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Immigrants' Rights: The ACLU has been one of the nation's leading advocates for the rights of refugees, immigrants, and non-citizens. Learn more about our Immigrants' Rights Project and take action to protect the rights guaranteed by the Bill of Rights.

"When we lose the right to be different, we lose the privilege to be free." -- Charles Evans Hughes

"It is precisely for the protection of the minority that constitutional limitations exist. Majorities need no such protection. They can take care of themselves." --Illinois Supreme Court in Ring v. Board of Education (1910)

"[The Bill of Rights is] designed to protect individuals and minorities against the tyranny of the majority, but it's also designed to protect the people against bureau-cracy, against the government." --Judge Lawrence Tribe

"The 4th Amendment and the personal rights it secures have a long history. At the very core stands the right of a man to retreat into his own home and there be free from unreasonable governmental intrusion." --Justice Potter Stewart

Your Rights

If you are contacted by the FBI, the INS, local police, or other law enforcement, the ACLU has a free hotline that provides confidential legal assistance. Please write down the name, agency, and telephone number of the officer who calls or visits you. Then CONTACT US IMMEDIATELY at (415) 285-1055.

"Know Your Rights: What to do if Questioned by Police, FBI, Customs Agents, or Immigration Officers" is available in PDF format. It is also available in Spanish, Arabic, Urdu, Hindi, Punjabi, Farsi, and Somali. [If you need the viewer for this file format, go to Adobe Acrobat Reader.]

Also available are "Your Right to Demonstrate and Protest", the "Bust Card" ("Know Your Rights: What to Do if You are Stopped by the Police"), and the "Bust Card" in PDF format.

Read the following for more information on your rights: