What do you need to do if ice comes to CID: Community defense strategies

Against the background of the repression of the Trump administration immigration, CID has formed a community defense group to defend the neighborhood against ice operations. Here’s what both citizens and citizens can do.

By Cheyna Kiakona
North -West Asia Week

On the first day of the second term, President Donald Trump has set a series of executive orders aimed at mass deportations and increasing border security. His policies have sent shock waves through the known cities because they are welcoming for immigrants and refugees, including Seattle. Last month, a Rally In the Chinatown-International District (CID)-a historical enclave in which the Chinese, Japanese and Filipino immigrants settled historically have created alarms about the growth of xenophobia and the increasing threat of arrests and deportations that today affect the immigrant communities.

The CID community has mobilized to protect its most vulnerable members in response. The local organizers have launched the defense of the CID community, a coalition of long -term residents, business owners and advocacy groups to ensure that when immigrant rights are attacked, the community is ready to defend themselves. The group presented a few steps that the neighborhood can take.

Know the legal rights

Florence Sum, a member of CID Community Defense, stressed the importance of understanding your rights when you interact with US immigration and customs application (ICE). Knowing these rights is essential to protect one’s ability to live freely and the right to migrate.

“Education was truly useful to discourage how the ice can move,” Sum said. “It also means that we can defend each other about the place where things happen and we are more able to interrupt.”

The defense group stressed that even the documented immigrants should be aware of their rights, stressing that their legality is subject to change without their knowledge. Quoted the recent case of Mahmoud KhalilA graduate of Colombia University and a green book holder arrested by Ice for pro-Palestinian activism in Campus and now faces the potential deportation, despite having no criminal charges against him.

The Center for Legal Resources for Immigrants (ILRC) offers a valuable resource: ILRC red cards. These books, available in 19 languages, including English, Chinese, Khmer and Vietnamese, allow individuals to assert their rights during ice meetings, even without knowing English. All people in the US, regardless of immigration status, have certain rights and protection in accordance with the US Constitution. Red cards include examples of exercising these rights in real situations, such as when ice agents come home. Can be obtained by defending the CID or online community at ILRC red cards.

Here are the essential legal rights for citizens and non -citizens when dealing with ice, according to The defense of the CID community:

1. Do not open the door. If the ice comes home, stay calm and do not allow them to enter. You can tell them to go through a window or a closed door. Usually, ICE agents do not have the mandate signed by the judge needed to enter home or other private spaces.
   “If it is a precise mandate, it must be signed by a judge. Must have your correct spelling. You have to have your address ”, explained Sum. “This should be specific to the time they are there and, if not, then you should not leave.”
   
2. Stay silent and sign nothing, no matter where you meet ice. You have the right to stay silent. You can say clearly: “I will not answer any questions or I will not sign any document without a lawyer.” Silence is one of your strongest protection.
   National Center for Justice for Immigrants (Nijc) notes on their site that persons without documents are not obliged to reveal their immigration or citizenship status, immigration agents or other officials. The center warns against the lie about someone’s status or presenting false documents, because any information shared with an officer can be used against them in the immigration court.
   
3. Do not consent to a search for your house, machine or body without a mandate signed by the judge with your correct name and address. In practice, ICE agents rarely present valid search warrants.
   “You don’t have to consent to look for your goods. So, for them to seek your identification or work, you don’t have to consent to it. You also have the right to refuse, “Sum said.
   Even though ICE presents an apparently official document, CID Community Defense recommends to individuals to say: “Without a present lawyer, I cannot check if this mandate is valid, so I refuse to be searched.”
4. Take pictures, record videos and write down details, whether you are off personal ice or witness someone else off. Inform the officers that you exercise your right to register and document the entire application process.
   This includes names, badges, features and statements that can help monitor application and allow you to share crucial information with others. NIJC urges individuals to exercise caution and avoid interfering or obstructing application actions.

According to Sum, Cid Community Defense sets a quick response team made up of neighborhood pods. This system will allow residents to share information on an ice meeting or suffering calls.

“In essence, it is to follow where the ice movements are, to register some of the residents, to get all the information about how many vehicles and ice officers exists with their numbers or their badges, and then we hope who could have been taken, so that we can follow them in the system.” “In this way, we can connect to a lawyer or we can have a campaign to actually remove them, especially if their rights have been violated.”

Strategies of community action and safety

Beyond knowing your rights, SUM has highlighted the power of collective action as a key defense, expressing the hope that community members also develop their own rapid response method when the ice is observed in CID.

“Finally, it becomes strong. Notice -the presence, follow what you do and notify your loved ones, ”added Sum. “I think if you know someone, check it and make sure they are in a safe place, that they are far from public settings.”

Defending the CID community recommends making noise when you notice ice in the neighborhood, inform others about their presence and rights and talk in different languages, if possible. The group also notes that, even if the current administration or any type of execution officer does not respect or comply with these laws, strengthening solidarity within the community remains critical.

“You know, offer you to shop sometimes, to establish comradery and know that you can be bent,” Sum said. “We hope you are so,” UAU, I have a truly close relationship with my immigrant neighbor, “then you can be included in the emergency plan, whether you take care of their children if they fall, keeping the house still intact.”

The amount stressed that such long -term planning is required, referring to the executive order 9066, which led to the forced displacement of Over 110,000 Japanese Americans From the west coast in 1942, preventing them from returning to their homes and business.

As a result, NIJC suggests the creation of a safety plan to prepare for potential meetings with the application of immigration, including identifying emergency contacts, memorizing their phone numbers and providing the child’s school with a designated contact for taking over. They also recommend granting the authorization for emergency contacts to make medical and legal decisions on behalf of your child, if necessary. In addition, if the ice holds you or your loved one, you can locate them LOCATOR OF ICE online detainees.

Building the collective power

In addition to the action of the community, the defense of the CID community intends to establish a new norm for what can be expected when it interacts with the neighborhood.

“Normalized not to follow the instructions, especially from (ICE), because they are a real threat to the community, right? They truly separate people’s families. He tears them and separates them from the fabric in this place, this beautiful place ”, added Sum.

Given this, Cid Community Defense hosts a number of rights known this month to provide guidance on how to respond to ice interactions and to favor collaborative defense.

The first session took place earlier today, and another is scheduled for March 27, at 18:00, at Uncle Bob’s Place, located at 417 8th Ave. S. Participants are encouraged to visit bit.ly/kyr_language to inform the defense of the CID community about their primary language and presence details.

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