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The accusations are myriad. Arresting those ineligible for deportation. Arresting people when they visit courthouses to comply with legal obligations. Unlawful arrests without a warrant. Forcing immigrants to wear ankle bracelets without legal authorization. Even breaking car windows and beating those in their custody.

“Generally speaking, the information available to us indicates that ICE has been engaging in a variety of widespread civil rights abuses,” said Dan McFadden, managing attorney at the Massachusetts ACLU. 

Activists back up these claims and say that red “Know Your Rights” cards distributed to communities in the run-up to the new Trump administration aimed to ensure people knew what abuses looked like as they happened. The cards have information in English and a second language — generally Spanish — about what rights a person has while interacting with ICE or police. They’re designed to be easily shown or handed to agents.

“Everyone needs to know their rights, like the right to remain silent and the right against self-incrimination,” said Corinn Williams, director of the Community Economic Development Corporation of Southeastern Massachusetts. “We still have the rule of law.” 

Williams pointed to arrests in New Bedford such as the Viall Street Raid, where agents used a battering ram to enter a home early in the morning without showing a judicial warrant. She also brought up cases like Juan Francisco Méndez and Juan Ramón Alegría Rodas, where agents were looking for other men and took them into custody anyway.

“At some level there may be the ability to challenge what someone is being arrested for or carry through on their due process [right],” Williams said. “That’s one’s right.” 

While in detention

Just as important, according to advocates, is how knowledge of one’s rights impacts events beyond the moment of arrest. Federal authorities appear to have targeted New Bedford, and other Massachusetts communities, as part of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign, which has led to almost 58,000 detentions nationwide as of June 29, according to data from Transactional Record Access Clearinghouse. According to the latest data collected and confirmed by The Light, 41 New Bedford residents have been taken into custody by ICE. The vast majority are Guatemalans of Indigenous descent and all men, except for Yury Melissa Aguiriano-Romero, an asylum-seeker from Honduras.

“Regardless of what ICE may or may not be doing, people’s rights are established by laws and the Constitution of the U.S.,” McFadden said. “It’s important for people to have that information to decide how to exercise those rights if they’re arrested by ICE.”

Williams added that advocates should be working to ensure that those already in detention are aware of the rights they have. 

“The violent nature of some of the ICE apprehensions/abductions and the treatment in ICE custody can coerce detainees to sign for voluntary departure if they may have grounds for immigration relief,” she wrote in a text message. “Sometimes “Know Your Rights” information should extend to those in ICE custody, too.”

Even if knowing one’s rights doesn’t stop a detention or abuse from happening, the extra effort it forces agents to follow through on helps reveal such oversteps to the general public, advocates say.

“Part of the reason we have seen more public arrests and enforcement activity is that people know their rights, so they’re keeping the door closed unless presented with a valid judicial warrant,” said Jessica Chicco, director of training for the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition (MIRA). “There are numerous things that can happen. You can assert your rights and sometimes they will be respected. We hear about those instances where a person successfully defends their rights less.”

Even in giving people the mere knowledge of their rights, it means that they’ll have some room to maneuver moving forward.

“They may be able to exercise [their rights] through a different form, for example, through a habeas corpus petition,” McFadden said.  

Indeed, some activists see a correlation between people insisting on their rights and the increased attention paid to ICE operations. 

She said MIRA has updated its “Know Your Rights” workshops and training. For example, when she trains people to give these workshops, she now includes advice on group settings and organizing events. 

The question has gained new relevancy after organizers canceled a decades-old Latin American Festival this summer in Worcester. Though no official reason was given, one member of the organizer’s board of directors said they believed it was due to fears around ICE.

The CEDC has already begun to adjust its plans for community events, moving the location of its food and diaper programs to avoid drawing ICE attention.

“We don’t want people lining up on the sidewalk, because that would make people vulnerable,” Williams said. “Even like backyard parties, we’re telling people they should be thinking about that.”

Williams added that CEDC isn’t conducting “Know Your Rights” workshops, but is shifting its focus in conversations with clients to how to prepare for deportation.

Willams said she’s seen situations where children who are U.S. citizens couldn’t access funds because a deported parent didn’t put their name on a bank account. CEDC is now telling people to add children as beneficiaries.

“Make a plan,” Williams said. “And I mean really make a plan.”

Email Kevin G. Andrade at kandrade@newbedfordlight.org

19 replies on “Advocates tell immigrants: Stay strong on your rights when it comes to ICE”

  2. The ACLU is a Rogue organization that provides protection for illegals and no protection for citizens. It’s a socialist bunch of nitwit’s, with a warped sense of reality.

    1. Dear Michael Dodge Janson,

      The ACLU is an acronym for the American Civil Liberties Union. It’s main purpose is to defend the constitutional rights of people in our country. In 1977, the ACLU defended a group of Nazis who wanted to march in Skokie, Illinois, the home of many Jewish Holocaust survivors. It was criticized for doing this, but persisted in protecting the First Amendment rights of those Nazis, even though it disagreed with them. It is NOT a rogue, socialist organization. The ACLU provides a pocket-sized copy of the US Constitution. You might want to get a copy for yourself. I carry one in my purse, along with a copy of the Sermon on the Mount. Below is a link to cases the ACLU has defended:

      https://www.aclu.org/about/aclu-history

      Peace be with you.

  3. Common sense says, like so many of our past family members, how about just coming here legally.

    1. Two of my past family members, my former in-laws, were proudly illegal.
      They had five anchor babies.
      We have two proud Veteran MAGA sons.
      We are a common sense family.

  4. I see too many comments like the ones above.

    “Well, they didn’t do it right.” – Would you wait to flee your home if your government and/or organized crime was at your door threatening your very life? Some people don’t have 15 minutes, let alone 15 years. Try on someone else’s shoes.

    “They don’t pay taxes and they are a drag on the system!” – Undocumented immigrants paid over $90B in combined local, state, and federal taxes in 2022 alone. That number is likely higher now. By comparison, Jeff Bezos only paid $2.7B in taxes last year – that is barely 1% of his net worth that also grew 4.5% last year.

    “They are criminals and dangerous!” – Yes, the 47 individuals who bag your groceries and stock the shelves at Market Basket are truly terrifying. Of the more than 59,000 people arrested since this regime took over, barely 33% have a criminal record. Where is the proof? Meanwhile, a white man walked into a Manhattan office building and killed 4 people yesterday. But sure.

    I’m tired. I’m hurting for my neighbors and my community. And, for all these civil rights violations and deportations, I would love to know how anyone’s life has actually improved. I’m guessing it hasn’t, but I seek to be proved wrong!

    1. Very poor comparision, not everyone feels the way you do. You want to talk about criminal acts, the Biden administration let over 20 million illegals enter our country. How many people have been murdered, by illegals in the past four years ? ? ? Come here legally or not a t all.

      1. Hi Jeff! Can you provide any articles locally about violent crime that gives you the fear you have? I only found an article about a US citizen born here shooting his pregnant girlfriend in Quincy last week. And two suspected pedophiles arrested on the SouthCoast since January — both US citizens born here.

        The fear is manufactured and I’m sorry you’ve so readily bought in.

        1. Todd, the only one that has bought in, is you. Stop with the nonsense, googlr it, this is not just a local issue or state issue, it’s a nationwide issue. American families have been affected by Rapes and Murders of loved ones at the hands of illegals across this country and Joe Biden and Maura Healey are to blame for this mess. Biden for opening the flood gates and both for putting Illegals before Veterans, Seniors, Families, Children, and Hard Working Americans. Come here legally or do not come at all.

  5. Todd, I’m sure many are good people, but many are not. We have no idea who they are without being vetted. You ask if our lives have improved? According to budget.house.gov as of May 2024 “The cost of the Border Crisis:  $150.7 Billion” and doesn’t include the cost from June 2024 to now. You can check this report on the above website.
    We can’t afford to continue this. Our Governor stopped 2 badly needed pipelines from being installed. As a result, we are paying double for our utilities. Her support of Bidens New Green Deal is draining us. Adding additional taxes on the taxpayers are draining
    us. Senior homeowners are struggling to keep their homes, some are taking second mortgages or taking a line of credit as a result. My husband took our son to Logan when he went on deployment and we received a toll bill in the mail just to drop him off and pick him up. Pathetic. Politicians say “who is going to cut my grass, who is going to clean my toilet.” Give me a break, I’m 75 years old and I clean my toilets and my husband cuts our grass. I’m am fed up with every politician running this state. I could go on and on but I won’t. Just to let you know, for 50+ years I voted Democrat. I am now a registered Independent.

    1. Hi! First, let me thank your son for his honorable service and suggest that you reach out to your local state representative to see if the toll can be waived or reimbursed (if you already paid). They have specific staffers that work on constituent issues. I’m happy to connect you!

      I checked House.gov for the report you referenced. I couldn’t find that specific statistic. I did see a lot of, in my experience, what would be considered clickbait and propaganda without many citations. Would you mind linking me to the specific report that has the statistic you mention? I’d also like to remind you that former President Obama deported more people than any other President in our history – nearly 3 million (double that of President Trump). Our lives still didn’t improve, did they?

      The issues you go on to cite don’t seem to have a lot to do with innocent lives being destroyed and due process rights being violated. Maybe what you’re saying is that spending on the “border crisis” could be more easily directed to keep energy costs lower and to help pay for roads so tolls can be reduced or eliminated? I agree with you on both of those things! However, why would we get rid of hardworking people who contribute billions of tax dollars to help that? Why wouldn’t we tax the over 900 billionaires in this country to fix things?

      Violating rights this country was founded on and deporting innocent individuals has never helped anyone. There’s no data to prove it. Our problems our ours to solve.

        1. Todd, I read your above article and copied one paragraph from it. Did you get to read it?
          Regarding the 1996 immigration reform law that was signed by President Clinton and has been the law for the last three decades? The fact is, that our former
          administration did not did not adhere to it.

          This is the paragraph-
          “Former immigration judge Andrew Arthur agrees. He’s a fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies in Washington D.C., a think tank that advocates for tighter enforcement.
          ”What you’re seeing today might be different in scale, but it’s not really different in kind,” he said, comparing Trump’s to administrations from George H.W. Bush through Obama, under whom he did most of his service on the bench.

          Arthur said any person who is removable from the United States is subject to detention. And he said the 1996 immigration reform law mandates that anyone who entered the country illegally be detained.

          That was “ passed on a bipartisan basis and signed by Bill Clinton,” Arthur said. “So this isn’t like a Donald Trump fever dream — this is something that’s actually been the law for almost three decades.”

      2. https://budget.house.gov/imo/media/doc/hearing_weap-up.pdf
        Thank you for your kind words regarding my son. Both fees have been paid. I’m just of seeing, the tax for this, tax for that, etc. The taxpayers are always their answer, pay more taxes .
        We are a free for all and I’m totally fed up. I posted the report but I’m not sure if New Bedford light will allow it. It is a house.gov website but not sure. My point is that we cannot afford to continue to financially support immigration. Not feting, not knowing who has come in or their intentions are a threat. Sure, many are here to live better lives, but by not following the law is not right. We don’t need another horrific 911 or another Boston Marathon bombing. We don’t need our children to be kidnapped, our women rapped, our men killed. We don’t need drug dealers pushing their crap to our society. We need to vet everyone and those who are innocent, if they have nothing to hide should follow the law. We need a real ID to fly, we need a license to drive, we need to license our dogs, we need to register our vehicles, we need to pay our excise tax, we need to inspect our vehicles, we need a license to own a gun, and we need to pay our real estate taxes. If we don’t, we have consequences. What makes them exempt? I respect your opinion and I hope you will mine. Have a nice day.

        1. Glad to hear about the tolls!

          I absolutely respect your opinion, but I vehemently disagree and I think immigrants are more often than not made the scapegoats because facing the real hard truths is more challenging. I think we all want the same things, but we have to find a way to talk to each other and get there together without compromising our shared values and common goals. The deeply divided house always falls.

  6. Immigrants are not why you are about to lose healthcare after the midterms when it’s too late to do anything about it, why inflation is rising, or why it’s getting harder and harder to feed your family. That’d be because billionaires are siphoning off all the wealth of this country. They own the mainstream media, so they say “look at the immigrants!” while this administration and the oligarchy rob you. If every immigrant left the country, do you think they’d suddenly pay you more? Do you think they’d suddenly be any less greedy? Of course not! You’ve been sold a lie. Maybe it’s time to ask why billionaires deserve a dignified life but we don’t? Why do they deserve to feed their families but we don’t? Why do they deserve to afford healthcare but we don’t? Why do they deserve five homes and three yachts when many of us can barely afford our mortgage or struggle with rent? We all deserve dignity. We all deserve to feel safe in our communities. We all deserve to have our votes matter and our voices heard. We all deserve food security. The demonization of the immigrant, and every other marginalized class of people, is a tool of the authoritarian to divide and degrade the masses so that they do not wake up and collectively oppose the regime. Don’t be fooled.

  7. The best way to avoid these issues is to come in the country legally the first time. Immigration is great. That’s how the US evolved and prospered. Illegal immigrants are destroying this country. Spare me with the “immigrant” community rhetoric is being effected. ICE is interested in netting people in the country illegally.

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