What to know if immigration agents show up at your house or business

ByLyanne Melendez and Juan Carlos Guerrero

Wednesday, March 5, 2025

Here's what your rights are during an immigration raid

The Trump administration is targeting groups advising undocumented immigrants of their constitutional rights during raids.

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- New signs are going up at a few Bay Area businesses that simply state, "Restricted area. Employees only."

Those four words can prevent immigration enforcement agents from arresting an undocumented worker.

"We're urging folks to print a sign that says 'staff only beyond this point," basically the area that would not be accessible by any of your customers like your kitchen area or any storage behind you," said Laura Valdez, executive director of Mission Action.

She spoke at a recent meeting of business owners in San Francisco who were concerned about the possibility of immigration raids.

Valdez said immigration enforcement agents who do not have a court-ordered arrest warrant are only allowed in public areas, either the lobby of a building or business or the area customers have access to in stores or restaurants.

"If they go beyond that point and arrest someone, that is considered an unlawful arrest if they did not have a warrant," said Valdez.

Groups holding "Know your rights" workshops like these are drawing criticism from the Trump administration for informing undocumented immigrants of their constitutional rights.

Recently, Trump's border czar Tom Homan expressed frustration during an interview on CNN's 'State of the Union' that carrying out mass deportations has proved more difficult so far because of know-your-rights messaging.

"You can call it 'know your rights' all you want. We all know the bottom line. The bottom line is how to evade law enforcement. Don't open the door. Don't answer questions," said Homan, who recently asked the Department of Justice to investigate if Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez should be prosecuted for a know your rights post.

The Feb. 13 post on the social media site X said, "Citizen or not, we all should know our rights to protect ourselves and others from illegal search & seizure."

The New York congresswoman then shared several slides advising people not to open the door without a warrant signed by a judge, urging them to remain silent and not to sign any documents without speaking to an immigration lawyer first.

"She's telling them not to open the door. Now, I'm not saying that's illegal. I'm asking the attorney general at what point is it impeding and at what point is it not impeding," said Homan during the CNN interview.

This kind of talk from White House officials has immigration rights advocates becoming cautious about the advice they give.

"If there is a raid and you inform everyone of their rights; you don't have to talk, keep your mouth shut, that's not harboring. But if you say run out the door, hide under here. You could conceivably be charged with harboring," said Miriam Hayward, a former immigration judge.

Immigration rights advocates worry border patrol agents are getting more aggressive in who they detain during a raid. They say it is to stoke fear.

An example was caught on camera during January's immigration raids in Bakersfield.

A video taken by a gardener shows the moment he was detained by border patrol agents on his way to work.

After immigration enforcement agents threaten to break their car's window, a co-worker on the passenger's seat opens the door and is detained on suspicion of being undocumented.

Another border patrol agent then approaches the gardener driving the vehicle and tells him he is under arrest for alien smuggling, which is a federal felony.

The gardener, who is a U.S. citizen, was later released.

In this case, Border Patrol agents were wearing identifying insignia, but in other instances, they have not.

Security video of a TACOnganas food truck in Memphis, Tennessee shows men in plain clothes, some wearing hoodies, enter the food truck and detain three workers.

The agents did not show badges or an arrest warrant.

Homeland Security later confirmed the detentions were carried out by federal agents.

Federal agents are not required to wear uniforms but they are required to maintain a professional appearance and wear badges or other visible identification.

"We have seen them in unmarked cars, some of them did not have a license plate. The agents are in normal wear and they're wearing a vest. Sometimes it says police and ICE," said Valdez.

Wearing vests with the word police can cause confusion, said Valdez, causing some people to think the agents are local police officers.

Days after Trump took office, San Francisco made it clear its police officers will not be involved.

"The San Francisco police department does not assist in immigration raids," said San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott.

San Francisco is a sanctuary city which limits its role in immigration enforcement, but it has to walk a fine line to avoid losing $3 billion in federal funding.

The Trump administration has accused sanctuary cities of being sanctuaries for criminals and has threatened to withhold federal funds.

"We do not harbor criminals," said Luis Zamora, director of community relations for the City Attorney of San Francisco.

At the meeting with business owners, he told the group city and county employees are not required to participate in any ICE activity or action, but then added, "But I want to be clear, we are not impeding the federal government's legal authority to perform immigration enforcement."

The advice immigrant rights groups are giving is being equally prudent.

"Please remember not to physically block ICE from entering an area. Please remember not to tell a client to flee. That could actually create a pretext not only for their arrest but legal consequences for you," said Sanika Mahajan of Mission Action.

The Supreme Court has ruled that immigrants, even if they are in the country illegally, are protected under the Fourth and Fifth Amendments, which give everyone a constitutional right to due process, protection against unreasonable searches and protection against self-incrimination.

Retired immigration judge Miriam Hayward said authorities will use the threat of arrest to harbor against individuals who refuse to let them into an area that is private or for employees only.

"Don't be intimated by that. It's just not true. That is not harboring to refuse to allow agents to enter a place that is marked private when they don't have a judicial warrant," said Hayward.

Immigration agents need a warrant, just like police, to search a home or private areas of a business.

Business owners were shown the different kinds of warrants immigration agents can present during a raid. Only one allows them into private areas.

An administrative warrant is issued by the Department of Homeland Security to detain a person suspected of being in the country illegally.

However, it does not allow immigration agents to enter private areas while trying to carry out the arrest.

For that, immigration enforcement agents need a judicial warrant signed by a federal judge. The document must include the name of the person they are looking for and the address of where the search will take place.

"ICE can come into your business but that does not give them the right to ask anything about your workers' immigration status, explained immigration attorney Leila Sayed-Taha.

She told business owners that immigration agents can legally enter their businesses, but they do not have the right to question employees about their immigration status in public areas, but they can request documentation from the business that the employees have authorization to legally work in the country.

"Employees can exercise their constitutional right to remain silent," said Sayed-Taha.