Plainclothes ICE agents in Las Vegas? Advocates say don’t panic—prepare.

On the same day that Republican President Donald Trump announced that US citizens suspected of violent crimes could soon join deported immigrants sent from the US to a mega prison in El Salvador, the Nevada Immigration Coalition (NIC) warned of increased ICE activity in Southern Nevada, adding to a chilling moment in modern US history.

During a virtual press conference on Monday, community organizers announced that local residents could expect to see at least 100 ICE agents in Las Vegas between now and Easter Monday, according to an email from Sull and Associates, an immigration law firm in the Las Vegas valley. Based on what’s happening in other communities across the US, they cautioned that officers could show up in plainclothes and unmarked cars, making arrests without disclosing the reason for the detainment.

Given the circumstances, the event focused on offering detailed guidance for handling ICE encounters. Speakers stressed the importance of mutual aid and being vigilant. Immigration attorneys advised community members to stay calm and prepared by understanding their rights as Nevadans. They encouraged residents to exercise their right to remain silent, to share their names if stopped by ICE, but to refrain from disclosing background information.

“We haven’t heard any reports of any big raids, which…has been the biggest fear since the beginning of this administration,” said immigration lawyer Martha Menendez, a member of NIC. “Everyone is very sensitive to what’s going on, and we want to make sure everyone knows how to take care of themselves.”

NIC comprises several state advocacy groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada and Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada (PLAN). The coalition shared a succinct message centered on a family preparedness plan, which includes knowing laws that ICE agents must abide by, gathering financial documents and proof of citizenship, and organizing logistics for child care and pet care should their guardians become deported. 

Laura Martin, executive director at PLAN, stated that arrests have occurred mainly at people’s workplaces early in the morning and that she hasn’t heard of arrests happening at homes, but noted that ICE operations have a ripple effect on schools, churches, and businesses. 

Though home raids haven’t been cited, Menendez honed in on civil rights law as a way to hold ICE accountable during looming raids, stating that agents cannot enter homes without warrants. She emphasized an essential guideline for reviewing the warrant: request that it be slid under the door or pressed against a window.

Staying inside the house was a rule she reinforced.  

“You do not have to open the door if they don’t have a judicial warrant,” Menendez said. “If they do…the one person named on that document should head outside and let them…hopefully, very unviolently, take you and we’ll figure the rest out.”

Martin also sought to remind immigrants of their strength, while questioning leaders’ and local organizations’ silence on deportations, including Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo, LVMPD Sheriff Kevin McMahill, and the Latin Chamber of Commerce. 

“As we’ve learned that the Department of Labor is in Southern Nevada this week, we hope that groups like the Latin Chamber of Commerce will stand up and speak out,” Martin said. “There is an attack on our Latino communities…as well as their businesses that keeps our communities thriving and prospering.”

In January, Metro shared its policy on immigration enforcement. Days later, it was updated, following the passage of the bipartisan Laken Riley Act, a law named after a woman killed by an undocumented immigrant, which requires detention for undocumented immigrants charged with nonviolent crimes. To align with federal law, LVMPD’s new policy requires more reporting to ICE. Felony violence, domestic violence, and DUI were crimes reported to ICE by Metro; the expanded policy added crimes such as assaulting a police officer, theft, larceny, and shoplifting.

Menendez said after practicing immigration law for nearly a decade in Southern Nevada, “a lot of what we’re seeing, we shouldn’t be.” She called recent deportations in the US a violation of constitutional laws, stating that if people are fearful, it makes sense. 

The coalition’s guidance comes as the Trump administration is pushing the boundaries of the law with its deportation agenda, and in some cases, likely violating it. In one instance, the US Supreme Court ruled that the administration must facilitate the return of Kilmar Armando Ábrego García, a legal resident and husband of a US citizen who ICE mistakenly deported to El Salvador. 

The administration has claimed Ábrego García was a member of the MS-13 gang, but provided no evidence, and he has not been charged with any crime. Ábrego García is still being detained at the infamous Center for Terrorism Confinement in El Salvador, and thus far, Trump and his administration appear to be ignoring the court’s ruling.