Schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District are now distributing “red cards” – also known as “Know Your Rights” cards – and other resources to remind immigrant community members what their legal rights are.
The cards, which are about the size of a credit card, will help immigrant Angelenos “assert their constitutional rights in encounters with federal law enforcement officials,” according to the Community Resource Guide for Immigrant Angelenos, which was put together by the L.A. Mayor Karen Bass’ Office of Immigrant Affairs and is now being made available by LAUSD.
Available to citizens and non-citizens alike, the documents were created by the Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC) and are available 16 languages from Spanish to Haitian Creole to Tigrinya. Click here to access them.
An unprecedented demand for the “red cards” has caused ILRC officials to temporarily suspend their program that allowed non-profits to access the cards for free. The quickest way to get a card, officials say, is to print them on your own.
The cards are formatted as standard 3.5” x 2” business cards, and any print or copy shop should be able to work with the files, according to the ILRC.
Businesses, private attorneys and organizations looking to order more than 1,000 red cards should visit www.RedCardOrders.com, which offers a union-run printer service set up to accept, print and ship them to customers.
The initiative to distribute the cards comes on the heels of newly-elected 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.
More information on using “red cards” can be found here.
Additionally, LAUSD has relaunched its L.A. Unified 2025: We Are One campaign, which “formalizes and amplifies the district’s efforts to cultivate welcoming learning environments for all students.”
Per the Nov. 2024 school board resolutions, LAUSD is a “sanctuary district” and safe zone for families threatened by immigration enforcement, according to district officials.
