With ICE raids expected this weekend, groups urge immigrants to learn their rights
LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- With a new wave of immigration raids expected to start this weekend, advocates are making sure that people know their rights when ICE agents show up at their doors.
Last month, the administration announced a planned nationwide sweep to deport more than 2,000 undocumented family members living in the United States illegally.
But then President Donald Trump said he would delay the raids to give lawmakers time to work out their own immigration proposals.
Now, The New York Times is reporting the raids are once again scheduled. Neither the White House nor ICE has commented on the reported enforcement.
An attorney with CARACEN, a Los Angeles-based civil rights organization for Central Americans, says it's important for people to know their constitutional rights in advance and seek legal advice when ICE agents appear.
"When ICE engages in these enforcement actions they're often targeting specific individuals, but they pick up what they refer to as collateral arrests," said Daniel Sharp, legal director with CARACEN. "Other individuals who they encounter in these situations. So we're encouraging entire family units to get informed about their constitutional rights."
CARACEN is joining other groups that are filing a lawsuit against the raids, arguing due process requires them to go before a judge prior to deportation.
Democratic lawmakers had heavily criticized the planned operation as cruel, while mayors of many cities said they would decline to cooperate with ICE. Immigrant advocates began campaigns to advise people of their rights when ICE agents show up at their doors.
Last month, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said the city would not cooperate with the raids.
"Our president has failed to build a wall, so instead he's going to go back to his old playbook of trying to rip families apart," Garcetti said. "Here in Los Angeles we will not participate in that."
L.A. County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl posted on Facebook in late June urging people to know their rights.
The L.A. County Office of Immigrant Affairs also provided the following list of rights:
-RIGHT TO NOT OPEN YOUR DOOR unless the immigration agent knocking has a warrant to enter that is signed by a judge or magistrate and has your name on it.
-RIGHT TO REMAIN SILENT and not answer questions from immigration agents.
-RIGHT NOT TO SIGN ANY PAPERS without first talking to an attorney.
-RIGHT TO TALK TO AN ATTORNEY at your own expense.
-IF YOU ARE OUTSIDE YOUR HOME: Ask the immigration agent if you are free to go. If they say yes, leave peacefully. If they say no, ask to call your attorney.
Questions remain about where detained immigrants will be held, as many detention centers are already overflowing.
