Solidarity Guide for Defending Immigrant Communities

We are living through an era of government sanctioned cruelty with relentless attacks on immigrants. We’ve seen the horrific consequences of the National Guard deployment in California, armed Black Hawk helicopter assaults on apartment buildings in Chicago, the abduction of children as young as five on their way to school in Minneapolis, the murder of immigrants and U.S. citizens in our streets, and the deaths of over 50 people in deplorable conditions in ICE custody.

Despite these atrocities, we remain steadfast in fighting back, supporting each other, building our communities, educating, and ensuring every immigrant is treated with compassion and humanity. This solidarity guide is designed to help everyone continue to fight back with practical guidance to help protect your immigrant neighbors, your community, and yourself.

You do not need to have experience or be an expert. If you want to help but aren’t sure how, this guide is for you.

Practical steps to fight for immigrants in your community:

• Check in with neighbors, family members, friends, and anyone else you’re close with who you know might be impacted by immigration enforcement. Research shows that fear of being detained, deported, separated from one’s family, or losing one’s job can cause trauma and other mental health harm. It can also lead to isolation, which prevents people from accessing the support they need. You can help by offering specific ways you can support. Below are some guidance and suggestions.
  • Tips for what to do (and not do) when reaching out to someone in need
  • List of resources for securing culturally sensitive mental health support
• Stay informed about what’s happening in your community and share information on how to prevent and respond to abusive immigration enforcement actions. Knowledge is power, and sharing knowledge is a power multiplier because it allows for much more effective coordination and helps build community resilience.
  • Join your neighborhood or community forums and chat groups to stay informed about abusive ICE activity and other authoritarian actions. Remind community members not to post any information that could identify victims or vulnerable individuals the government is likely to target, and to report abusive immigration enforcement actions to the local rapid response network if there’s one active in your area.
  • Share “Know Your Rights” cards (also known as Red Cards), and this resource on how to use them. They are available in 59 languages. You can have fun, build community, and keep our neighbors safe by hosting a Red Card print-and-cut party.
  • Get a whistle to alert your community of ICE’s presence. A quick blast of three short whistles signals that ICE is nearby while three long whistles warn of an abduction in progress. Not all communities are comfortable with whistle warning systems, so check in first with community members who are most vulnerable and immigrant-serving community-based organizations to align with the preferred local strategies for warning community members of ICE’s presence.
• Volunteer and serve to protect and support immigrants in your community. You can train to be a “constitutional” or “legal” observer, which means observing law enforcement activity, reducing the risk of constitutional rights violations, and documenting violations when they do occur.
  • If you want to be trained as a constitutional and legal observer, start with your local immigrant and refugee rights organization to see if they have trainings. Here are two other options for how to get trained:
    • Solidarity Pledge Initiative
    • No Kings
• Community-based organizations and mutual aid networks often need trained hotline volunteers to answer calls about ICE activity for rapid response, and to answer calls requesting information, services, or support.
• Volunteers are also needed to work with families, identify their needs, and help coordinate groceries, baby supplies, clothing, transportation, legal aid, childcare, or other services that may be available to them. Some organizations offer specialized training to accompany individuals to their workplace, school, ICE check-ins, and court appearances.
  • If you want accompaniment training, it’s best to start with local options. If none are available, you can get training with the JRS/USA Accompaniment Network.
• Consider getting bystander training to learn what you should and shouldn’t do if you witness potentially abusive law enforcement activity.
  • Bystander intervention trainings and resources:
    • Right To Be free trainings
    • Using the SALUTE method to safely and effectively document potential abuse
    • Know Your Rights: what you can do as a bystander
• Check in with local mutual aid networks and community-based organizations that accept volunteers to see what opportunities are available and where there may be the most need for support. If no such volunteer opportunities exist in your community, consider creating them by starting your own local mutual aid group.
  • Solidarity Pledge Initiative
• Support the economic stability of immigrants in your community.
  • Buy from immigrant-led and immigrant friendly businesses.
  • Donate to bail funds to help immigrants get out of detention. Start with local bail funds and then consider these options:
    • National Bail Fund Network — Community Justice Exchange
    • Black Immigrants Bail Fund
    • LGBTQ Freedom Fund
    • Defending Our Neighbors Fund – Funding the Frontline
  • Help an impacted family start and run a crowdfunding campaign. Be mindful of what information you’re sharing publicly on the fundraiser page.
    • Tips and resources on starting and effectively running a GoFundMe

Options to step up for immigrants:

Become a Fourth Amendment Business. Businesses have Fourth Amendment constitutional protections against unreasonable searches and seizures by government officials, including ICE. Because ICE needs to present a judicial warrant to access a private area, businesses should not allow law enforcement or federal agents to enter your workplace without a warrant signed by a judge.

Options to protect and support immigrant students:

• Develop and implement an emergency preparedness plan in case ICE shows up to your school.
  • Stay informed about your rights – and those of your students, as an educator.
    • Education Providers and Immigration Enforcement: Know Your Rights, Know Your Students’ Rights
    • Immigrant and Refugee Children: A Guide for Educators and School Support Staff
• Update your school’s records management policy to only collect, maintain, and disclose to law enforcement or third parties legally required information on staff, students, and student family members. Examples of information that should not be collected and retained include immigration status, photographs, name, date of birth, place of birth, addresses, or any other personally identifiable information that could allow immigration enforcement authorities to identify someone or their immigration status. Resources for educators, school administrators, school boards, students and parents:
  • Plyler and Data Collection
  • Education Providers and Immigration Enforcement: Know Your Rights, Know Your Students’ Rights
  • Immigrant and Refugee Children: A Guide for Educators and School Support Staff

Options to make sure immigrants can access care when they need it:

• Establish and uphold safety by designating private areas that law enforcement cannot access without a judicial warrant.
• Avoid collecting information about immigration status unless legally required.
• Provide and display educational resources within your designated areas in multiple languages to effectively serve diverse communities.
• Foster an environment of trust and cultural competence by providing professional interpretation and translation services that meet requirements under federal and state laws.
• If you care for patients who are in immigration custody, make sure your hospital has clear policies for their care. These patients are in civil detention, not criminal detention. Know your rights and your patients’ rights.
  • Know Your Rights: Health Care Providers & Immigration Enforcement
  • Advocating On Behalf of Patients in Immigration Custody: A Resource for Health Care Providers and Medical Staff

Steps to protect yourself and your family:

• Educate yourself about your rights and how to assert them. Be mindful about how your rights apply in different situations, like when you’re at work, when you’re driving, when you’re at an airport, and when you encounter ICE or other law enforcement officers. Remember: every person in the United States—whatever their immigration status—has constitutional rights, such as the right to remain silent and call a lawyer if arrested or detained. It’s important to familiarize yourself with rules that may apply differently depending on which state, county, and city you’re in. For example, some states may require you to identify yourself when law enforcement stops you if they reasonably suspect you of a crime.
  • Know Your Rights: situations when you may need to identify yourself to law enforcement, depending on which state you’re in
  • Overview of your basic constitutional rights, and how to assert them
  • Know Your Rights: when you’re at an airport, the border, or other ports of entry
  • Know Your Rights: what you should do if the police stop you in public, pull you over when you’re driving, or come to your home
  • Know Your Rights: what documents noncitizen immigrants should carry with them, and how to respond if stopped by immigration or the police

• Build a family emergency plan so you’re prepared for ICE check-ins and will know what to do if you or a family member is either arrested by ICE, in detention, or facing deportation. In addition to having a physical copy of your plan, we also recommend the ReadyNow! App, which allows you to build a custom digital emergency plan and securely notify lawyers and other key contacts with “one click” if you are arrested by ICE.
  • How to Prepare for ICE check-ins
  • How to Create a Family Preparedness Plan
  • Deportation Preparation Manual for Immigrant Families
  • Five Things Parents Detained by ICE Should Know
  • Guía de Apoyo Para Familias Inmigrantes
  • ReadyNow! App (digital emergency plan)
• Learn how to find someone in ICE custody, how to get them a lawyer, and what your options are if you’re unable to get or afford a lawyer. It’s important to locate lost loved ones and get them a lawyer quickly, before they are moved to a detention facility that may make things more difficult.
  • Proactively sign a privacy waiver form so your Members of Congress can get information about and advocate for you if you are detained.
  • Know Your Rights: how to find a loved one detained by ICE
  • Three ways to find an immigration lawyer:
    • The National Immigration Legal Services Directory: state-by-state directory of organizations that provide free or low-cost immigration legal services
    • The National Immigration Project immigration lawyer directory that can be filtered by state and ability to pay
    • The American Immigration Lawyers Association immigration lawyer directory that can be filtered by state and the type of immigration lawyer you need
  • Know Your Rights: options for getting released from immigration detention (even if you don’t have a lawyer).
• Learn how to access support when facing detention or deportation. While federal law generally does not allow undocumented immigrants access to federal programs or services, your state, county, city, or local nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) may provide food, housing, health care, access to lawyers, or other programs and services for immigrant families in need. In addition, mutual aid networks, which are volunteer-run and community-based, typically deliver groceries, baby supplies, and clothing. They also sometimes provide transportation, legal aid, childcare, and other services. Ask your local immigrant and refugee rights organization what programs and services may be available.
  • Find a local immigrant and refugee rights organization through the state-by-state map below.
  • Find a local mutual aid network through the Mutual Aid Hub
• Consult with a lawyer to find out if you are eligible to receive protection or lawful status in the United States. If you or a family member is a noncitizen in the United States with parole, temporary protected status, a visa, or some other form of temporary authorization to be within the United States, it may be worth consulting an immigration lawyer to ensure any renewals go smoothly and consider adjusting your status to one with more protections, if possible. There are some pro bono (free) resources available in certain instances.
  • The American Immigration Lawyers Association’s online directory of private attorneys
  • The American Bar Association List of Lawyers who handle immigration
• Join your state or local immigrant and refugee rights coalition. The Fair Immigrant Reform Movement (FIRM) network, as well as other networks and coalitions, have active organizations in at least 31 states that provide services to and advocate for the rights of immigrants and refugees. By joining, you can take action as part of a powerful movement to change laws, policies, and government programs at the local, state, and national levels so they better serve the needs of immigrant communities. Use this map to find your local immigrant and refugee rights organization and reach out to see if they are accepting members and how you can join.

• Consider your options if you plan to leave the United States. The Trump administration is placing pressure on immigrants to leave the country against their will and is even promising financial help to do so in some cases. However, if leaving the United States feels like it may be the best option for you or a loved one, consult with a lawyer before making any final decisions. Make sure you understand the negative consequences of leaving the United States, including possible bars to reentry that could last for many years. These consequences may still apply even if you register your departure with the government.
  • Know Your Rights: whether and how to use the “CBP Home” app to leave the United States

As communities continue to endure the fear and harm caused by ICE and immigration enforcement, NILC’s commitment remains unwavering: we will maintain the fight for a world in which immigrants and communities of color are treated with dignity and respect, immigrants are afforded due process, and those who have suffered violence at our government’s hands obtain justice and accountability. We will continue to defend our communities in the streets, in the halls of government, and in the courts.

If you have any suggestions for how to improve this Solidarity Guide, please e-mail us at [email protected].