CHICAGO (AP) - A sweeping expansion of deportation powers unveiled this week by the Trump administration has sent chills through immigrant communities and prompted some lawyers to advise migrants to gather up as much documentation as possible - pay stubs, apartment leases or even gym key tags - to prove they’ve been in the U.S.
But the uncertainty about how the policy might play out has created confusion and made it harder to give clear guidance to immigrants. Attorneys and immigrant rights groups gave conflicting advice about whether to carry these documents.
The new rules will allow immigration officers nationwide to deport anyone who has been here illegally for less than two years. Currently, authorities can only exercise such powers within 100 miles (161 kilometers) of the border and only target people who have been here less than two weeks.
Critics say the new policy will embolden Immigration Customs and Enforcement officers to indiscriminately round up immigrants, depriving them of a chance to make their cases before a judge or consult with a lawyer. Some have called it a “show me your papers” trope on a national scale, and roughly 300,000 immigrants living in the country illegally could be affected by the expansion, according to one estimate by the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute.
Attorneys immediately began advising immigrants to start compiling documents that prove they had been in the country for at least two years - anything showing a consistent presence in the United States. But they don’t have to necessarily carry it with them.
“We’re operating absolutely blind at the moment,” said David Leopold, an immigration attorney in Cleveland.
For years, immigrant rights groups have advised people without legal status to not carry any identification with a place of origin on it so it doesn’t come back to hurt them in immigration court. Without the possibility of ever getting a day in court, questions loomed.
“Carry some limited amount of paperwork,” said Houston-based immigration attorney Mana Yagani. “I would advise them to have a copy of that at a lawyer’s office and at a friend that they trust.”
Still, others keep up the adage of to say and carry nothing.
“Don’t carry anything and exercise your right to remain silent,” said longtime Chicago activist Rosi Carrasco.
The National Immigrant Justice Center, based in Chicago, encouraged immigrants to create a safety plan, keeping key documents in a central location and giving trusted friends access, along with making plans to pick up children from school in an emergency.
The expansion, which is certain to face lawsuits, has already raised potential issues.
Critics worry the rules will give ICE officers free rein. They point to an instance in Kansas City earlier this week when federal immigration officers trying to arrest a Mexican man smashed a car window and dragged him from the vehicle in front...