On Handling a Personal Encounter with ICE Agents

The frequency of immigration raids and encounters between ICE agents and individuals with a range of legal statuses, from citizens to permanent legal residents to tourists to illegal immigrants, has mushroomed. The legality of any raid may be at issue, and ICE agents may present themselves with or without uniforms and identifying credentials and with various kinds of documents asserting their authority.

The situation has now reached a point where it makes sense for everyone, regardless of legal status, to give at least some thought to how to appropriately handle any encounter that might take place. (An earlier post, “Immigrants and Due Process,” addressed appropriate responses to government agents involving recent immigrants)

Phillip Bump recently published a piece in the Washington Post that included an interview with David Leopold, who is a practicing attorney and has served as president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. I have clipped some of the advice that they offer as a basis for understanding the best legal approach to take should you become an encounter participant.

“The overriding right is to remain silent,” Leopold said of Immigration and Customs Enforcement encounters when we spoke last week. “That should always be first and foremost in everybody’s mind. You don’t have to give a statement. You don’t have to talk about anything. You don’t have to make any admissions about your immigration status — and you shouldn’t.”

There are some questions worth asking, however. Particularly if being confronted by plainclothes officers, you can ask for names and badge numbers of the officers. You can also ask if you are free to leave.

“Just because the person identifies themselves as an ICE agent doesn’t mean you’re under arrest,” he said. “ICE has to have what’s called reasonable suspicion or probable cause or a warrant to arrest you. And, if they don’t, if they just approached you in the street, I think the best way to protect your rights is to politely walk away because you are free to leave unless they explain why they’re going to hold you.”

Sometimes, ICE will appear at people’s homes with administrative warrants, he added — documents that are signed by immigration officers, not judges. (You can see examples here.) Compliance with such warrants isn’t required, but officers often use them to intimidate people into letting the officers into their homes. If you don’t consent to a search, you should articulate that explicitly.

Leopold noted that immigrants and those in the U.S. on visas have a right to legal counsel. Representation has been shown to make a huge difference in the outcome of immigration cases. “Everybody who thinks they could be detained by ICE or who’s worried about it,” he said, “should prepare a detention plan in advance,” including identifying counsel. If immigration officials present documents to be signed, you should only do so after consulting with an attorney.

In preparation for legal arguments — even ones that might occur after someone has been sent to a foreign country — he advised that encounters be documented as thoroughly as possible. If you are stopped, “keep mental notes of exactly what’s going on, who’s doing what,” information that might prove helpful. If someone can record the encounter on video, all the better — though he noted that it was worth complying with any orders to stop recording even though doing so is legal in public places. ICE officers will arrest bystanders they claim are interfering with their efforts.

Immigrants to the U.S. are often required by law to carry documentation with them. Legal permanent residents, for example, must carry their green cards. Leopold recommended that tourists in the U.S. carry documentation as well (such as visas or arrival-departure records) though it isn’t required. Given the environment, an abundance of caution is warranted, and might make potential legal proceedings easier to resolve.

For additional information and insight, consult the full article in the Washington Post.Philip Bump, "What you — yes, you — should know about interacting with ICE"
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/05/19/ice-citizens-immigrants-rights-confrontation/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=wp_opinions