Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell offers residents’ orientations on what to do if federal immigration agents and how local law agents interact with them.
On Thursday, Campbell published the guide “Know your rights”, which explains the rights provided to those arrested by immigration and customs execution (ICE) and the limitations of local police cooperation with ice.
The document also contains information on the rights given to viewers of an ice operation.
The guide’s goal is to answer the questions that residents have on the actions of the ICE and the role of the Local Police, wrote Campbell in a press release on Thursday.
“From detaining parents in front of their children to removing people who have no public security threat outside their cars in the daylight, the aggressive ice tactics we are seeing in the Commonwealth do not protect the audience and, instead, spread the fear,” said Campbell. “By freeing this orientation, I strongly encourage everyone to report their rights when they see immigration agents in their communities.”
The rights of arrested or detained
Those arrested or detained by ice have the right to remain silent, writes Campbell.
They are not required to answer questions about their immigration status, citizenship, birthplace, or method of entry into the United States.
An arrested or detained person also has the right to hire and talk to a lawyer. Campbell says, however, that the Government is not generally obliged to provide one in immigration procedures.
In addition, Campbell says that the arrested or detained have the right to deny to sign documents.
“Ice can ask people to sign voluntary departure forms, waiver rights or other procedures. The person who is arrested or detained has the right to read and understand any document before signing it,” writes Campbell. “People who are questioned, arrested or detained by ice should never give false information or false documents, as they can cause criminal accusations.”
Spectators’ rights
Campbell explained that viewers can observe and record an ice operation as long as they do not interfere with officers. Examples of interference include pushing or physically touching an officer, blocking officers, or hiding the ice of the person trying to arrest, according to Campbell. The Attorney General states that these actions could lead to criminal accusations.
“Viewers can watch over. The Bystanders can register -but neighbors cannot legally obstruct, prevent or assault an ice agent,” writes Campbell.
Other rights provided for neighbors include the right to be silent and the right to reject the entrance if ice sheeons approach a house where they reside.
ICE agents do not have legally permission to introduce private spaces, such as private houses or offices, without any court order or voluntary consent of the person who has authority over the property.
The role of police
The federal government cannot force local law agencies to implement federal civil immigration, writes Campbell.
Any voluntary cooperation between Ice and the application of the law must comply with the legal limitations of the State. An example of this is the ruling of the Supreme Court in Lunn V. Commonwealth, who states that agents of state and local law have no legal authority to detain, detain or maintain an individual based only on an ice request.
In addition, state laws ban people on the basis of the real or perceived breed, color, ethnicity, national origin, immigration or citizenship state, said Campbell.
There are also local laws passed by cities and cities that limit the participation of police departments in the application of federal civil immigration.
In Boston, for example, there is a law known as the “Act of trust“This prohibits police officers asking a person’s immigration state, sharing ice information, transferring anyone to ice custody or as an immigration officer.
Accusations of collaboration
The guide launch comes three weeks after the ice arrested A Brazilian mother of three in Worcester. During the arrest, more than 30 people faced the federal immigration agents, Protestant for the arrest of Rosane Ferreira-de Oliveira.
During the operation, Worcester police officers were called to the streets to maintain peace. At the scene, police officers arrested 17-year-old Ferreira-de Oliveira’s 17-year-old Ferreira after he had kicked at the car’s passenger’s passenger door where his mother was detained. The officers also arrested Ashley Spring, a candidate for the disqualified school committee after sprinkling water on an officer’s face.
After the arrests, there has been a public cry of some residents of Worcester, accuse The Police Department and the Administration of the City of collaboration with the ICE.
The city manager Eric D. Batista issued an executive order On May 16, reading that Worcester would not ask about a person’s immigration state and further clarify Worcester’s policy on ice interaction.
ICE has continued to make arrests in Massachusetts, with one of the most recent operations in Martha’s Vineayard and Nantucket Tuesday
Around 40 people They were arrested by ice during the operation, with the North -American Coast Guard who removed them from the island.
On Wednesday, Governor Maura Healey called the operation “disturbing. “”
“This is part of the problem we are seeing with ice across the country. And, of course, in Massachusetts, people are gathering. We have no information on their circumstances,” said Healey. “There have been real questions about the due process and if ice and immigration officials are … fulfilling the process due here and in other states. And we need answers.”