TEMPLE, Texas — After getting calls about ICE operations in Central Texas, LULAC leaders in Bell County met with Texas LULAC State Director Rodolfo Rosales and former ICE deportation officer Edwardo Rodriguez to find out what they could tell the concerned people in their community. 6 News spoke to both men Sunday at a brunch event in Temple.
LULAC District 17 Representative Rosa Hernandez told 6 News that local undocumented immigrants were afraid to even go outside.
"They are afraid to go to grocery stores, go to their jobs, afraid to take their children to school because the children are citizens, but they are not," Hernandez said.
Former ICE deportation officer Edwardo Rodriguez explained what rights immigrants have in several situations.
If an officer asks about citizenship at traffic stops
Rodriguez said officers have been allowed by federal law to ask about immigration status since 1996, but an immigrant, or citizen for that matter, is not required to answer the question but would still have to give a name.
"The individual has the right to remain silent," Rodriguez said. "Under the fifth amendment, I have a right not to incriminate myself. Keep in mind, they are asking your name - the courts have already kind of said that your name is not an infringement of the fifth amendment."
If ICE knocks on your door
Rodriguez said an immigration officer cannot enter a home unless they have a warrant to do so. Therefore, as long as the individual does not open the door, ICE will not have the authority to move in and capture them.
"If the immigration officer is knocking on the door, regardless if the individual has been arrested for a criminal or non-criminal charge, the immigration officer only has so many things that he is allowed to do. The foreign national has the right not to answer the door," Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez also said that ICE could work with a bail bond company -- if the person has bonded out of jail -- or a parole officer to enter the person's house without their permission.
Immigrant must respond to a court date
If an undocumented immigrant shows up to a court hearing for a speeding ticket or other misdemeanors, Rodriguez said the court could then take steps to determine their immigration status. If that status has already been determined due to a previous encounter with law enforcement, ICE could use the court date as an opportunity to apprehend the person. Even then, the person still has a few options.
"All he has to do is one of two things," Rodriguez said. "Get an attorney and allow the attorney to settle this, because it is a class C misdemeanor anyway, or just pay it," Rodriguez said.
If an undocumented immigrant is in a situation where he or she cannot avoid a court date, Rodriguez suggests that the person contact an attorney who can represent them to ICE, or contact ICE directly, to try to turn themselves in in a way that they will not be immediately detained.
"ICE, all they want is the individual to be in their system," Rodriguez said. "If there is a way to do that and ensure the guy is going to be available to them at a later date, they are fine with that. They don't have the bed space."
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