Immigrants & Immigration

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) can arrest people anywhere in the US. They can arrest people when they are in public, including at work places if ICE agents are allowed to enter the facility. People can refuse to let agents into a private building.

ICE can come to a person’s home to arrest them. They can choose to arrest anyone inside the home that is present and not a US citizen. However, ICE agents must have a court-ordered, or judicial, warrant to make people let them into their homes or buildings. 

If a person is stopped or arrested by ICE, they have rights they can exercise. The US Constitution says that all people, citizens and non-citizens, have the right to remain silent. People can refuse to speak to ICE agents, and can say that they want to remain silent. A person might want to do this so they don’t say anything that would make their immigration case harder for them. This includes information like where they were born, their immigration status, or how they entered the US. It is better to remain silent than to lie or give false information to an immigration agent.

Everyone also has the right to speak to a lawyer before signing anything. A person being arrested by ICE can say they will remain silent until they can speak to a lawyer.

For more information about a person’s rights when encountering federal agents, go to Illinois Immigration Information Know Your Rights toolkit. Resources include printable door signs and Know Your Rights cards for noncitizens to use. They are available in 16 different languages, including Spanish.

A judicial warrant is signed by a judge, and says that an officer can enter your home without your permission. ICE agents or police officers can open the door and enter a place by themselves if they have this warrant. ICE agents are not likely to have a judicial warrant. 

An administrative warrant does not give ICE agents permission to enter a person’s home. ICE agents can only enter if a person opens the door to let them in. View a sample administrative warrant. ICE agents cannot enter a place without consent with this document, if people do not open the door.

People have the right to ask the agent to see the warrant without opening the door to check if it’s judicial or administrative. If it is an administrative warrant, a person is not required to let ICE agents in. It is important to check, without opening the door, whether ICE agents have a warrant. People can request the ICE agent hold the warrant up to a window or to slide it under a door.

For a side-by-side comparison, go to Judicial Warrants v. Immigration Warrants from the National Immigration Law Center.

No. In Illinois, the TRUST Act is a law stopping local law enforcement from helping ICE. Illinois police cannot give anyone in their custody to ICE. Police also can’t respond to any ICE agent's questions.

Yes. A person who sees ICE activity in Illinois can call the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR) family support hotline at (855) 435-7693. ICIRR tracks immigration enforcement so they can help people stay safe. They have help available in English, Spanish, Korean, and Polish.

Safety planning is key to preparing for the possibility of arrest and deportation. An immigration safety plan is a list of steps people can take to stay safe if something happens with their immigration status. This could include being stopped by immigration officers, taken into custody, or deported. A safety plan can help you know what to do in an emergency, who to contact, and what steps to take to protect each other. Read more about safety planning for immigrants.

The National Immigrant Justice Center has information on knowing your rights if you encounter immigration agents and preparing for mass deportation threats.

The Illinois Immigration Information website has the most up-to-date information on recent immigration changes in Illinois. The website is available in over a dozen languages, including Spanish, and contains their Know Your Rights toolkit.