According to The Washington Post, ICE is spending $100 million on what it calls a “wartime recruitment” strategy, recruiting people at gun shows, NASCAR races, UFC events, and from areas around military bases. The result is a larger, militarized ICE presence in our cities and a higher likelihood that you or someone you know will encounter them. That’s why it’s critical for you, your family, and your community to know your rights if that happens.

It’s important to remember that with respect to the recent actions taken by ICE, U.S. citizens, legal immigrants, and undocumented immigrants enjoy the same rights enshrined in the Constitution.

Key Rights If You Are Approached by ICE

Right to Remain Silent: You don’t have to answer questions about your citizenship or birthplace. Clearly state, “I wish to remain silent and ask for a lawyer.”

Right to Refuse Searches: Say, “I do not consent to a search,” for your person or belongings unless they have a warrant, but don’t physically resist if they search anyway.

Right to a Lawyer: You have the right to speak with an attorney; you can demand one if detained.

Right to Know if You’re Free to Leave: If approached in public, ask if you are free to go. If they say yes, leave calmly.

Right to a Warrant for Home Entry: ICE generally needs a judicial warrant signed by a judge to enter your home; demand to see it.

What to Do

If an Officer Knocks on Your Door: Do not open the door. Officers must have a warrant signed by a judge to enter your home. ICE “warrants” are not signed by judges; they are ICE forms signed by ICE officers, and they do not grant authority to enter a home without consent of the occupant(s). National Immigration Justice Center.

Stay Calm: If approached by ICE, don’t run, resist, or fight, even if you feel your rights are violated; document everything if safe to do so.

Identify Agents: Ask if they are police or immigration officers (ICE/CBP). Ask for their name(s).

Don’t Lie or Use False Docs: Lying or providing fake documents is a serious offense and grounds for deportation.

Call for Help: You have the right to make calls if detained.

Common Mistakes When Being Approached by ICE

Mistakes at Your Door

Opening the Door: You don’t have to open your door for ICE unless they have a judicial warrant (signed by a judge, not just an ICE official).

Giving Consent: Opening the door, even a crack, or allowing agents to see inside can be seen as consent to enter.

Believing Ruses: Agents might pretend to be police or use other tricks to get you to open the door or let them in.

Mistakes During Interaction

Talking: Do not answer questions; you have the right to remain silent. Clearly state, “I wish to remain silent, and I want a lawyer”.

Lying: If you do speak, don’t lie, as it can be used against you.

Signing Documents: Never sign anything without a lawyer present.

Running/Fleeing: Running or resisting can escalate the situation and lead to more serious consequences.

Not Knowing Your Rights: Failing to know that ICE administrative warrants don’t authorize home entry without consent is a major error.

Additional Resources

We recommend these easy-to-understand resources from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to help you exercise your Constitutional rights when confronted by law enforcement.

Immigants’ Rights

This website explains how you should respond to different actions taken by police, ICE, and Border Patrol. Visit website.

How to Respond to ICE

These videos, translated into different languages, describe the most likely scenarios immigrants will face when confronted by ICE and how to handle them. Watch videos.

Duke University had $108 million in research funding suspended over its affirmative action and DEI policies. A letter to the university from Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy and Education Secretary Linda McMahon said, “Racism is a scourge when practiced by individuals, but it is especially corrosive when enshrined in the nation’s most eminent and respected institutions.” The issues cited included “racial preferences in hiring, student admissions, governance, patient care, and other operations.”

This comes at a time when the Trump administration has enacted sweeping cancellations of federal funding to several U.S. universities, citing failures to address antisemitic discrimination, violations of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, and the implementation of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs. As of mid-2025, at least 60 universities including, Harvard and Columbia and have faced investigations or enforcement actions from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR). Harvard saw over $2.6 billion in research grants frozen. Columbia had to take corrective action and pay a $200 million fine to restore $400 million in funding.

Critics argue the administration is targeting DEI initiatives and chilling academic freedom under the guise of civil rights enforcement. In his letter to the UCLA community, Chancellor Julio Frenk said, “With this decision, hundreds of grants may be lost, adversely affecting the lives and life-changing work of UCLA researchers, faculty and staff. In its notice to us, the federal government claims antisemitism and bias as the reasons. This far-reaching penalty of defunding life-saving research does nothing to address any alleged discrimination.” 

The Administration’s orders have sparked legal challenges and pushback from civil rights groups, who warn that underrepresented communities, including Asian Americans, could be disproportionately affected by the rollback of equity programs and research cuts. On February 3, 2025, Asian Americans Advancing Justice (AAJC) was among the first groups to file a lawsuit to stop Donald Trump’s executive order to rollback DEI from taking effect. The lawsuit made it clear that the executive orders violate constitutional protections on free speech, equal opportunity, and due process.

Southeast Asia Resource Action Center (SEARAC) has warned that rescinding affirmative action initiatives will widen educational inequities and erase their communities from campus narratives. “Southeast Asian American students are uniquely impacted by systemic racial inequity leaving them overlooked and misunderstood. They are descendants of the largest refugee community ever resettled in America as survivors of war, genocide, and trauma that impact their educational outcomes.” Cambodian, Hmong, Laotian, Vietnamese Americans already face low college attainment rates.

The wave of federal funding cuts signals a profound shift in national education policy, with potentially devastating impacts on academic freedom, equity, and underrepresented communities whose voices and futures hang in the balance.

Related Articles Recommended by AAUC

A Look at Colleges with Federal Money Targeted by the Trump Administration, AP News, July 31, 2025

Justice Department Threatens Federal Funding for Colleges over DEI Policies, Higher Ed Dive, July 31, 2025

Trump Administration Freezes $108 Million at Duke University Over Charges of Racial Discrimination, AP News, July 30, 2025

• Advocate for Asian Americans to organize and participate in various events celebrating the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States across the country from now to July 2026. • Organize a national event around July 4th, 2026, to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. • Publish a multimedia commemorative album for the Declaration of Independence 250th Anniversary events after July 4th 2026.

Our goal is to prompt, create and widely disseminate the Asian American communities’ stories that exemplify their experiences and contributions to America throughout the last 250 years. We want to affirm our heritages’ values of promoting community, social responsibility, obtaining greater access to the rights and benefits entitled to all and emphasize our commitment to making America the standard of what all countries should aspire to.

In 1876, during the 100th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, Asian laborers were seen as an “economic threat,” accused of taking jobs from white workers. By the 200th anniversary in 1976, Asian Americans were still viewed as “perpetual foreigners” despite their significant contribution to the development of the U.S. in the economy, culture, and national defense. Nevertheless, Asian Americans actively participated in the bicentennial celebrations in various ways. Today, 24 million Asian Americans have become an undeniable component of the country. We will commemorate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence as stakeholders, celebrating our progress and contributions in building the country envisioned by the founding fathers, demonstrating our influence and power, and leaving a significant mark on the celebrations of America’s 250th founding anniversary.

DIO250 will assist all the communities, both urban and more rural areas to develop a very deliberate and clear program. It will include a specific and deliberate plan that each local community could use as a prototype to organize their respective community. Additionally, it intends to plan for urban celebrations that are practical, not expensive, at one, two  or more major events in urban centers such as Washington D.C., New York, Philadelphia, or San Francisco, ect. that could be broadcast either locally or throughout the country that would provide a sense of unity, common purpose and experience in a way that is both local and national.

AAUC, along with other members of the DIO250 urge all Asian American communities and organizations to join in our efforts to acknowledge and celebrate the importance of our country’s 250 years of declaring our independence from England and the contributions made by Asian Americans from its founding up to the present day.