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Know Your Rights: Federal Immigration Enforcement

Last updated October 30, 2020

Legal Services

The City has invested nearly $50 million in immigration legal services so that immigrant New Yorkers have access to case representation, emergency planning (such as parental designations and standby guardianship planning), and more.

ActionNYC is for every immigrant New Yorker. It offers free, safe immigration legal help in a network of trusted community organizations and schools, and can help connect you to free, safe immigration legal help in your community.

It is important to meet with an immigration attorney to learn more about your options and rights in an encounter with federal immigration enforcement.

You must make an appointment to receive services. To make an appointment, call the MOIA Immigration Legal Support Hotline at 800-354-0365 between 9AM-6PM, Monday - Friday or call 311 and say "ActionNYC."

Know Your Rights with ICE Fact Sheets

If you are approached by federal immigration enforcement agents, such as ICE, be aware that you have rights. Download our fact sheet in multiple languages to learn more about what to do in an encounter with immigration enforcement.

First page of the Know Your Rights with ICE Fact Sheets
 
English Infograpghic of getting asssitance by calling the hotline at 800-354-0365
 

Download this infographic in the following languages:

Video: Workers' Rights in an Encounter with ICE

If you are approached by federal immigration enforcement at your business or workplace, be aware that you have rights. View our video in multiple languages to learn more:

Screen Capture of Workers' Rights in an Encounter with ICE Video
 

Additional Resources

The Immigrant Defense Project has also developed materials on rights in encounters with federal immigration enforcement that we're sharing with the community:

For people looking for information after a loved one is detained by federal immigration enforcement, answers to frequently asked questions can be found in multiple languages from the New York Legal Assistance Group, Make the Road New York, and UnLocal.

Brooklyn Defender Services, the ACLU, WITNESS, and the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES) have developed the We Have Rights immigrant empowerment series made up of five short animated videos, four of them in seven languages, about what to do in the top four situations in which immigrants are confronted by ICE.

Know Your Rights Events

Know Your Rights (KYR) events are held across the city to help inform New Yorkers about their legal rights, including when interacting with federal immigration enforcement.

  • In 2018 alone, the Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs (MOIA) conducted nearly 700 forums in immigrant communities.
  • Additionally, nine community organizations partner with MOIA to conduct KYRs across the city specifically about federal immigration enforcement.

Avoiding Fraud

Particularly in moments of fear, immigrant communities are vulnerable to immigration legal services fraud. New Yorkers can avoid fraud from scammers and notarios by consulting trusted and qualified immigration legal services providers. City-funded providers are available through MOIA's Legal Support Centers by calling our hotline at 800-354-0365.

Learn more about avoiding fraud

Immigrant Caregivers & Standby Guardianship

Immigrant caregivers can appoint a "standby guardian" to take care of their child, in case they are separated from their child through immigration arrest, detention, or deportation.

A "standby guardian" is a person who is acts as a "backup" caregiver in case the primary caregiver is unable to take care of the child because they are arrested or detained by immigration authorities or deported. You can find help designating a "standby guardian" the MOIA Immigration Legal Support Hotline hotline at 800-354-0365.

For more information about standby guardianship, please visit our Immigrant Caregivers page