Los Angeles schools to distribute “Know Your Rights” cards for immigrant families

To help students and families assert their constitutional rights, Los Angeles Unified School District schools are now distributing  "Know Your Rights" cards, commonly known as "red cards."

Available to citizens and non-citizens, the cards are formatted as standard 3.5” x 2” business cards and are available for print in 16 languages from Spanish to Haitian Creole to Tigrinya. You can click here to access the printable files, which were created by the Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC).

These cards include critical information, including don’t open the door if immigration officers knock, don’t answer any questions, don’t sign anything without first consulting an attorney and give the card to the agent as a way to assert your constitutional rights. 

The initiative to distribute the cards comes after President Donald Trump’s announcement that his administration would allow Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers to conduct arrests in sensitive areas, such as schools and churches, reversing a 2011 policy that prohibited arrests being made in those places.

Additionally, LAUSD has relaunched its L.A. Unified 2025: We Are One campaign, as in 2017, to help educate the public about what constitutional rights are for both immigrants and non-immigrants. It also “formalizes and amplifies the district’s efforts to cultivate welcoming learning environments for all students.”

Ruben Alarcon from the LAUSD Family Hotline said all schools will physically be providing the red cards to students and families.They are also available to print on the LAUSD page.