By The Central American Resource Center advised meeting participants to know their schools’ protesting policies and major immigrant rights to avoid being wrongfully detained during law enforcement interactions.
Martha Gonzalez, a U.S. Department of Justice-accredited representative from CARECEN, said it is important to know how frequently college campuses collaborate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
When protesting on campus, undocumented students can be at risk of being deported.
“For students who find themselves in situations where they protested and they’re getting in trouble with the campus, it’s very helpful to know to what extent that campus will have repercussions for them,” Gonzalez said.
For Long Beach State, students should be aware of the Time, Place and Manner Policy with CSULB Addendum, which contains all California State University campuses and CSULB-specific protesting policies.
CARECEN also taught immigrants to remember their constitutional rights when dealing with police or ICE.
These include the right to remain silent, to not sign any documents without speaking to an attorney beforehand and to say no to ICE officers who do not have valid warrants to search one’s belongings and/or enter one’s home.
Red cards featuring the list of rights printed on them are available at all CSU Dream Success Centers, and it is recommended that all immigrants own at least one. The cards have constitutional rights shared by both U.S. and non-U.S. citizens.
“In stressful situations, especially when you’re dealing with ICE or police, it might be hard to remember what to do,” U.S. DOJ accredited representative of CARECEN Mercedes Solaberrieta said. “And so having one of these [red cards] is really beneficial.”
The California Values Act (SB 54) prevents state police from cooperating with ICE. However, not all state counties follow this law. Solaberrieta said Orange County collaborates more frequently with ICE than other counties in California.
In addition, Solaberrieta and Gonzalez said all college students should be aware of the Opportunity for All Act, a potential state legislation that would provide equal employment opportunities for undocumented college students.
CARECEN provides free immigration legal services to eight CSUs and Long Beach State provides them via the university’s Dream Success Center.
“We’re just helping [CARECEN] promote themselves because they do have attorneys that work with our students,” CSULB Dream Success Center coordinator Erick Peraza said. “So we’re able to help each other out.”
Unlike CARECEN, Solaberrieta said that private attorneys charge up to thousands of dollars for the same legal immigration services.
For the past 30 years, CARECEN has also provided educational programs that promote social and economic justice for all U.S. immigrants.
CSULB’s Dream Success Center promoted CARECEN’s event, Know Your Rights and Protesting, for CSULB students, faculty, staff and alumni to attend.
