Know Your Rights With the Police and Immigration Agents

Last updated: March 1, 2025 11:45 am

Know Your Rights With the Police and Immigration Agents:

The information on this page is general in nature and does not constitute legal advice. Consult an attorney for legal advice. Produced and distributed as a free public service by the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania Foundation, a non-partisan, nonprofit civil rights advocacy group.

You can find more Know Your Rights immigration resources from other organizations and National ACLU here.

    A Note About Rights

     

    Even if you know and exercise your constitutional rights, police officers or ICE might not honor them. It is never good to use force or physically resist police officers or ICE, even when you know they are wrong. Challenging misconduct cannot be done in the moment. It can only be done through legal and advocacy efforts afterwards.

    If you think police or ICE have violated your rights, write everything down as soon as possible, including any identifying information about the officers and their vehicles. If the police or ICE stop you in violation of your rights, tell your lawyer. They may be able to use what happened to you in a defense against your deportation in immigration court. If injured, seek medical attention and take photos.

    If you believe that your rights have been violated,
    please contact the ACLU of Pennsylvania:

    https://complaints.aclupa.org 

     

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    Lopez Contreras v. Oddo

    The ACLU of Pennsylvania joined lawyers from the New York Legal Assistance Group (NYLAG) to file a habeas corpus petition on behalf of Dylan Lopez Contreras, a New York City high school student and asylum seeker who was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and is currently being held at the Moshannon Valley Processing Center in Clearfield County, Pennsylvania. Mr. Lopez Contreras, who is from Venezuela, entered the United States legally in 2024 after receiving humanitarian parole. Despite having no criminal record and a pending application for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status which would have put him on a pathway to a green card, Mr. Lopez Contreras was detained at a courthouse by ICE during a routine immigration hearing on May 21, 2025, after ICE moved to dismiss his asylum case. Mr. Lopez Contreras does not speak English and had no attorney at this hearing. As a result, he did not understand that dismissing his case would allow ICE to place him into expedited removal, a summary deportation process with little judicial review or oversight. Mr. Lopez Contreras also suffers from a severe medical condition that doctors were attempting to diagnose before ICE detained him; in detention, he has no access to the specialized care he needs. The ACLU-PA habeas petition challenges Mr. Lopez Contreras' unlawful detention and seeks to prevent him from being moved by ICE to another jurisdiction and to ensure he is given full due process as guaranteed by the 5th and 14th Amendments to the United States Constitution.