Amid rapid and significant changes in the current political climate, a Lehigh professor responded to student requests for actionable next steps by hosting a “Know Your Rights” event Thursday evening.
Mariana De Maio, a journalism professor and the Latin American and Latino Studies director, invited students, faculty and staff to hear expert advice from panelists Elizabeth Trinidad, an immigration attorney, and Corinne Goodwin, executive director of the Eastern PA Trans Equity Project.
Nearly 40 attendees gathered in the Rauch Business Center for two hours to learn the history of immigration enforcement, how to engage with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, the state of LGBTQ-related policies in the nation and what actions students can take to advocate for issues they care about.
“The current climate in the United States is difficult for some people, especially those coming in from other countries,” De Maio said. “So, I wanted to have someone to talk about immigration rights and someone to talk about civil rights.”
De Maio said an important aspect of the event was safety, as it required attendees remain anonymous and out of photographs.
Trinidad began the presentation by encouraging people to use the important tool of hypothetical questions, because they are a way to ask questions safely without putting oneself or others at risk.
Providing the historical background of the Chinese Exclusion Act, a federal law that banned Chinese laborer immigration in 1882, and the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, Trinidad explained how the country has a past of both diminishing and expanding civil rights. However, she said, people have always fought back.
She said the Terrorism Confinement Center in El Salvador, the detainment of visa-holding college students and the holding of deported individuals in a Panama hotel are recent due process and first amendment violations.
“You know, every time that people are subjected to very harsh, oppressive methods, human ingenuity will always come up with a way to sidestep it, right?” Trinidad said. “The more you oppress people, the more they’re going to find a way to do what they think is right.”
Trinidad said it’s important to have a “mental rehearsal” of what to do if immigration enforcement agents knock on someone’s door to their home. She said it’s not required to open the door, because the agents don’t have a warrant in the majority of cases, and sometimes the best thing to do is wait them out patiently.
For students, De Maio said dormitories and off-campus houses are still considered homes. The first thing she said students should do if they see ICE agents is call the Lehigh University Police Department.
If one were to interact with agents, Trinidad said it’s best to stay calm and polite and to avoid sudden movements. While it’s okay to walk away, she said it’s better to act like there is no real fear, because reactions are recorded and may be used in a later setting to determine bond.
Trinidad said one should not resist arrest or loudly assert their rights. Instead, she said to politely ask to make a phone call and ask agents to provide an Alien Registration Number, a number the Department of Homeland Security provides to those who are not citizens of the U.S.
Many students in attendance had questions involving ICE’s ability to create warrants after detainment. Known as administrative warrants, Trinidad said these documents are created without judges, after an individual is detained.
She also said immigration courts are not courts established under the judicial branch of the government but are under executive oversight. She said this gives the president more power over them and, in turn, allows for more violations of human rights.
Trinidad said non-citizens do not have any right to counsel at airports and landports. She said Customs and Border Protection has the right to search all belongings, including devices, but it’s important to not seem suspicious by mass-deleting items before traveling.
Following Trinidad’s informational session, Goodwin discussed policies and the lack of legal protection for the LGBTQ+ community.
Goodwin said 64% of Americans want laws to be enacted that protect transgender people from discrimination.
However, she said in recent years, there has been a slippage in data that shows less people support same-sex marriage and LGBTQ+ protective policies.
Echoing Trinidad’s belief in the power of resistance, Goodwin said while more than 875 federal anti-LGBTQ+ bills have been introduced this year, 87% have been “killed.” In Pennsylvania, she said 100% of these bills were “killed.”
Goodwin said President Donald Trump’s administration is not enforcing many of the legal protections previously put in place for this community.
Coupled with harmful executive orders, she said the new administration has halted updating gender markers on federal identification, prevented transgender military service and affirmative healthcare, put up barriers to housing and shelter resources for transgender individuals, and stopped Title IX enforcement among other attacks on the community.
Goodwin said state, county and city governments need to step up and protect vulnerable populations, especially in the next four years. She said voting, showing up at school board and city council meetings, writing constituent letters, and commenting on rules and regulations are effective actions people can take.
She also said storytelling is an important tool to increase visibility, shift culture and underpin policy. It’s important to make connections between communities right now, she said, because coalition building is essential to overcome the domination of certain rhetoric.
Goodwin compared the power of individual action to a murmuration — when a starling bird flies in patterns while having silent communication with its seven neighbors in the sky for protection.
“We have 40 people in this room, and all of you can impact seven people,” Goodwin said. “We can change the world right here. You can make a difference, and that’s all I’m asking you to do.”
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