During a taping of Eyewitness Newsmakers, U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California Bill Essayli described several factors that can be considered as reasonable suspicion.
"That someone is in the country here unlawfully, we have tip lines so agents can base it on tips," he explained. "They also base it on how people behave around agents. If they're in an area that's known to have a high number of people working unlawfully, and who are here unlawfully, and if someone shows up in a uniform that says Border Patrol starts to run."
That's something many immigration attorneys have pushed back on, saying they believe ethnicity is still a reason some of their clients have been detained.
As for going after undocumented immigrants while at work, Essayli talked about search warrants leading to the arrests. He also explained why he says not many of the protesters arrested are being indicted.
Immigration attorney Alex Galvez discussed how recent changes to the bond process have affected people who were detained.
Any immigrant that was not admitted at the border is now not eligible for bond. With more and more people being targeted at work, Galvez warned employees to talk with their bosses.
"When it comes to your house, you have a right not to initiate any conversations with the officer, not to open the door, and especially when it comes to your employer, if you're an immigrant, you should talk to your employer to see what kind of tactics, what kind of steps are you going to take as an employer to protect my rights as an undocumented worker in your place of business?" he explained. "The same rights that apply in the house applies to a business."
If you find yourself in a situation where you think your civil rights are being violated, Galvez suggests you record everything.
"If you're in a public place, you have a right to record whatever an ICE officer is doing, even though they say you can't record," he said. "You absolutely have the right, and that could be used later in civil litigation when you sue the government for a violation of your civil rights."
Galvez said what you cannot do is interfere with the arrest itself.
"You can't get into their faces," he said. "That could be a criminal charge against you, so you have to be very careful. You have to be at a distance. You're within your right to record if you're out on the street, if you're in your car, if you're in your home or in your place of business or work."
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