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Creating Calm

The best protection in the face of arrests and ICE raids is to stay calm and exercise your rights.

By Sandra Sanchez, Immigrant Voice Project Director, Des Moines

A few things to keep in mind:

• It is possible that government intelligence agencies or anti-immigrant groups created these rumors to create fear and confusion, and thus to distract us from our existing work on Immigration Reform. We cannot be fooled or stopped by this!
• These operations and arrests have mainly happened to people who had an existing arrest order, and to a few businesses.
• The best defense is common sense, to live our lives normally and not spread unsubstantiated rumors on the radio or on the telephone with family, coworkers, or friends.
• Please do not call radio stations with worries. It is better to report arrests to a lawyer or to community groups that provide legal assistance, ONLY IF
  • You HAVE BEEN A WITNESS or
  • The arrest happened in your immediate family
  • You know that Immigration made the arrest, and
  • You know under what charges.
  Talking to radio stations only creates panic; it doesn’t help anybody and it diverts important human resources from the work that we can do: to continue fighting for Comprehensive Immigration Reform.

Download: What to do in case of an Immigration Raid or Interrogation by Law Enforcement. En español.

Link: The National Immigration Law Center has further resources in English, Spanish, and Chinese.

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