Know Your Rights if You're picked up by Immigration

Your Rights In Your Car...

* If agents signal you to stop your car, you must pull over. If you refuse or speed away, the agent will have a good reason to detain you.

* Agents may ask brief questions about immigration status, nationality, and travel plans.

* Every passenger in the car has the right to remain silent.

* If an agent asks to search your car, you may refuse to give him permission.

* If the stop lasts for a long time and the agents have not learned anything suspicious, the stop may become illegal.

Your Rights at a Checkpoint...

* Agents may ask you questions about your travel plans, nationality, and immigration status. You have the right to remain silent.

* A dog sniff of your car is permitted. However, it an agent asks to search your car, you may refuse to give him permission.

* You may be detained in a room, away from your vehicle, for questioning.

* If you are detained for a long time and the agents have not learned information showing that you violated the law, your detention may be illegal.

Your Rights When Travelling by Bus or Plane...

* It is illegal for an agent to pick someone out for questioning because of his/her ethnicity

* You have the right to remain silent when an agent asks you questions.

* If you do not want to talk to an agent, you may hand them your immigration attorney's card.

ACLU Know Your Rights Information

Check out the following pamphlets from the ACLU in Spanish, English, and Arabic.