Everyone should know and understand: all individuals in the United States have rights, regardless of immigration status. Even noncitizens.
All persons in the United States have constitutional protections, including the right to remain silent when questioned or arrested by law enforcement officials. Being stopped by immigration officers or other law enforcement can be frightening, but it’s important to stay calm.
For those who do not have documentation: You have the right to remain silent and do not have to discuss your immigration or citizenship status with the police, immigration agents, or other officials. Anything you tell an officer can later be used against you. Under Ohio law, you are only required to give an officer your name, address, and date of birth. Nothing else.
You do not have to answer an officer’s questions about your country of birth or immigration status. Providing this information or carrying documents from another country (e.g., passport, birth certificate) may give an officer reasonable suspicion that you do not have legal immigration status.
If an immigration agent asks if they can search you, you have the right to say no. Agents do not have the right to search you or your belongings without your consent or probable cause.
If an officer knocks on your door: Do not open the door. Teach your children not to open the door. Officers must have a warrant signed by a judge to enter your home. ICE “warrants” are not signed by judges; they are ICE forms signed by ICE officers and they do not grant authority to enter a home without consent of the occupant(s).
as of January 29, 2025
Learn more in these videos:
Know Your Rights (in English)
Know Your Rights (Conozca sus Derechos, en Español)
When ICE is Outside our Doors
In Our Communities, In Out Streets
If ICE Arrests Us
When Documenting ICE Arrests