do let an ICE agent into their home unless there’s a judicial warrant and rarely does ICE have a judicial warrant,” Gelernt said, adding that ICE usually has its own administrative warrants.
“We’re very concerned about how the raids will be carried out,” he said, adding the ACLU was talking to other groups and private law firms about monitoring the raids “to make sure excessive force is not being used or they’re not being conducted unconstitutionally. Families could be separated.”
“As always, ICE prioritizes the arrest and removal of unlawfully present aliens who pose a threat to national security, public safety and border security,” ICE said in the statement.
“However, all of those in violation of the immigration laws may be subject to immigration arrest, detention and — if found removable by final order — removal from the United States,” the spokesperson said.
Meanwhile, prominent Democrats such as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., have lambasted the planned raids and shared information from advocacy organizations about immigrant rights.
Pelosi read from a “know your rights” flyer at her weekly press conference Thursday and said she was going to ask religious leaders to appeal to Trump to stop the raids.
“Every person in America has rights,” she said. “These families are hardworking members of our communities in our country, this brutal action will terrorize children and tear families apart.”
