The Trump Administration is targeting immigrants and visitors in the US. We can expect these actions to impact our community in various ways, including increased random checkpoints and traffic stops by Border Patrol, as well as ICE raids on local farms.
Our SA Team will be partnering with the Cornell Farmworker Program and similar organizations to disseminate information about immigrant rights (and citizen rights!), as well as organizing information sessions about Know Your Rights and Helping Immigrant Families. Please keep an eye out for more information about these important events.
If you are stopped at a random checkpoint by Border Patrol (which can be set up on any road within 100 miles of the border), they are “only allowed” to ask you if you are a US citizen. If you are, then you simply answer “yes”; they can’t require you to prove it, because US citizens aren’t required to carry identification with them. They’re putatively not allowed to ask you other questions like “where do you live” or “where are you going,” but they’re often accompanied by State Troopers who might ask them (even though they’re only supposed to ask them if there’s a reasonable suspicion of a violation). They might also walk around your car with a police dog looking for potential violations, which they can then use as a “reason” to look inside your car and ask you more questions. Don’t panic and don’t escalate the situation; just only answer their questions with simple “yes” or “no” without giving additional info which becomes an invitation for them to question you further.
If you are not a US citizen, it is critically important that you carry your visa/documentation with you at all times (even on a short trip for groceries). It’s best to carry a second photocopy of the documentation, so if they ask to keep your documentation you give them the photocopy, not the original. You can choose to refuse to answer questions without having an attorney present; you can hand the officers a “Red Card” or a “Yellow Card”, which informs them that you want to have an attorney present. Copies of the Red/Yellow Card forms are included in the links below.
If ICE comes to your home or any private space, you don’t have to let them in unless they have a warrant signed by a judge that names a specific person that they are looking for. You shouldn’t open the door (because that’s an invitation that they can enter); ask them to slide the papers under the door.
Here are links to information about Border Patrol random checkpoints, Police stops, and various issues for immigrants.