Regardless of your immigration status, you have guaranteed rights under the Constitution. Learn more here about your rights as an immigrant, and how to express them.
Select a Scenario
- Law enforcement asks about my immigration status
- I’ve been stopped by police or ICE
- Police or ICE are at my home
- Caregiver Planning for Immigrant Families in NH
- I need a lawyer
- I’ve been detained near the border by Border Patrol
- I was stopped by police, ICE, or Border Patrol while in transit
- I am detained while my immigration case is underway
- I've been arrested and need to challenge a deportation order
Law enforcement asks about my immigration status
How to reduce risk to yourself
- Stay calm. Don’t run, argue, resist, or obstruct the officer, even if you believe your rights are being violated. Keep your hands where police can see them.
- Don’t lie about your status or provide false documents.
Your rights
- You have the right to remain silent and do not have to discuss your immigration or citizenship status with police, immigration agents, or other officials. Anything you tell an officer can later be used against you in immigration court.
- If you are not a U.S. citizen and an immigration agent requests your immigration papers, you must show them if you have them with you.
- If an immigration agent asks if they can search you, you have the right to say no. Agents do not have the right to search you or your belongings without your consent or probable cause.
- If you’re over 18, carry your papers with you at all times. If you don’t have them, tell the officer that you want to remain silent, or that you want to consult a lawyer before answering any questions.
What to do in such an encounter
- In some states, you must provide your name to law enforcement if you are stopped out in public and told to identify yourself. In New Hampshire, while an officer may “may stop any person whom the officer has reason to suspect is committing, has committed, or is about to commit a crime,” a person does not have to answer these questions, and cannot be arrested solely based on the refusal to provide such information.
- If you are driving and are pulled over, the officer can require you to produce your license, certificate of registration, name, address, date of birth, and the name and address of the owner of such vehicle. But you don’t have to answer questions about your immigration status.
- Customs officers can ask about your immigration status when entering or leaving the country. If you are a lawful permanent resident (LPR) who has maintained your status, you only have to answer questions establishing your identity and permanent residency. Refusal to answer other questions will likely cause delay, but officials may not deny you entry into the United States for failure to answer other questions. If you are a non-citizen visa holder, you may be denied entry into the U.S. if you refuse to answer officers’ questions.
Additional resources
- If you need more information, contact info@aclu-nh.org.
- National Immigration Law Center: Know Your Rights
- A Toolkit for Organizations Responding to Mass Worksite Immigration Raids
- Immigrant Legal Resource Center
- American Immigration Lawyers Association
- ACLU VIDEO: What to do if stopped by police or ICE
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