Under the Trump Administration's directive, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has begun conducting immigration raids in public places, such as work sites, courthouses, marketplaces, churches, schools, airports, and parks. The federal agents carrying out these raids are often wearing plain clothes, driving unmarked cars, and using masks to cover up their faces. In other situations, the agents will appear heavily armed, in riot or combat gear, or wearing vests that just say "Police".
These raids have understandably stoked incredible fear among immigrant communities, especially as family members and loved ones are being kidnapped without a warrant in broad daylight by masked agents providing no identification and with little to no communication about where they are being taken. As these sweeping raids have continued, even natural-born U.S. citizens have been detained and even deported as part of the Trump Administration's purported crackdown. While the stated goal of these actions is to target violent criminals who are in the country illegally, government data shows that the majority of those detained have no criminal convictions. According to the latest government data as of July 17th, only 16% of those detained have any threat level whatsoever as assigned by ICE; ratings are assigned to each detainee on a scale from 1-3 based on a threat of risk assessment, and 84% of detainees do not have a rating at all.
However, the United States Constitution is founded upon the principle of due process, which many claim is being violated by these enforcement actions. Several lawsuits are currently pending that seek to severely limit or prohibit ICE activity, especially those actions that target individuals based on their race or ethnicity, that use deception to enter private residences without a warrant, or that deny individuals access to legal counsel.
Our firm is committed to fighting against these raids that are terrorizing families. Regardless if you are a U.S. citizen or an undocumented immigrant, you have rights and protections under the U.S. Constitution. We've developed this ICE Raid Action Center to provide a centralized place for resources and news updates that you and your family can use to help protect yourself against unlawful and unconstitutional activity being conducted by ICE.
