Lansing, Mich., television station WLNS is offering tips for illegal immigrants to avoid arrest, with advice from California attorneys, as anti-ICE riots continue in the Golden State.
“Civil rights advocates remind immigrants and others that they have rights under the law if they encounter ICE officers or are caught up in an ICE raid,” according to the station’s report, titled “ICE raids: What are your rights when approached by an immigration officer?”
The news station points to statistics from White House Spokeswoman Abigail Jackson, who told reporters on Monday Immigrations and Customs Enforcement arrests have eclipsed 100,000 so far in President Donald Trump’s second term.
The figure is approaching the 113,000 ICE arrested in total in 2024 under former President Joe Biden, with more than six months left in the year, signaling the 47th POTUS is making good on his campaign promise to rein in illegal immigration.
The stats come amid ongoing riots in Los Angeles that started on Friday in response to ICE raids in the city, where Trump has since sent in the National Guard to protect law enforcement working to curb the violence.
The melee includes masked vigilantes setting vehicles ablaze, hurling rocks and attacking federal agents and police, slashing tires, blocking highways and defacing federal buildings. ICE officials report agents were initially trapped in some locations by over 1,000 protestors for hours without a police response.
Despite the violent opposition, ICE agents arrested at least 118 illegal immigrants by Saturday, including five gang members, with prior criminal histories that included drug trafficking, assault, cruelty to children, domestic violence, and alien smuggling, the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement.
The arrests continued on Sunday, with ICE removing illegal immigrant criminals with prior convictions or arrests for child molestation, robbery, domestic violence, willful cruelty to a child, vehicular manslaughter, grand theft, narcotics violations, battery, burglary, and theft of federal food stamps.
Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom sued the Trump administration for deploying the National Guard without his explicit permission, while Trump has responded by activating U.S. Marines to assist further as the riots continue.
“These heinous criminals, including child abusers and pedophiles, are some of the illegal aliens arrested yesterday in Los Angeles. Why do Governor Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass care more about violent criminal illegal aliens than they do about protecting their own citizens?” Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement Monday highlighting the arrests. “These rioters in Los Angeles are fighting to keep rapists, murderers, and other violent criminals loose on Los Angeles streets. Instead of rioting, they should be thanking ICE officers who every single day wake up and make our communities safer.”
In Michigan, WLNS is offering advice from attorneys with the American Civil Liberties Union’s Northern California chapter for folks who are “stopped by ICE officers.”
“You do not have to answer questions about where you were born, whether you are a U.S. citizen, or how you entered the country,” according to ACLU resources cited by the TV station.
Other “quick tips” include: “don’t automatically open your door to ICE,” “look at the warrant closely” to determine if it allows for permission to enter, how to deny entry, advice against signing any forms or speaking with ICE officers, and to “document whatever you can,” including badge numbers and video of ICE interactions.
“Don’t say anything, sign anything, or make any decisions without a lawyer,” according to the ACLU advice cited by WLNS.
“The ACLU advises people to stay calm, don’t resist and don’t give officers fake documents,” the news station reports. “People can prepare by memorizing the phone numbers of loved ones and their lawyer, and make emergency contingency plans if they have children that need to be cared for or medications they need to take.”
The LA riots continued Tuesday as Trump doubled National Guard soldiers to 4,000 and deployed 700 Marines to secure the nation’s second largest city, where Mayor Bass said more than 100 were arrested for vandalism and violence the night prior, USA Today reports.
She described the damage in downtown LA as “vast,” while Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told Congress on Tuesday he expects the National Guard and Marines to remain in the city for 60 days, at a cost of $134 million, according to PBS.
“We stated very publicly that it’s 60 days because we want to ensure that those rioters, looters and thugs on the other side assaulting our police officers know that we’re not going anywhere,” Hegseth testified during a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing. “We’re here to maintain the peace on behalf of law enforcement officers in Los Angeles, which Gavin Newsom won’t do.”
