PAINESVILLE, Ohio — If immigration agents knock on your door, local lawyers and activists say to not open it right away.
Instead, take a breath. Ask the agents to slip a warrant under the door. And make sure the warrant is signed by a judge.
That’s some of the advice being offered to area immigrants and refugees as immigration agents reportedly have stepped up arrests around the country, although leaders here say they have seen no rise in arrests locally.
“We have an all-out assault on immigrants and their families,” says David Leopold, a Shaker Heights lawyer who formerly led the American Immigration Lawyers Association. “It’s a campaign of fear.”
There are measures that can be taken before and during an encounter with law enforcement, leaders say. Today at 6 p.m. during a call-in show on Painesville’s La Nueva Mia 88.3 FM., Cleveland lawyer Richard Herman will recommend some steps.
On Wednesday, Feb. 15, at 6:30 p.m., Herman will team with lawyer Frank Krajenke in a free program called “Know Your Rights” at Painesville’s Morley Library, 184 Phelps St.
“People are scared,” says Herman. “The phones have been ringing off the hook. We’re trying to tamp down the fear a bit with information that might be helpful. People have rights.”
Immigrants and refugees are urged to plan ahead in case of trouble. For instance:
- Carry immigration documents at all times.
- Make a list of emergency contacts.
- Choose a lawyer.
- Give power of attorney to a legally secure citizen or resident.
- Arrange for someone to take care of your children.
- Give someone trusted a key to your home.
If confronted by an agent, “Don’t try to hide,” says Chardon lawyer Elizabeth Ford. “Don’t try to run. You have to deal with the situation head-on. You want to be honest first and foremost.”
Leaders say even people without documents have legal rights. They can demand a warrant signed by a judge before letting anyone into their homes. They can insist on calling a lawyer afterwards. And they can refuse to talk until a lawyer shows up.
No one says to dismiss those fears out of hand. Violence has risen in the past couple of years both by people claiming to champion the Islamic religion or oppose it. And President Trump’s restrictions and round-ups have made people from abroad see shadows and hear footsteps, local leaders say.
After taking office, he banned travelers from seven predominantly Muslim countries, but courts have delayed the ban. But the travel ban led to some Cleveland Clinic doctors from the Mideast being detained in New York last month, and one of them was sent back for a while but is now back. And incidents of ethnic harassment have been reported locally and elsewhere since Trump’s election.
The Rev. R. Stephen Vellenga of St. Mary Catholic Church in Painesville, which has many worshipers from Mexico, said he heard about a sign posted in a local yard that said, “Adios, illegals.”
Nelson Cintron, a former Cleveland councilman and La Nueva Mia’s owner, says Lake County’s long-time Latino population still feels welcome here.
“Everyone on the local level supports the community,” says Cintron.
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