DOES ICE NEED A WARRANT DURING A RAID? AND OTHER QUESTIONS ABOUT TRUMP’S BORDER DEPORTATIONS
Unlawfully entering the U.S. is a federal crime, but simply being in the U.S. without legal authorization is not.
“Typically what you're seeing is kind of in the civil enforcement,” said Javier Hidalgo, one of the legal directors at the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services or RAICES. “In layman's terms, basically, you don't have authorization to be here.”
Even though that's the case, and while the Trump Administration says it’s only targeting criminals, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt made clear this week the administration sees all people in the country without legal status as “criminals.”
ICE can arrest anyone for being in the country in violation of immigration law — even if that person doesn’t have a criminal record. And in those civil enforcement cases, there’s no constitutional right to an attorney for the detainee like there is in criminal cases.
Noncitizens still have the right to due process and the right to protection from self-incrimination under the Fifth Amendment.
“The caveat is we're in a day and age where — who knows what ultimately is going to be decided?” Hidalgo said. “But the general consensus is absolutely yes, a lot of those same rights apply.”
