A knock at the door
You're home with your younger cousins when there's a firm knock. Through the window you see two officers. One calls out that they "need to speak with someone inside." Your parents are at work. Your family made a preparedness plan for moments like this, and your heart is pounding as you try to remember it.
你可以怎么做？
Pick a response to see how it usually plays out.
The general principles
- Without a judicial warrant (signed by a judge, correct address), residents do not have to open the door.
- Everyone in the U.S. may remain silent, regardless of immigration status.
- Administrative forms signed only by agency officers do not, by themselves, authorize entering a home.
Safer next steps
- Don't open the door; speak through it or hold up a red card.
- Ask for any warrant to be shown through the window and check for a judge's signature and the right address.
- Call the emergency contact from your family plan right away.
- Write down the time, what was said, and any badge numbers afterward, and contact your family's legal aid number.
These are general constitutional principles. Procedures and local policies vary, which is why a family's own plan and a local legal aid contact matter so much.
This scenario is exactly why families make preparedness plans together, in calm times. If your family hasn't yet, the immigration lesson walks through it, and organizations like ILRC provide free materials in many languages.
Support you can reach
- Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC) (在新标签页中打开)
Publishes free red cards stating constitutional rights in many languages, plus family preparedness guides.
- National Immigration Law Center (NILC) (在新标签页中打开)
Know-your-rights resources and policy information for low-income immigrants and their families.
- ImmigrationLawHelp.org (在新标签页中打开)
Searchable directory of free and low-cost nonprofit immigration legal services by ZIP code.
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