The Rights and Planning Guide (“the Guide”) was created to help individuals and families who are facing potential detainment or removal/deportation. The Guide is intended to be used as a collective community resource and is not intended to provide legal or other advice or to create an attorney-client relationship. The Guide was authored by Justice For Our Neighbors attorneys, in collaboration with Nebraska Appleseed, Center for Rural Affairs, Centro Hispano and Heartland Workers Center, and funded by Jane Shanahan, in memory of her grandmother and mother, Jesusita and Santos Baros, and the Mexican Consulate in Omaha, Nebraska.

While there is much uncertainty regarding the new President’s current and future immigration enforcement policies, the Guide provides information and resources on the following ways to assert your rights and protect yourself/your family, NOW:

1. Don’t panic, understand your rights, and don’t be afraid to assert

2. Know your options under the law by speaking to a qualified immigration attorney or DOJ representative;

3. Create a safety plan and be prepared in the event you are arrested, detained or removed;

4. Know that there are resources available and advocates standing with you in this time of uncertainty!

Know Your Rights

Every person in the United States is entitled to certain rights and protections afforded by the U.S. Constitution. It matters not whether you are documented or undocumented. It is important to know what those rights are, to use them, and to contact an attorney or DOJ accredited representative to discover whether there are any immigration forms of relief available for you.

Executive Orders Issued as of February 6, 2017

I. Enhancing Public Safety in The Interior Of The United States:

a. The executive order does not and cannot change the grounds of deportation. People who have status may only be deported if they are removable under our current immigration laws and ineligible for relief from removal.

b. New Enforcement Priorities include: Those who are removable AND who fit within one of the following:

   i. Have been convicted of any criminal offense;

   ii. Have been charged with any criminal offense, where such charge has not been resolved;

   iii. Have committed acts that constitute a chargeable criminal offense;

   iv. Have engaged in fraud or willful misrepresentation in connection with any official matter or application before a governmental agency;

   v. Have abused any program related to receipt of public benefits;

   vi. Are subject to a final order of removal, but who have not complied with their legal obligation to depart the United States; or

   vii. Otherwise pose a risk to public safety or national security in the judgment of an immigration officer.

c. Among other things, the EO also:

   i. Seeks to compel states and localities to enforce federal immigration laws.

   ii. Revives the constitutionally-suspect Secure Communities program.

   iii. Directs DHS to hire an additional 10,000 ICE officers.

   iv. Seeks to punish sanctuary jurisdictions.

II. Border Security and Immigration Enforcement Improvements:

a. Directs DHS to allocate funds for construction of a wall on the southern border.

b. Directs DHS to immediately construct detention facilities near the southern border to accommodate increased number of immigrant detainees in custody.

c. Announces policy to detain those suspected of violating immigration law and expeditiously process claims for relief. Ends practice of paroling in asylum seekers.

d. Expands application of “expedited removal” procedure throughout the country to individuals who have not been admitted or paroled into the US who cannot prove to DHS that they have been continuously present for at least two years.

III. Protecting The Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry Into The United States:

a. Suspends refugee admissions for at least 120 days, and prioritizes protection for religious minorities moving forward.

b. Reduces the number of refugees to be admitted in FY 2017 from 110,000 to 50,000.

c. Bans Syrian refugees indefinitely.

d. Bans immigrant and nonimmigrant entries for at least 90 days for nationals of Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen.

e. Suspends the Visa Interview Waiver Program.

f. Directs federal agencies to consider rescinding existing discretionary exemptions that presently allow asylees, among others, to receive protection in the U.S. who would otherwise be barred by broad terrorist-related inadmissibility grounds.

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