President Donald Trump began his second term last week with a flurry of executive orders, many related to immigration.
The orders, along with Trump’s repeated campaign promises to drastically cut immigration and facilitate mass deportations, have shaken immigrant communities and left many bracing for encounters with federal authorities.
Here is what to know about dealing with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Has ICE stepped up raids and arrests?
ICE was formed as part of the Department of Homeland Security in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and has been operating under both Republican and Democratic presidents since. Under the Biden administration, the U.S. deported roughly 4 million people — more than double the 1.9 million Trump deported during his first term.
In the past, ICE enforcement was focused on immigrants with violent criminal records — meaning it was relatively unlikely that an immigrant who had not been convicted of a violent crime would be detained.
But Trump’s first week in office signaled a new approach. Last week, the Department of Homeland Security expanded “expedited removal,” which fast-tracks deportations without a hearing before an immigration judge.
ICE arrested 1,179 people last Sunday, just 52% of whom were considered “criminal arrests.” Some of those arrests were made as part of raids, which ICE has begun conducting in addition to targeted actions against people with deportation orders.
ICE’s potential area of operations has also expanded. Since 2011, ICE had been prohibited from pursuing its enforcement objectives in sensitive locations like schools and places of worship — but the Trump administration rescinded that guidance last week, meaning those sensitive locations are no longer safe zones.
What are your rights if you are approached by ICE?
If you are approached by ICE, you have the right to remain silent and the right to refuse searches of your person or home absent a compelling warrant.
The right to remain silent applies whether you are approached by ICE at your home, your workplace, during a traffic stop, or as part of a broader immigration raid.
If ICE agents approach you at home, they typically have administrative warrants. That’s different from a search warrant, which is signed by a local judge to grant officers permission to search your home to collect evidence in a criminal investigation.
Legal advocates say you should not open the door to let ICE agents in. If you have children, they urge you to teach them not to answer the door for ICE either.
If an officer claims to have a warrant, ask him or her to slide it under the door so you can confirm its legitimacy, advises Kellie Rock, a community organizer with the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC).
If you are caught in an ICE raid, do your best to remain calm, avoid attracting attention and walk away from the site of the raid — preferably into a business or another indoor space, Rock says.
Because immigration violations are not criminal offenses but civil offenses, those detained by ICE technically do not have a right to an attorney the way someone arrested by local law enforcement does.
Nevertheless, immigration attorneys and advocates advise anyone detained by immigration enforcement not to speak about their immigration status or history without consulting an attorney first.
“The phrase we tell people to say is, ‘I don’t want to speak until I can talk to my lawyer,’” Rock says. “Once they are detained, they will get a phone call, usually.”
How should people prepare for potential ICE raids?
First, know who to call. Identify an attorney who can represent you and memorize the phone number, so you’re ready in case of an arrest, says Ben Gleekel, staff attorney on the community defense team at the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota.
“If you’re detained, and you’re an immigrant, and you know that the government will not provide you with an attorney, you’re going to want to be ready to call an attorney right away,” Gleekel says.
Given the volume of calls many immigration lawyers and groups are fielding right now, consider proactively making an appointment with an attorney or legal aid group, MIRAC’s Rock says.
Memorize key phone numbers and make a safety plan with your family in case you are detained, especially if you have children or care for older relatives, she says.
“That would be denoting a trusted person who does have some immigration status to be able to step in and pick up their kids from school and take them to doctor’s appointments while they figure out what they’re going to do long-term,” Rock says.
Make sure your immigration documents are up to date and carry them with you at all times, advocates advise.
“We’re telling people to carry some form of immigration documents that are valid that you may have, just in case you have a receipt that would allow you to show Immigration before they put you into a process where you are rapidly detained,” Gleekel says.
Those documents could include proof of permanent resident status, like a passport or work permit, or proof of a pending application with the federal government, like an application for asylum or temporary protected status.
If you are able, Gleekel says, it may be wise to set aside some money for an immigration bond. The bonds ensure those arrested come to their court hearings and ICE check-ins and can range from $1,500 to $15,000 or much higher.
No matter what your immigration status is, avoid giving false information to law enforcement, advocates say.
Finally, if you are detained by ICE, your family members and friends may be able to find you using ICE’s detainee locator database.
How can I support my community?
Julio Zelaya, advocacy director with the ACLU of Minnesota, says one of the most important things you can do to protect your community is to educate yourself and others about your collective constitutional rights — a practice that, despite rumors to the contrary, remains safe and legal.
“There’s a conflated threat right now that I’ve heard from schools or other advocates that even talking about this could be made punishable by the Trump administration, and what we want to do is remind people that educating our neighbors about their rights is that it’s education,” Zelaya said. “It’s empowerment. It’s not hindering immigration enforcement.”
Rumors of ICE raids have flooded social media in the first days of Trump’s new term, including in Minnesota, many of which have turned out to be false.
Rock says it’s important not to spread unverified information.
“What that causes is a lot of unnecessary fear, which is what the administration wants to do — to create fear in people and try to keep people from wanting to immigrate here or stay here,” she says. “We’ve already heard of folks staying home, keeping their kids home from school, and it turns out there really was no actual threat.”
If you hear rumors of a raid, message MIRAC or another immigrant rights organization so they can confirm the report and share reliable information, Rock says.
If you see a raid in process, document the event by recording footage on your phone or taking pictures and pass the info along to groups like MIRAC who can respond.
Where can I get more help?
Several Minnesota organizations are offering legal and other help to immigrants who may be targeted for removal by ICE.
The Volunteer Lawyers Network and Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid, and Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services all offer legal assistance to lower-income Minnesotans, while the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota is specifically focused on immigration law.
The Minneapolis-based Advocates for Human Rights, meanwhile, helps people who are applying or have applied for asylum. MIRAC also offers a range of services to migrants and offers “Know Your Rights” trainings to the community at large.
