WITNESS teams up with Immigrant Defense Project & NYCLU to Kick ICE out of Courts

As the Trump administration continues to crackdown on immigrants’ rights and crank up its deportation machine, migrant communities everywhere are seeking protection from these vile policies and developing new methods of mutual protection.

While some cities have attempted to craft protective policies to minimize ICE interference, these agents are relentlessly finding loopholes to exploit these communities. In New York City, where local officials have declared that the city would resist the White House’s crackdown, ICE raids are still happening. A new battlefront for these officers has become the courthouses of the city.

In an effort to educate and inform people that they have the right to film and document ICE officials, WITNESS along with Immigrant Defense Project (IDP), and New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) created a new resource informing people of their rights to film at courthouses.

The information in this resource is specific to a New York City-based audience, but many aspects can be applicable to communities in other spaces. It offers important information about your rights and best practices for documenting an incident. Remember: Always use your best judgment and assess risks to yourself and those you are filming before hitting “record”.

For more on our work to combat ICE abuses, check out our series, “Eyes on ICE.”