Little red paper cards detailing one’s constitutional rights are popping up across Charlotte’s immigrant community, as a result of immigrant advocates.
Red cards, or "tarjetas rojas," serve as a tool for immigrants to know their Fourth Amendment constitutional rights if they are confronted by an immigration officer. Created by the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, the cards tell people not to open the door, answer any questions, or sign anything.
Maria Fernanda Garcia has created Project Red Cards in Charlotte, an initiative to distribute cards to the immigrant community.
“We want our community to know their rights and feel empowered and how to respond confidently if immigration agents were to come to the door or were to be seen in public,” Garcia said.
Garcia and her volunteers print the cards out, cut them into business card sizes, and pass them out to local businesses in Charlotte. In one weekend, they created over 2,000 cards.
“A lot of small businesses and restaurant owners have reached out as well to go drop off some cards there,” Garcia said.
While these red cards are intended for immigrants, the constitutional rights listed apply to everyone in the United States, including citizens.
“They're not unique to those that are undocumented, but these specific red cards are given for those that are undocumented to lay out those rights for them because it specifically talks about immigration agents,” immigration attorney Jamilah Espinosa said.
Espinosa said these cards are essential given the heightened rhetoric from the Trump administration surrounding increased deportations and the threat of stepped-up enforcement raids.
“Sometimes when people are in a nervous situation or an anxious situation, they want to assert their rights, but either because of a language barrier or just fear, they don’t know how,” Espinosa said.
Garcia continues to prepare and distribute cards with dozens of volunteers each weekend. Her goal is to distribute thousands of more cards in the Charlotte area.
