Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and an assortment of other masked Federal officers are arresting U.S. citizens for not showing ID or “proof” of citizenship on the streets, at traffic stops, and in warrantless door-to-door searches in the Twin Cities.

ICE is planning to station agents to “check documents” on the jetbridges at the Minneapolis-St.Paul International Airport.

With all this happening, we’ve posted a new know-your rights FAQ for U.S. citizens, “Do I have to show ID as a pedestrian, passenger in a car (not the driver, for whom the rules are different), at my home, or at the airport for a domestic flight?” (Also available here as a printable one-page PDF.)

This know-your-rights guide is for U.S. citizens. The law is different for those who aren’t U.S. citizens: U.S. law requires non-U.S. citizens in the U.S. for more than 30 days to register with the U.S. government and carry  their papers “at all times”.  But there are many other good resources for non-U.S. citizens such as this brochure. We’ve found few other clear guides to the rights of U.S. citizens in situations like those today in Minnesota, in which U.S. citizens are being (illegally) required to prove their right to walk the streets, live peacefully in their homes, or travel within their own country.

This guide is a work in progress. We’ve posted it quickly because the need seems urgent. We welcome suggestions for corrections or changes.

Knowing and asserting your rights protects everyone in our society — including non-U.S. citizens. It shows other people that they have rights too, and shows police that we know we have rights. Rights are not, in and of themselves, a protection. You can’t count on police to respect your rights. But police act differently when people know and assert their rights.

Liberty lives in its exercise. Freedom dies if it’s not used. Know your rights — and use them.