I know many of us are concerned about protecting the civil liberties of our neighbors in our communities given the increasing Immigration Enforcement activity in recent weeks.  As we have seen, the national immigration enforcement effort has raised issues about Due Process, Transparency, and Human Rights.  

The budget bill in the hands of the Senate currently contains language allocating an additional $75 Billion over the next four years for Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE).  Recently, administration officials recited quotas they hoped to achieve per day for migrant arrests.  

When citizens are recording there are more instances when ICE is compelled to release a detainee who should not have been taken in the first place due to ineligibility or lack of proper documentation or procedure.  As a retired attorney, the wife of an immigrant American citizen, and a new member of the Fredericksburg LWV, I researched what citizens can do to document these raids should they happen in our community.  

The result is a postcard sized information guide [linked below] detailing steps you can take to document events in your community.  It includes guidelines of what and how to film, what details to notice and record, and what to do and not do afterwards. 

If anyone would like to have a set of them to circulate to friends or other groups you may be involved with, I can drop some off as my printed quantities allow – comment below to get in touch!

– Edith Min, Member LWVFRA