Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) is giving advice to non-citizens as mass deportations start.
“SHARE WIDELY. KNOW YOUR RIGHTS. With mass deportations starting today across the country, it is vitally important – for both citizens and non-citizens – to know your rights,” she said, sharing infographics with information on how to have interactions with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The infographic states that “You do not have to open the door,” noting that ICE cannot enter a home without a “valid warrant signed by a judge.”
WATCH — A Taste of What’s to Come! Trump’s Border Czar Leaves AOC Sullen and Angry:
It also states that “you can ask then to leave,” you can “stay silent,” and “you do not have to share your personal info.”
“You are not obligated to provide personal information like your immigration status, place of birth, or criminal history if asked,” it reads, adding, “Anything you say or do can be used against you.”
“You should not lie,” it adds.
“If they attempt to enter your home or your workplace, ask for a warrant. Sometimes they will try to use other, non-qualifying paperwork. They need a warrant,” Ocasio-Cortez continued.
“You have the right to remain silent. Assert it. You have the right to a lawyer. Ask for one,” she said, adding that they “distributed these materials in English and Spanish across our community this weekend and invite you to share these reminders widely.”
“Print it out and keep it in your wallet or on your fridge for reference and safe keeping,” she added. “We are in this together.”
Ocasio-Cortez’s pamphlet comes as ICE deportations have already begun. Border czar Tom Homan confirmed this on Tuesday on Fox News Channel’s America Reports.
“No, it started. If we start, all these teams are out there as of today. We gave them the direction to prioritize public safety threats that we’re looking for,” he said.
In the initial phase, Homan said, they are targeting “public safety threats”:
Those who are in the country legally that’s been convicted of arresting for a serious crime. But let me be clear, it’s not only public safety threats that will be arrested, because in sanctuary cities we’re not allowed to get that public safety threat in the jail, which means we got to go to the neighborhood and find him. And when we find him, he may be with others. And unlike the last administration, we’re not going to tell ICE officers not to arrest an illegal alien. So if they find others, they’ll be arrested.
“So sanctuary cities are going to get exactly what they don’t want. More agents in the neighborhood and more collateral arrests,” he added.
The news also follows Trump signing the executive order titled “Protecting the American People Against Invasion,” which states in part that it is the “policy of the United States to faithfully execute the immigration laws against all inadmissible and removable aliens, particularly those aliens who threaten the safety or security of the American people.”
“Further, it is the policy of the United States to achieve the total and efficient enforcement of those laws, including through lawful incentives and detention capabilities,” it adds.
Reads the entire executive order here.
