First, let’s be clear on some facts: everyone present in the United States, no matter their immigration status or who is currently president, has rights, and the right to know what they are. It’s supposed to be an essential foundation of this nation. Anyone insisting otherwise is being dishonest, doesn’t know what they’re talking about, or just does not believe in the U.S. Constitution.
Where does Trump’s “border czar” stand? An infuriated Tom Homan gave it away during an interview with CNN’s Kaitlin Collins, where he claimed that “Know Your Rights” knowledge is making it “very difficult” for him to carry out his mass deportation agenda in targeted states like Illinois. Community members are simply too educated, he claimed.
“Sanctuary citizens are making it very difficult to arrest the criminals,” Homan raged. “For instance, Chicago, very well-educated. They’ve been educated how to defy ICE, how to hide from ICE. I’ve seen many pamphlets from many NGOs: ‘Here’s how you escape ICE from arresting you’; ‘Here’s what you need to do.’ They call it ‘Know Your Rights.’ I call it ‘How to escape arrest.’”
At 3:50 Trump's border czar describes how know your rights campaigns in Chicago are making it harder for ICE to do arrests. "I've seen many pamphlets," Tom Homan says. "The call it know your rights, I call it how to escape arrest" www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hk1v…
— Shannon Heffernan (@shannonheffernan.bsky.social) 2025-01-28T19:12:36.648Z
We highly doubt anyone is passing out “how to defy ICE” pamphlets, but this isn’t the first time that Homan has exaggerated on the issue of immigration (in 2018, when Homan was acting ICE director under the first Trump administration, an agency spokesperson resigned rather than parrot Homan’s lies). Community members in Chicago and elsewhere are being educated on their legal rights when interacting with federal immigration agents, including if they knock on their front door. That’s why it’s called “Know Your Rights.”
For example, if a team of agents presents what they purport to be a valid warrant, ask them to show you the judge’s signature by slipping the warrant under the door or holding it up to the peephole. If a judge hasn’t signed off, ICE doesn’t have the right to enter. If you are detained, you can decline to sign any paperwork until you are able to speak to an attorney. You also have the right to remain silent, which many Americans will likely recognize as part of a Miranda warning. “Know Your Rights” education also explicitly instructs individuals to not resist arrest, and instructs observers to not interfere with any arrest.
Everyone deserves to feel safe and informed. #KnowYourRights resources from @njaij.bsky.social
— Ruth Delgado (@heylookitsruth.bsky.social) 2025-01-19T01:00:52.597Z
Not only is this all straightforward and essential information that protects the due process rights of immigrants, but also serves as a check on federal agents, who have sworn an oath to the law and should be following the law. And, everyone, not just immigrants have every right to know with whom they’re interacting. ICE has a long and verified history of tricking immigrants into handcuffs, with some agents falsely identifying themselves as police in order to gain immigrants’ trust. Since Donald Trump’s inauguration, authorities in at least three states have also issued alarming warnings about individuals posing as ICE agents in order to harass people they perceive to be immigrants, CNN reports.
One of these suspects, a South Carolina man called Sean-Michael Johnson, faces kidnapping and impersonation charges after allegedly detaining a group of Latino men. “‘You all got caught!’ Johnson is heard saying on the video. ‘Where are you from, Mexico? You from Mexico? You’re going back to Mexico!’” When the Spanish-speaking man attempted to call a friend, Johnson, who had also taken the man’s car keys and mocked the man’s accent, knocked the phone out of his hand. “Now don’t be speaking that pig-Latin in my fucking country!” he screamed.
It’s telling that Homan is angered that community members are becoming more aware of their basic rights and he is trying to spin that into something suspicious. But what’s actually suspicious is that Homan, who did not go through a Senate confirmation process or any questioning under oath before being installed by Trump as “border czar,” doesn’t like people knowing their rights. Unfortunately, Homan isn’t alone.
Marjorie Taylor Greene, Tom Tiffany, and House Republican Conference Chair Lisa McClain are among elected Republicans also “targeting community-led efforts and Democratic Members of Congress in an ugly campaign that risks political violence and the erosion of American democracy,” as CatalyzeUS said in a recent post.
Texas’ Brandon Gill went so far as to state that Rep. Ilhan Omar, a naturalized U.S. citizen, should be deported for informing communities in her district about their rights. This fits in a pattern of Republicans “othering” non-white Americans. Last year, House Republicans used language calling to deport then-Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, also a naturalized U.S. citizen, from his job.
Additionally, as some of these Republicans are falsely asserting that “Know Your Rights” education is breaking the law, they’ve said nothing as Elon Musk’s “DOGE” outfit has been engaged in what’s been called an “unconstitutional government takeover,” and along with Vice President JD Vance, has been floating defying court orders that have blocked several of their unlawful actions since Jan. 20.
Homan has in particular become obsessed with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, repeatedly pushing his ridiculous notion that the New York lawmaker “could have broken the law by holding a webinar informing immigrants of their rights,” and that Trump’s Department of Justice should investigate, Rolling Stone reports. “It is perfectly legal to know your rights and to educate others about them, too,” an undeterred Rep. Ocasio-Cortez posted on Bluesky. “EVERYONE in the United States, citizen or not, has rights. I will not allow this administration to intimidate us from helping you know about them.”
The Trump White House has also tried to falsely pin everyone swept up under its “bloody” mass deportation agenda as a “criminal” even though many have no criminal record at all. America’s Voice legal advisor David Leopold helps set the record straight:
“These ‘Know Your Rights’ programs can be an essential part of a functioning democracy, which is likely why some on the American right are so eager to paint them as nefarious fronts,” CatalyzeUS continued. “Indeed, if the work of teaching people their rights wasn’t a challenge to powerful institutions, there wouldn’t have been a reason for the Trump administration to suddenly terminate the Legal Orientation Program this week,” as Dr. Austin Kocher noted last month.
As we're hearing increased reports of an ICE presence across Phoenix, my team and I want to make sure that you know you have constitutional rights regardless of immigration status.Check out our new resource page at ansari.house.gov/know-your-rights.
— Congresswoman Yassamin Ansari (@repyassansari.bsky.social) 2025-02-10T18:43:07.695Z
Thankfully, a number of prominent Democrats, including Sen. Alex Padilla, Rep. Nanette Barragán, Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, Rep. Jasmine Crockett, Rep. Dwight Evans, Rep. Brittany Peterson, and Rep. Sylvia Garcia are refusing to cede any ground to the right’s baseless attacks. “No matter your immigration status, you have constitutional rights,” Rep. Garcia said.
