Ninety-year-old advice on what to do when arrested by the 1930s version of ICE.

‘What To Do When Arrested in Deportation Proceedings’ from Western Worker. Vol. 4 No. 32. April 22, 1935.

WHAT TO DO WHEN ARRESTED IN DEPORTATION PROCEEDINGS

In view of the present wave of deportation proceedings throughout the country, involving workers of every nationality, the International Labor Defense has issued the following instructions as to what to do when held for deportation or under arrest by immigration officials. Following these instructions may save you from being railroaded out of the country on a trumped-up charge.

1. Always remember that Immigration Inspectors have absolutely no power to compel you to answer any of their questions.

2. Refuse to answer all questions–anywhere–in jail, at home, in organization headquarters, on the street–except your name, until you have seen an attorney.

3. Notify the International Labor Defense. (Number in phone book.)

4. Give no address, place of employment, the country you come from, when you arrived, whether or not you are a citizen. Don’t give the name of the ship or the date when you came.

5. Don’t sign anything. Don’t be fooled into answering questions by an inspector who says he is trying to help you.

6. Deportation hearings are held in private. No workers are present. The only people in the room are commissioners, stenographers, the defendant and the lawyer. Everything you say is secret. Don’t try to propagandize the officials at these hearings.

7. ALWAYS REMEMBER–the Department of Labor must prove that you can be deported. They cannot get a visa to any country unless they prove you are a citizen of that country. Don’t give them any free information. It will be used against you.

8. ALWAYS REMEMBER–The Department of Labor still has not the right of arrest without warrant. If an inspector tells you to come along with him, demand that he show you his warrant. The same applies if he tries to search your home. He must have a Answer no questions. Don’t sign anything.

It is necessary to point out that in many recent cases, failure to follow these simple rules has made it impossible to put up a good legal fight against deportation, and has to a certain extent also undermined the possibilities of developing a mass campaign.

Western Worker was the publication of the Communist Party in the western United States, focused on the Pacific Coast, from 1933 until 1937. Originally published twice monthly in San Francisco, it grew to a weekly, then a twice-weekly and then merged with the Party’s Daily Worker on the West Coast to form the People’s Daily World which published until 1957. Its issues contain a wealth of information on Communist activity and cultural events in the west of those years.

PDF of full issue: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/westernworker/1935/v4-n26-34-apr-1935.pdf