Immigration officers seek out and detain¹ non-citizens on a regular basis, often raiding workplaces and jails.

If you’re a non-U.S. citizen taken into custody by immigration officers, you should say: I’m going to remain silent. I would like to see a lawyer. I want to contact my consulate.

         •  Don’t say or write your name.

         •  Don’t say or write your address.

         •  Don’t say or write which country you’re from.

         •  Don’t say or write anything about your employment.

         •  Don’t say or write anything about your family or friends.

Contact an immigration attorney (directly or through family or friends) and get advice before saying or signing anything. If you’re in custody (police station, jail, detention center, etc.), be careful when you use the telephone—do not discuss your name, citizenship, or how you came to be arrested, because law enforcement agents are allowed to listen to prisoners’ phone calls. You can’t rely on speaking in your native language to maintain confidentiality, because many officers speak languages other than English, such as Spanish or Tagalog. When you telephone your attorney, you can identify yourself through the information on your wristband (the authorities normally put a plastic identification band on your wrist, if they’re going to keep you in custody). If you’ve successfully withheld your name, your wristband will say “Jane Doe” or “John Doe,” along with a number. So, for example, you might call your lawyer and say, “Hi, this John Doe 314159 at the Immigration Detention Center…”

The reason for maintaining this degree of privacy is that in order to expel you, the government must prove:

(1)  your identity, and

(2)  that you are not legally entitled to be in the United States.

Therefore, if you tell the immigration officers who you are, or give them enough information to figure it out, you’ve lost half the battle. And if you discuss your immigration status, you may have lost the battle entirely. Even if the immigration officers have some information, it would be unwise to give them any more, without consulting an immigration lawyer.


1.  When the immigration authorities are keeping someone in custody, it's often referred to as "detention."  This immigration detention can last for months or even years, as opposed to the detention discussed in the criminal law context, which rarely exceeds a few hours (see Detention).