The Sanctuary Long Beach Coalition, an immigrants rights group, set up a Community Defense Network to act as a rapid response network for disrupting deportations.
On Sunday, the group held a training workshop hosted by two members, Jennifer Benitez and Byron Luk. The workshop was meant to help train new observers.
The Common Defense Network has many components, dispatchers, legal teams and observers.
Observers are the rapid portion of the response network. They respond to ICE raids and searches by providing services to immigrants and their families.
Observers are broken down into four roles. Observer one films the incident, observer two acts as a community liaison, observer three acts as ICE liaison, and observer four films everyone involved, including fellow Common Defense Network members.
Benitez shared some advice on what to look for and be on guard for when identifying agents.
When observing, Benitez said it is important to note “what department is displayed on the agents’ clothes. ICE has been known to come and arrest people in plain clothes, civilian clothes.”
“Take down names or badge numbers, descriptions of the officers and how many of them there were,” Benitez said.
The observers are supposed to film every action of the ICE agents only, and to take notes of any abuses they might commit during the incident.
She said, “Take note if ICE forcibly searches people, and keep the camera on ICE and not on the community. We are there to record any action ICE does.”
After the incident, Benitez said “Write a statement right after, while the memory is fresh, make a recording of what happened.”
She also stressed not to post any of the evidence online without sending it to Common Defense Network first.
“We really stress that people don’t post anything to the internet without the permission of the CDN team, because we don’t know what might be incriminating.”
When it comes to warrants, there are key features to stay on the lookout for to gauge its validity.
These include: The warrant must be from the United States District Court, it must have a judge’s signature and name, it must be a warrant for a search and seizure, a second document stapled to the back with the person of interest’s name and address, and lastly must be served within fourteen days of it being issued.
“If there’s any misspelling, even by one letter, it’s invalid. It has to be served within fourteen days of it being issued. If not, it’s invalid,” she said.
The second half of the presentation was then taken over by Luk Byron, who would explain how to interact with ICE when they come to your door and if they enter forcibly.
He also explained some of the rights you have. He stressed that, “We are not lawyers, we cannot answer legal questions. But we are gonna go over what we recommend you should do.”
He began with explaining what to do if ICE comes to your door.
He said, “Don’t let ICE into your home, ICE is not your friend,” and what to say if they ask as to the whereabouts of an individual, “You don’t have to lie to them, just say, ‘I don’t want to talk to you right now.’”
You can’t physically stop ICE from entering your home, but saying these things to them might help later in court.
“They may try to enter your home…say things like, ‘I don’t give consent to you to enter or search my home’…saying these things can help you in court, especially if you have it recorded, even if ICE doesn’t abide by your request.”
And lastly, if they enter your home, which they can without your consent, Luk recommended notifying them if there are any children or vulnerable residents at home.
This is to make sure everyone is accounted for and no accidental harm can be done. In case of arrest, Byron said to let ICE know of any medical issues or if you have to arrange childcare.
If you want to learn more about the organization and its procedures, you can find them on their Instagram, @lb_cdn.